This pie. You need to try it.
It’s as delicious as I’d hoped. I mean, rustic beef stew layered between a delectable, flaky crust. How can you go wrong?
Meanwhile, if you’re looking for a great summer time dessert, go check out my new column at Urban Moms: Chef Dad.
And if you want to see me making a fool of myself as I try to sound like Gordon Ramsay, but come off sounding a lot more like Jamie Oliver… Check me out on YouTube.
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Steak & Guinness Pie with a Puff Pastry Lid
Adapted from Jamie Oliver
Serves: 4 to 6
Ingredients:
2 tablespoons olive oil
3 medium red onions, peeled and chopped
3 cloves of garlic, peeled and chopped
2 tablespoons butter or margarine
2 carrots, peeled and chopped
2 sticks of celery, trimmed and chopped
4 cremini mushrooms, sliced
2 pounds of stewing beef, cut into 2cm cubes
2 sprigs of fresh rosemary, leaves picked and chopped
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 can of Guinness
2 tablespoons plain flour
1 pound puff pastry
1 large egg, beaten
Preparation:
- Preheat the oven to 375ºF. In a large ovenproof pan, heat olive oil on Medium heat. Add the onions and fry 10 minutes.
- Turn the heat to High, add the garlic, butter, carrots, celery and mushrooms. Mix everything together before stirring in the beef, rosemary, a pinch of salt and a level teaspoon of pepper.
- Cook for 3 or 4 minutes, then pour in the Guinness, stir in the flour and add just enough water to cover. Bring to a simmer, cover the pan with a lid and place in the preheated oven for about 1½ hours.
- Remove the pan from the oven and give the stew a stir. Put it back into the oven and continue to cook it for another 30 minutes.
- Place the pan on the stove on High heat, and reduce until the sauce thickens, about 10 minutes. Remove from the heat and season with salt and pepper, leave to cool slightly.
- Cut about a third of the pastry off the block. Dust a clean work surface with flour and roll both pieces of pastry out evenly with a floured rolling pin. Grease an appropriately sized pie dish (I used a deep 9.5″ dish), then line with the larger sheet, leaving the edges dangling over the side. Tip the stew into your lined dish and even it out. Brush the edges of the pastry with a little beaten egg.
- Cut the other rolled sheet of pastry to fit the top of the pie dish and criss-cross it lightly with a sharp knife. Place it over the top of the pie and fold the overhanging pastry on to the pastry lid to make it look nice and rustic. Brush the top with beaten egg, then bake the pie directly on the bottom of the oven, until the pastry is cooked, puffed and golden, about 30 to 45 minuted.
Filed under: Recipe on August 30th, 2010 | 2 Comments »
There are few desserts that tempt me as much as coconut cupcakes. The soft, vanilla cake; the smooth, velvety cream cheese frosting; and the sweet, crunchy shredded coconut. Truly, a taste and texture celebration for the mouth.
These days, with so many bakers trying to one up one another, it can be difficult to peer through the bacon infused, molten middled, ganache topped cupcake selections. Yet, it is always there to be found, white, on white, on white: The beautiful coconut cupcake. My first choice, always.
The recipe below will allow you to duplicate this marvel in your own home.
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Coconut Cupcakes
Adapted from Barefoot Contessa
Serves: 18 to 20
Ingredients:
3/4 pounds unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 cups sugar
5 large eggs, at room temperature
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 1/2 teaspoons almond extract
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup buttermilk
14 ounces (~4 cups) sweetened, shredded coconut
Cream cheese icing, prepared (recipe here)
Preparation:
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
- In an electric mixer with a paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes.
- With the mixer on low, add the eggs one at a time, scraping down the bowl after each addition.
- Add the vanilla and almond extracts and mix well.
- In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
- Alternately, add the dry ingredients and the buttermilk to the batter, beginning and ending with the dry.
- Mix until just combined. Fold in 2 cups of coconut.
- Line a muffin pan with paper liners. Fill each cup to the top with batter.
- Bake until the tops are brown and a toothpick comes out clean, about 25 to 35 minutes.
- Allow to cool in the pan, about 15 minutes. Remove to a baking rack and cool completely.
- Frost with cream cheese icing and sprinkle with remaining coconut.
Filed under: Recipe on August 23rd, 2010 | No Comments »
I recently had the chance to take a tour of Toronto’s Steam Whistle Brewery. Aside from the beautiful architecture (housed in Toronto’s old John Street roundhouse), and the incredibly funny and informative tour, the whole thing really inspired me to come up with a recipe worthy of this great Canadian pilsner.
Steam Whistle prides itself on only using four natural ingredients in their beer. Spring water, malted barley, hops and yeast. No additives. No preservatives. Just good, old fashion beer. A local company, proudly Canadian, that delivers beer to your home (yes. I am serious.) – how could you go wrong?
I’ve always been a fan of marinating beef in beer. The depth of flavour brought on by the beer is unmistakably grand. Paired with a mop that perfectly raises it up another level, this steak was divine – and I don’t say that lightly.
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Whistle For It Rib Steak
Serves: 2
Ingredients:
2 Rib Steaks, 1 1/2 inches thick
1 Steam Whistle Pilsner
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
Pinch of cayenne pepper
Mop:
1/4 cup good quality BBQ sauce
1 teaspoon hot pepper sauce
1 tablespoon Steam Whistle Pilsner
Preparation:
- In a resealable bag place the steaks, beer, and spices. Marinate in the fridge for 1 to 2 hours.
- Heat both sides of the grill over High heat. Preheat to ~600 degrees F.
- Mix the mop ingredients together.
- Turn one side of the grill down to Low for later use. Remove the steaks from the marinade and grill, covered, for 4 minutes on High, flipping once.
- Move the steaks to the Low heated side of the grill and grill covered for another 4 minutes, basting regularly with the mop and flipping once.
- Remove the steaks form the grill and allow to rest for a few minutes. Serve with remaining mop.
Filed under: Recipe on August 18th, 2010 | No Comments »
