Steak And Ale Pudding Food

STEAK AND ALE PUDDING

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 190°C/fan170°C/gas 5. Trim the beef of any tough bits of gristle but leave the fat. Cut the beef into cubes (roughly 3cm), then put in a strong plastic bag. Add the flour, flaked sea salt and black pepper. Tie the end in a knot, then shake wildly until the beef is well coated in the seasoned flour.
• Heat 25g of the dripping or lard in a large frying pan and fry the beef over a high heat in two batches until well browned all over, adding an extra 10g fat when the frying pan appears dry. Transfer the browned beef to a flameproof casserole. Return the frying pan to the heat and drop in the chopped onion with a little extra fat if need be. Cook over a low-medium heat for 5 minutes or until softened, stirring often. Stir into the pot with the beef.
• Deglaze the frying pan with half the ale, bringing it to the boil while stirring to lift all the sediment from the bottom of the frying pan. Pour this over the beef and onion mixture. Strip the thyme leaves from the stalks and add with the bay leaf, sugar, beef stock or consommé, tomato purée and the remaining ale. Grind all over with a heavy bombardment of black pepper. Bring to a healthy simmer, then cover and cook in the oven for 1 hour. Remove the lid and continue cooking for a further 30-40 minutes, stirring once or twice. After this time, the beef should be almost tender and the sauce should be thick. Remove from the oven, taste for seasoning, then leave to go cold.
• Butter a 1.75 litre pudding basin. To make the pastry, sift the flour into a bowl and stir in the suet and salt. Gradually stir in enough water to make a soft, slightly tacky, spongy dough - you'll need around 300ml. Turn out onto a floured work surface and bring the dough together to form a ball.
• Remove just under one-third of the dough to make a lid for the pudding. Roll out the rest until 1cm thick and use a plate as a guide to cut out a circle, 27cm across, using a dusting of flour here and there to prevent sticking issues. Line the basin with the pastry, to a level of around 3cm under the top edge of the dish. This is important as you must allow for the pudding to rise. Be careful with the pastry; if it rips, the gravy will snake and create a mess. Trim neatly to make a flat edge on which to fix the lid.
• Stir the pickled onions into the beef mixture, then spoon into the lined basin. Brush the top edge of the pastry with water. Roll the remaining pastry into a circle just large enough to sit snugly on top of the pastry edge, then place over the filling. Trim the excess pastry, then press the edges together well to seal. Tear a large sheet of baking paper that amply overlaps the rim of the basin and, over this, lay a similar-size sheet of foil. Tie with string.
• Put the pudding basin on an upturned saucer or small trivet in a deep saucepan and add enough just-boiled water to come halfway up the side of the basin after it's put inside. (Alternatively, cook in a hob-top steamer.) Cover the saucepan with a tight-fitting lid ?and put over a medium heat. Allow the pud to steam in simmering water for 2½ hours, adding more water when necessary.
• Remove the saucepan from the heat, then carefully lift the basin from the water using oven gloves. Stand for 5 minutes. Cut off the string, foil and baking paper. Loosen the side of the pudding with a blunt-ended knife, then invert the pudding carefully onto a warm serving plate large enough for the filling to ooze into. Attack the resulting stronghold with spoons, knives and mustard reinforcements.

STEAK AND ALE PUDDING

Steps:

• Heat a drizzle of oil in a large frying pan and cook the onions and mushrooms until golden, then scoop out. Toss the steak in the seasoned flour and fry until browned (you might need a drop more oil). Add back the onions and mushrooms and add the tomato purée, brown ale and thyme, stirring them together thoroughly. Bring to a simmer, cover and cook for 2 hours before leaving to cool.
• To make the pastry, put the flour, suet, ½ tsp salt and a good grind of pepper in a bowl. Gradually mix in 150ml cold water with a dinner knife until it makes a dough.
• Bring together into a ball, wrap in clingfilm and rest in the fridge for 30 minutes.
• Roll the suet pastry out to a circle about 1cm thick and cut a quarter out of the circle and keep for the top. Use the rest of the pastry to line a well-buttered 1 litre pudding basin crimping the ends together.
• Fill the lined basin with the steak mix then re-roll the leftover pastry to make a lid. Crimp the edges together to seal.
• Lay a sheet of buttered baking paper on top of a sheet of foil, fold a pleat in the middle and smooth down to sharpen the pleat.
• Put the double sheet on top of the pudding baking paper-side down and mould to the top of the basin with your hands.
• Tie with string under the rim of the basin and tie a handle to make it easier to move.
• Trim any excess foil then put in a steamer or on an upturned saucer in a large pan and pour boiling water to halfway up the sides of the bowl. Steam for 2 hours keeping an eye on the water level. To serve, unwrap then carefully turn out onto a serving plate.

STEAK AND ALE

Steps:

• Season steaks on both sides with salt, pepper and butter. Put onto a hot grill and brown on both sides.
• In a Dutch oven or cast iron fry pan, add 1/2 stick of butter, onions, mushrooms and salt. Place lid on top and allow them to sweat.
• Add beer and place steaks in pan. Allow to stew until tender.
• Combine the thyme, parsley, nutmeg, remaining butter and flour together. Use this to thicken the sauce so as to be able to coat the back of a spoon.

NEXT LEVEL STEAK & ALE PIE

Steps:

• Heat the oven to 160C/140C fan/gas 3. Heat the vegetable oil in a large casserole dish and gently fry the bacon for 5 mins until lightly browned. Remove with a slotted spoon and set aside. In the same pan, brown the beef well in batches for 5-8 mins, adding a drizzle more oil if you need to, then set aside.
• Add the onions and carrots to the pan and cook on a low heat for 5 mins. Stir in the flour, then add the tomato purée, vinegar and miso, if using. Tip the beef and bacon, along with any juices, back into the pan and give it all a good stir. Pour in the ale and stock, and nestle in the thyme stalks and bay. Season generously and bring to a simmer. Cover with a lid and cook in the oven for about 2 hrs or until the meat is really tender. Leave everything to cool slightly, then strain off about half the braising liquid into another container. Leave to cool completely. Can be made up to two days ahead and kept chilled in the fridge - the pie will be better if the filling is fridge-cold when added. Can also be frozen for up to three months.
• To make the pastry, mix the flour, mustard powder, lard and butter with a generous pinch of sea salt until completely combined, then gradually add up to 250ml ice-cold water to make a soft dough. This can be done in a food processor if you prefer. Knead the thyme leaves into the pastry, then cover and leave to rest in the fridge for at least 1 hr. Can be made up to two days ahead and kept chilled, or frozen for up to a month.
• Heat the oven to 220C/200C fan/gas 7 and put a baking tray in the oven. Heavily butter a 26-28cm pie dish and dust well with flour. Cut off a third of the pastry and set aside. Roll out the remaining pastry to a thick round that will easily line the pie dish with an overhang, then line the tin. Tip in the beef mixture. You want the filling to be slightly higher than the rim of the dish. Brush the edges with egg yolk. Roll out the remaining pastry to a thick round, big enough to cover the pie, then lift onto the pie dish. Trim the edges, crimp together, then re-roll the trimmings and cut into decorative shapes, such as leaves. Brush the top with more yolk. Make a hole in the centre of the pie with a knife, and put it on the hot baking tray.
• Bake for 20 mins, remove, brush again with yolk, scatter with sea salt and bake for 20-25 mins until golden. Leave to rest for 10 mins while you heat up the extra gravy.

STEAK AND ALE PIE WITH MUSHROOMS

Steps:

• Place the beef stew meat, onion, and ale in a large saucepan. Simmer over low heat until the meat is tender, about 30 minutes.
• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
• Season the beef with garlic, thyme, parsley, Worcestershire sauce, salt and pepper. Mix in the potatoes and mushrooms. Cover and simmer over medium heat until potatoes are just tender enough to pierce with a fork, 10 to 15 minutes. Whisk a small amount of the sauce together with the flour in a small bowl, and stir into the beef. Simmer until slightly thickened.
• Fit one pie crust into the bottom and up the sides of a 9 inch pie plate. Spoon the hot beef mixture into the crust and top with the remaining pie crust. Cut slits in the top crust to vent steam and crimp the edges to seal them together.
• Bake in preheated oven until the crust is golden brown and gravy is bubbling, 35 to 40 minutes.