Side Pannel
Beef Pot Pie with Cheddar Crust
Beef Pot Pie with Cheddar Crust
- Recipe Submitted by maryjosh on 11/01/2016
Ingredients List
- Crust
- Butter, salted, cold - 1 stick
- Dill, chopped - 4 tablespoons
- Cheddar, grated - 1 cup packed
- Dry mustard - 1/2 teaspoon
- Sugar - 1 tablespoon
- Flour - 1 1/4 cup
- Ice water - 1/4 cup
- Vermouth (or water) - 1 tablespoon (optional)
- Stew
- Oil - 1 tablespoon
- Diced onion - 1 1/2 cup
- Carrot, diced into pea-size pieces - 1 large (about 3/4 cup)
- Thyme - 4 sprigs
- Garlic - 1 head (whole head of garlic!)
- Mushrooms, chopped - 2 cups (~1/2 pound)
- Cooked leftover roast beef, cubed into 1 inch pieces - 4 cups
- Beer - 1 bottle (330 ml)
- Frozen peas - 2/3 cup
- Spices as needed
- Roux
- Fat, either leftover fat from beef cooking or butter - 2 tablespoons
- Flour - 2 tablespoons
- Liquid from the stew, about 1 cup
Directions
Make the crust.
Cut cold butter into a few pieces.
Add all the dry ingredients into a food processor and pulse for a few seconds until butter is incorporated into the flour in pea-size pieces.
Add ice water and pulse a few times until mixture starts to come together into a ball.
If more liquid is needed, add Vermouth (or water).
To test if the dough is done, take a small amount and squeeze, it should stick together, if not add more liquid a drop at a time.
Once the dough is done, pat it into a disk, wrap in a plastic wrap and place in the fridge for an hour or so
.
Note:
I always have trouble with pie pastry. There’s never enough liquid and it never comes together as it should. I love adding alcohol into pastry as it provides moisture for the flour while I mix the dough, but evaporates quickly when cooked. Also Vermouth has a lovely earthy flavour and I just love cooking with it.
When you pat the dough into a circle, it may still be crumbly even if it sticks together when squeezed. It is fine to leave it crumbly like this in a plastic wrap. It will get more cohesive in the fridge.
Make the stew.
In a large pot heat 1 tablespoon of oil and add diced onions, cook for 3-4 minutes on medium until they start to soften.
Add leaves and stems of thyme, 1 pressed clove of garlic, diced carrots, and mushrooms. Cook for another 4-5 minutes to soften.
Add cubed beef and all the juices from it. Save the fat if there’s some.
Add the rest of whole, peeled garlic cloves.
Add beer, bring to boil, reduce heat so that mixture just simmers, close the lid and cook for about 45-60 minutes until everything is soft and cooked well. It may be even just half an hour, depending on your stove.
Taste for seasoning while the stew is cooking and add more spices as needed. I added a tablespoon of organic chicken stock powder when I made this stew.
If there’s not enough liquid, add some water.
Once the stew is cooked, add frozen peas.
Make the roux.
In a small pot melt either 2 tablespoons of butter or leftover fat from roast beef.
Add flour and whisk together, mixture will become really dry.
Slowly ladle some of the stew liquid into the pot about 1/4 cup at a time constantly whisking.
Mixture should become thick and smooth. Consistency of a fondue or a very thick yogurt.
Once it’s proper consistency, add it back to the pot of stew and mix well.
Assemble the pot pie.
Preheat the oven to 350F.
Pour the stew into a deep 9-inch pie plate.
Lightly dust working surface with flour and place cold unwrapped pastry dough on it.
Roll it into a 1/4 inch thick and a bit wider than 9-inch circle.
If it’s too difficult to roll because it’s cold, hit it with a rolling pin a few times. If the pastry is too crumbly and breaks on occasion, just take another piece of dough and patch it.
Cover the pie plate with the stew with the rolled dough, pinching the sides and cutting off extra dough.
Cut a few slits in the pie shell to let the air escape.
Place the pie plate onto a baking sheet to catch the stew if it bubbles out.
Bake for about 40 minutes until the crust is golden brown and fully baked. The time may be less for some people as my oven always takes a lot longer to bake everything.
Don’t throw out the extra pieces of dough, bake them alongside the pie - the dough will become the most delicious flakey savoury cheese cookies.
Cut cold butter into a few pieces.
Add all the dry ingredients into a food processor and pulse for a few seconds until butter is incorporated into the flour in pea-size pieces.
Add ice water and pulse a few times until mixture starts to come together into a ball.
If more liquid is needed, add Vermouth (or water).
To test if the dough is done, take a small amount and squeeze, it should stick together, if not add more liquid a drop at a time.
Once the dough is done, pat it into a disk, wrap in a plastic wrap and place in the fridge for an hour or so
.
Note:
I always have trouble with pie pastry. There’s never enough liquid and it never comes together as it should. I love adding alcohol into pastry as it provides moisture for the flour while I mix the dough, but evaporates quickly when cooked. Also Vermouth has a lovely earthy flavour and I just love cooking with it.
When you pat the dough into a circle, it may still be crumbly even if it sticks together when squeezed. It is fine to leave it crumbly like this in a plastic wrap. It will get more cohesive in the fridge.
Make the stew.
In a large pot heat 1 tablespoon of oil and add diced onions, cook for 3-4 minutes on medium until they start to soften.
Add leaves and stems of thyme, 1 pressed clove of garlic, diced carrots, and mushrooms. Cook for another 4-5 minutes to soften.
Add cubed beef and all the juices from it. Save the fat if there’s some.
Add the rest of whole, peeled garlic cloves.
Add beer, bring to boil, reduce heat so that mixture just simmers, close the lid and cook for about 45-60 minutes until everything is soft and cooked well. It may be even just half an hour, depending on your stove.
Taste for seasoning while the stew is cooking and add more spices as needed. I added a tablespoon of organic chicken stock powder when I made this stew.
If there’s not enough liquid, add some water.
Once the stew is cooked, add frozen peas.
Make the roux.
In a small pot melt either 2 tablespoons of butter or leftover fat from roast beef.
Add flour and whisk together, mixture will become really dry.
Slowly ladle some of the stew liquid into the pot about 1/4 cup at a time constantly whisking.
Mixture should become thick and smooth. Consistency of a fondue or a very thick yogurt.
Once it’s proper consistency, add it back to the pot of stew and mix well.
Assemble the pot pie.
Preheat the oven to 350F.
Pour the stew into a deep 9-inch pie plate.
Lightly dust working surface with flour and place cold unwrapped pastry dough on it.
Roll it into a 1/4 inch thick and a bit wider than 9-inch circle.
If it’s too difficult to roll because it’s cold, hit it with a rolling pin a few times. If the pastry is too crumbly and breaks on occasion, just take another piece of dough and patch it.
Cover the pie plate with the stew with the rolled dough, pinching the sides and cutting off extra dough.
Cut a few slits in the pie shell to let the air escape.
Place the pie plate onto a baking sheet to catch the stew if it bubbles out.
Bake for about 40 minutes until the crust is golden brown and fully baked. The time may be less for some people as my oven always takes a lot longer to bake everything.
Don’t throw out the extra pieces of dough, bake them alongside the pie - the dough will become the most delicious flakey savoury cheese cookies.
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