ragoût de boeuf en croûte.

Despite the fancy title, all this is is steak and ale pie. Heck, it isn't even French. If anything, this probably resembles more the Brits than the French. And what's more British that meat pies?

Since I've been eating a lot of fish lately, I had a primal urging for some red meat. I considered making a steak of some sort, but unfortunately, all I had in the fridge were chicken, pork chops, and beef stew meat. Well, since I couldn't have a nice juicy steak, I'll take a stew instead. Heck, Since I was already making a stew, I might as well add a lid to it and make it a pie!

I took this recipe from my favorite pie book, Pies:Sweet and Savory by Caroline Bretherton. This makes a simple pie with simple flavors. While not fantastically great, it's a good base to add other umami flavors to really make this recipe pop.

For my dinner, I decided to make a fancy two-crust mini-pie for easier and more elegant serving. I served this with some baby potatoes and colorful carrots tossed in olive oil and my favorite seasoning blend: kosher salt, fresh ground pepper, onion powder, garlic powder, and some sweet paprika. Oven-roasted at 375F degrees for 30 minutes, the vegetables were perfectly fork tender. Steamed peas added color the plate as well as rounded out this Brit-inspired meal.

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Beef and Ale Pie
(adapted from Pies:Sweet and Savory)

For the Filling:
3 tbsp all-purpose flour
salt and freshly ground black pepper
1.5 lbs beef stew meat, chopped into bite-sized pieces
3 tbsp vegetable oil
1 large onion, chopped
1 garlic clove, crushed
4 oz. button mushrooms, halved
2/3 cup beef stock or broth
2/3 cup brown ale
1 bay leaf
2 tsp dried thyme
1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tbsp tomato paste

For the Dough:
18 tbsp frozen butter
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp salt
1/3 to 1/2 cup water
flour for dusting
1 large egg, lightly beaten, to glaze

 
Make the dough:
Coarsely grate frozen butter into a bowl. Sift over the flour and salt and rub together until well-combined and crumbly. Starting with 1/3 to 1/2 cup water, mix with a fork then with fingertips to form a rough dough. If it is too dry, add more water. Shape the dough into a ball, then place in a clean plastic bag to chill in the refrigerator for at least 20 minutes.

Make the filling:
Season flour with salt and pepper to taste. Toss the beef in the flour, shaking off any excess. Heat 2 tbsp of oil in a large saucepan and brown beef over high heat in batches until browned on all sides. Transfer beef to a plate and set aside.

Reduce heat to medium and add remaining 1 tbsp oil to the pan and fry onions for 5 minutes. Add garlic and mushrooms and cook for 3 to 4 minutes until brown, stirring frequently.

Add stock, ale, bay leaf, thyme, Worcestershire sauce, tomato paste, and browned beef to the pan. Bring to a boil then reduce heat to low. Simmer gently for about 1 1/2 hours, or until meat becomes tender.

Make the pie:
Preheat the oven to 400F degrees.

Remove dough from refrigerator then roll out on a floured surface. Dough should be about two inches larger than the top circumference of a one quart pie dish. Using the dish as a guide, cut a circle one inch bigger than mouth of the pie dish then set aside for the moment. This is the top lid of the pie.

Discard the bay leaf from the filling then with a slotted spoon, transfer filling into the pie dish. Reserve 2/3 cup of the gravy then pour the rest over the meat mixture. Dampen the edge of the dish with a little water then use the scraps of dough to make a collar all the way around, pressing down firmly to adhere the dough onto the dish. Brush the dough collar with a little egg, then top with the dough lid. Using your finger and thumb, pinch and crimp the edges of the dough together to seal.

Decorate the top with any remaining dough as desired. Brush the top of the pie with the remaining beaten egg then cut 2 to 3 slits to allow for steam to escape. Bake for 30 minutes on a foil-lined baking sheet or until puffed up and golden brown. Serve hot with the reserved gravy.