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.

---- o o o o ---- 

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.

are your nostrils aquiver and tingling? yes, they are...I can tell.

I remember the first meat pie that I ever had was in London, back in November of 2008. I went on this two-week long adventure all by myself in a strange and foreign land. Well, not so strange, but definitely foreign to me! People talked funny and the the money was confusingly colorful. What was the pink paper worth again?? Despite the initial frustration and confusion, I quickly adapted and started to tick off things on my to-do list. Tower bridge? check! Big Ben? Check! 221B Baker Street? Check! Picadilly Square? Double check!

I had a blast and am eternally grateful for having the opportunity to visit such an amazing city. If I were to retire anywhere in the world, it would definitely be London. With that being said, one of my favorite parts of the trip was checking off my ultra toursity foodie list! English breakfasts, mulled wine, cornish pasties, fish and chips, mince pies, and beef and ale pie, oh my!

Speaking of beef and ale pies, I had my first at The Porcupine on Leicester Square. I had been walking all day and looking for the perfect place to get my pie on. This pub was set in a historic building and had a wonderful atmosphere. The pie was excellent! Exactly what I was looking for!

Since then, I've indulged in a few variations of meat pies Some with red wine, some with sausage, and endless varieties of crusts to go along with them. Strangely enough, I never really made a meat pie of my own. Well, to remedy that situation, I decided to go on a hunt for a pie-specific book. I wanted a mix of both sweet and savoury, but not necessarily a baking book. Strictly pies only with the exception of pie-like recipes.

The first book I considered was Pie by Angela Boggiano. A quick look through the book, however, quickly changed my mind about it. While there were lots of pretty pictures, I found I needed more pictures and most of the pies that were listed weren't exactly something that I would readily make (ie, pies with oyster, gooseberry, or chorizo). Also, when looking for a recipe, it was hard to look for a specific kind of pie I wanted to make. It was also the same with The Four & Twenty Blackbirds Pie Book by Emily Elsen and Melissa Elsen. Although it had lots of great recipes, no savory pies in sight.

A Year of Pies by Ashley English also yeilded the same results. So many fruit and vegetable pies...where were the meat pies?? One other book I considered was Pies and Tarts for Dinner and Dessert by Stephane Reynaud and Marie-Pierre Morel. I liked that the pies were rustic looking and Eastern European based, but it was just a tad bit frou-frou for my taste.

Then I found Pies: Sweet and Savory by Caroline Bretherton. The first time I flipped through the book, I knew that I had found my pie book. Like the title suggested, the book is damn-near cut in half for the amount of sweet vs. savory. The contents are conveniently divided into types of pies to make (meat, fish, vegetarian, fruit, chocolate...) then again into a recipe planner that lists each recipe by pie type (top-crust pies, double-crust pies, cobblers and crumbles, etc...). It also has a chapter devoted to pie dough complete with decorative suggestions and multiple dough recipes. Not only that, but I would probably make most, if not all, the recipes in the cookbook. Winner!!

Now, even though I thought this was a excellent cookbook, I found that some of the directions were a little confusing. Directions could've been worded differently and picture how-to's would probably have helped with my first pie. However, I found that this was easily fixed if you knew what kind of pie you were making (in my case, a top-crust pie).

I've reworded the directions so that it'll be (hopefully) easier to understand. For this recipe, I found that I wanted just a bit more veggie and a tad more gravy than what the recipe called for. Also, the crust was adapted from the original just because, apparently, I can't read directions, lol. We've made this pie twice already. . . now, if we can only get past this one to try the others!

On a side note...no humans were harmed in the making of this pie (in case you missed the Sweeney Todd reference in the title, lol). Yum! Oh, and Happy Halloween!

---- o o o o ---- 

Herb Steak and Vegetable Pie
(adapted from Pies: Sweet and Savory)

For the Filling:
2 medium potatoes, cut into bite-sized pieces
2 large carrots, cut into bite-sized pieces
2 large parsnips, cut into bite-sized pieces
salt and freshly ground black pepper
1.5 lbs beef stew meat, chopped into bite-sized pieces
2 tbsp olive oil
1 medium onion, finely chopped
2 tbsp all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1 1/2 cups beef stock or broth
1 cup red wine
2 tbsp finely chopped rosemary leaves
1 bay leaf

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:
Boil the potatoes, carrots, and parsnip chunks in a saucepan of salted water for 15 minutes, until soft. Drain and set aside. Over high heat, sear meat with 1 tbsp olive oil in a large nonstick frying pan for 5 to 8 minutes, until browned all over. Remove with a slotted spoon and set aside.

Reduce heat to low and add remaining 1 tbsp olive oil to the frying pan. Add the onion and a pinch of salt then sweat gently for about 5 minutes, until onion is soft and translucent. Stir in the flour and continue to cook for another 2 minutes.

Increase the heat a little, then add the Worcestershire sauce, beef stock, red wine, rosemary, and bay leaf. Bring to a boil then reduce heat to low. Return meat to the pan and simmer gently for about 30 to 40 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in cooked vegetables and season with salt and pepper.

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 spoon filling into the pie dish. 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 the edges of the dough together to seal.

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.

sticky and sweet persimmons.

that picture might no look like much...but, boy, is it one big bowl of happiness! That, my friends, is a warm serving of sweet pudding. persimmon pudding, to be more precise. and smothered with an awesome buttery, caramelly, toffee sauce. mmmm......

it's that time of year when persimmons are in season and after my last attempt, i decided it was high time i tried my hand at using persimmon again in baking. i did some googling and found that persimmons aren't all that weird in american cooking. what really intrigued me was that in some areas, they prepared desserts similar to british dessert puddings like sticky toffee pudding. wait a minute...that didn't sound like a bad idea!

that got me looking for recipes and i finally decided on combining two recipes. i wanted the persimmon pudding to be an old-timey recipe that someone's grandma used to make since i only had fuyu available in my area. secondly, i wanted to make an easy toffee sauce that would really compliment the pudding. well, since the sauce was already made for a persimmon pudding, i decided to go ahead with it. and was i glad i did!! it's nice and buttery and almost too sweet...almost.

the pudding, on the other hand, was okay. i might try for a more "cakier" pudding as it took longer than the perscribed time to cook. it does get firmer as it sits but no where near "sponge-like". will definitely keep the toffee sauce recipe and hunt for another pudding to try. heck, i think i might try the actual pudding the came with the toffee to save me the time!

Treva’s Prize Winning Persimmon Pudding
(from Bloomer Living)

1 cup of persimmon pulp
1/4 tsp soda
1 egg, beaten
1 cup sugar
1 cup flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 1/4 cup cold milk
1/4 cup melted butter

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray pan with cooking spray. Stir soda into the pulp and mix well. Add the egg and the sugar until combined. Mix together the flour with baking powder. Alternate a little flour with a little milk until all flour and milk is gone. Don't dump them in together or else you will get lumps. Stir in the melted butter and mix well. Pour into 9x9 pan and bake for 30 minutes or until edges pull away from the pan and toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.

Sticky Toffee Sauce
(from A Cozy Kitchen)

3 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/3 cup light or dark brown sugar
1/4 vanilla bean, scraped
3 tablespoons heavy cream

In a small bowl, mix together the vanilla bean caviar and brown sugar together. In a medium saucepan, set over medium low heat, add the vanilla brown sugar and butter. Cook until the butter has melted and the brown sugar begins to caramelize, about 2 to 3 minutes (deviated a little bit...no vanilla bean, only extract so i added the extract right at this point). When the brown sugar begins to bubble, add the heavy cream and stir. Cook for an additional 3 minutes. During this time the toffee sauce will thicken and reduce by a little bit. When the persimmon pudding comes out of the oven, pour the warm toffee sauce over the pudding and serve.

hailing britain.

had a recent conversation with someone about travelling overseas. reminisced about london and it brought back some wonderful memories of my trip from a couple of years ago. i really loved it there and it's on my to-do list to come visit again. in honor of the great london trip, i made mushrooms on toast for dinner. :)

 

Madiera Mushroom and Shrimp on Corn Rye Toast
(serves one)

for the shrimp and mushrooms:
1 cup mushrooms, sliced (i used a 10 oz. bottled mushrooms since i had that handy)
5-6 medium frozen uncooked shrimp, cut in half and tail trimmed
1/4 cup or so roughly chopped white onion
2 large cloves garlic, roughly minced
1/4 teaspoon paprika
1/4 teaspoon thyme (i used dried)
1 sprig italian parsley, roughly chopped
1/4 cup or so chicken stock
1/4 cup or so madiera wine
salt and pepper
olive oil
constarch with water to thicken

for the toast:
1 thick slice artisan corn rye bread (or whatever bread you have on hand)
butter to toast bread

Drizzle some olive oil in a pan and let heat on medium high. Once hot, cook onion and garlic in oil until slightly golden. Add mushrooms and cook until the edges of the mushrooms are browned then add the shrimp. Season with the papriika, thyme, salt, and pepper. Continue to cook, stirring the pan, until the shrimp are almost done. Add just enough chicken broth to deglaze the pan. Reduce slightly then add about the same amount of wine. Let wine cook for about 2-3 minutes then add cornstarch to thicken to desired consistency. Add the chopped parsley then keep warm.

In a seperate pan, melt enough butter to cover a side of bread. Once foamy, lay the bread down to toast. Add some more butter to the pan and repeat process until bread is nice and golden brown on each side. When done, plate the bread and top with mushroom and shrimp mixture. Garnish with additional parsley and serve.

bangers and mash.

i don't know if it's just the fact that i'm addicted to watching gordon ramsay or if it's the head of cauliflower in my fridge that's about to go bad....whatever the case may be, i suddenly had a hankering to make some good 'ole bangers and mash. now i know he's scottish....but he's got a british accent, dammit! and yay for low-carb food!



started off with cutting the cauliflowers to size and then boiling them in salted water. after that was done cooking, i drained it and took some three cheese blend, paprika, pepper, and a little bit of half and half to make the mash. added some garlic powder and then some freshly chopped green onions. beaauuuutiful!



next, i pan fried the chicken sausages in olive oil, set them aside, sauteed some onions, then added some chicken stock, pepper, a little half and half, and thickened it with a little corn starch. then put the sausages back to simmer with the gravy and that was it!

one thing i think i would do differently is probably to have more gravy to cover the sausages with. and probably a less salty sausage. this particular one was a teeny bit salty for what i had in mind. but, overall, it was still pretty good. yay! :)
 

Cheesy Cauliflower Mash
(makes 2 to 3 servings)

1/2 large head cauliflower, cut to pieces
1/8 cup or so three cheese parmesan blend
1/4 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/3 cup or more half and half
salt and pepper
1/4 cup green onion, chopped

Boil the cauliflower in salted water until soft and tender. Drain and return to pot. Add the parmesan blend, paprika and garlic powder. Over very low heat, mash the cauliflower while slowly adding the half and half. When reached desired consistency, stir in the green onion. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
 

Sausage in Onion Gravy
(makes 2 to 3 servings)

4 chicken sausages
1 small onion, sliced or chopped
i clove garlic, minced
olive oil
1 tbs flour
1/4 tsp onion powder
1 1/2 cups low sodium chicken stock
1/3 cup half and half
salt and pepper
1 tsp cornstarch mixed with a little water for thickener

Pan fry the sausages until browned in a little olive oil. Remove from pan and set aside. In the same pan, add the onions and the garlic and cook until onions are slightly translucent. Add the flour and onion powder and cook for a few of minutes. Add the chicken stock and half and half, stirring constantly. Add desired amount of cornstarch/water mixture slowly while stirring then add the sausages back to the pan. Let simmer until desired thickness (mine took 10 minutes) then season with salt and pepper to taste. If too thick, add additional stock or water to thin out. Serve sausages topped with gravy.

marmite.

ah marmite. this is one of those substances that's got so much potential in the kitchen. i was looking up things to do with it and a whole slew of recipes came up. in the end, i decided that i wanted to see what it would taste like if paired with something that would soak up all that yeasty goodness. sooo...mushrooms on toast it was!

the result? well, i was a little disappointed that it didn't turn out the way i expected it to. i was missing something...probably a meat of some sort to balance out the saltiness of it all. what i ended up having was just a little too salty batch of mushrooms and an overpowering taste of the marmite. definitely too much product. next time, less marmite, and more main ingredient besides mushroom and parsley.... :/