be good and hot. Bung in a good glug (more than you expect) of the oil. Don’t worry; we’ll be dumping it later. Then chuck in your beef in one nice even layer. LEAVE IT! Don’t do any cheffy jiggling of the pan and don’t do the housewife “I’ll just take a peek”. Just let it colour for a goodly long time. But don’t by any stretch of the imagination burn it! It should be a good mahogany colour and a little crisp when you eventually flip it. Then repeat on the other side – you won’t be able to get such a good colour or “maillard reaction” on the second side. Then remove the beef and tip away any excess oil, but no quite all. You still need a touch in the pan to cook the rest of the ingredients in.
Return the pan to the stove, turn the heat down and dump in the onions and garlic and season timidly. Allow these to soften ever so slightly for about a minute or two and then add your other ingredients, either mushrooms or oysters, followed swiftly by the beef and the mammoth faggot of herbs. Turn this all around in the pan so the beef is nestled lovingly in mounds of onions. Cover the pot with a tight-fitting lid or, better still, tin foil and a lid. Leave on the lowest possible heat for 3 to 4 hours. I normally use the smallest burner on the stove on the lowest setting, with a heat diffuser or tray under the pan. Don’t worry about adding any liquid. That’s the joy of this dish: the beef cooks in the juice from the onions and vice versa. If you add too much liquid, the onions have a tendency to boil and never fully descend to the great rich sludginess you want from them.
Now, when the beef is completely cooked through and just falling off the bone and the onions have melted through, leaving a beautiful golden swamp of juice, it is ready to take off the heat. Leave it to cool for an hour or so before attempting to break it up. Otherwise you will just end up with white-hot onions dripping down your arm and a mess in the pot. Not fun, believe me! When the beef has cooled slightly, and therefore firmed up a little, break it away from the bone into forkful-sized chunks. Remove any of the skin and discard. Poke out the marrow from the middle of the bone into the onions. Now remove the bouquet garni from the onions and pop the beef back in. Taste it for seasoning and adjust as necessary.
The pie is now ready! Preheat the oven to 180°–200°C (350°–400°F/Gas 4–6). All you need to do is bang it in a suitable pie dish, either one big one or if you are feeling terribly posh have individual ones. Cover with good puff pastry, egg wash it with a bit of beaten yolk and milk and bang it in a goodly hot oven till puffed and golden.
Serve at once with mashed potatoes, or chips if the beery night seems somewhat more appropriate!
Tips – Getting the beef shin: You will need to acquire four slices of beef shin, about 2.5cm (1 in) thick and cut right through the bone. In Italian they call this “osso bucco”, meaning literally “on the bone”. Your butcher should be able to do this, but may need a bit of notice. The rest of the ingredients should be far simpler to lay your hands on.
Using oysters: If you want to do make an oyster pie, substitute about 12 rock oysters for the mushrooms. I like to buy the Pacific oysters from Falmouth Bay. Shuck them with an oyster knife, reserving any juice and removing any little bits of shell you find. Pass the juice through a sieve and pop the oysters back into it. Use both the oysters and their juice in the pie.
Beef with Button Mushrooms and Red Wine
I love this pie; it is a proper beef pie with gorgeous gravy and masses of flavour, guaranteed to satisfy.
SERVES 6
1.5kg (3lb 5oz) chuck stewing or braising steak, cut into 4cm (1½in) cubes
30g (1¼oz) plain flour, seasoned with salt and pepper
4 tbsp olive oil
115g (4oz) pancetta, cut into little sticks
½ bottle full-bodied red wine, Merlot or Burgundy
300ml (10fl oz) beef stock
1 bouquet garni (see tip)
salt and freshly ground black pepper
20 pearl (or ‘button’) onions, peeled and trimmed
225g (8oz) button mushrooms
30g (1oz) butter
salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 egg, beaten
450g (1lb) good-quality butter puff pastry
Preheat the oven to 220°C (425°F/Gas 7). Coat the beef cubes thoroughly with the seasoned flour. Heat half the olive oil in a large saucepan on a high heat. Use an oven-proof saucepan with a tight-fitting lid. Fry the pancetta in the oil until browned, remove it from the pan, add the meat and fry, adding a little more oil if necessary, in batches, putting in just as many pieces as will cover the bottom of the pan until browned. Set the meat aside with the pancetta.
Reduce the heat to medium, pour in half of the wine and bring to the boil, using a wooden spoon to scrape up the gubbins that have stuck to the bottom. Return the meat and pancetta to the pot. Pour in the rest of the wine and just enough of the stock to leave the top halves of the uppermost pieces of meat showing above the liquid. Add the bouquet garni, stir and season with pepper. Pop the lid on the saucepan and simmer in the oven for 1½ hours.
Meanwhile, simmer the onions in a small pan in the remaining stock for 5 minutes. Remove the onions and discard the stock. Fry the onions and mushrooms gently in the rest of the oil and butter for 10 minutes, and then set aside until needed. Once the meat has finished simmering, remove the bouquet garni and stir the onions and mushrooms through. Taste for seasoning.
Spoon the mixture into a pie dish, ensuring the meat is piled high in the centre to support the pastry. Brush the rim of the pie dish with a little of the beaten egg. Roll out the pastry and cover the pie. Trim the pastry around the edge, and press to seal with a fork around the rim. Cut a hole in the top to let steam escape and brush the pastry all over with beaten egg. Place the pie in the oven and cook for 30 minutes.
I like to serve with mashed potatoes and buttered Savoy cabbage.
Tip: Bouquet garni can be bought ready made in various forms, but I use a couple of sprigs of fresh parsley, rosemary and thyme and a couple of bay leaves tied together with kitchen string.
With its deliciously rich gravy and meltingly tender meat, this is a truly comforting pie which will fill your belly and put a smile on your face.
SERVES 6
FOR THE FILLING:
1 kg (2lb 4oz) lamb, either leg or shoulder, cut into 4cm (1½in) chunks
salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 tbsp olive oil
a knob of butter
2 red onions, chopped
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp ground cumin
1