Recipe - Steak And Kidney Pie With Guinness

2 pound Chuck Steak; trimmed, in
1.2 inch pieces
12 ounce Ox Kidney; Cored and Chopped
One fourth pt Guinness
4 tablespoon Beef Dripping or Lard
2 md Onions; Sliced
3 tablespoon Flour; Liberally Seasoned
2 lg Mushrooms; Sliced
Three fourths pt Beef Stock or water
1 Bay Leaf
4 Thyme; Sprigs

FOR THE PASTRY
8 ounce Selfraising Flour
4 ounce Shredded Suet or Lard
Salt and Pepper
1 Egg yolk; mixed with a
splash of milk

Place the steak and kidney in a bowl with the guinness and herbs. Cover and
leave for at least 4 hours, preferably overnight. Drain the meat, reserving
the marinade. Toss the meat in the seasoned flour. Heat 1 tsp of the
dripping or lard in a large, heavy pan and gently fry the onions for five
minutes. Remove the onions to a plate, add more of the dripping to the pan
and fry the floured meat in batches until it's browned on all sides. Return
the onions and the rest of the meat and any remaining flour to the pan.
Stir thoroughly, then add the mushrooms, marinade, herbs and stock or
water. Bring slowly to a simmer, stirring as the sauce thickens, then cover
the pan and cook gently for 1.5 hours. Taste the gravy, adjust the
seasoning with salt and pepper and remove the herbs. Transfer to a deep pie
dish, place a pie funnel in the middle and leave to cool.

To Make the pastry. Sift the flour into a bowl. Sprinkle in the suet or add
the lard, season with salt and pepper and mix lightly with your hands.
Sprinkle in 2 tablespoon of cold water, adding more as you mix with a knife. As it
begins to clump together, use your hands to work it into a smooth, elastic
dough. Leave to rest for five minutes, then roll out the pastry slightly
thicker than normal. Cut a oneinch strip and lay it around the inside edge
of the pie dish. Dampen it with water, then put the pastry lid in place.
Trim and crimp the edge, knocking it back with the flat blade of a knife so
that the actual edge looks as deep as possible. Make a small steamhole in
the centre and cut some leaves from the pastry trimmings to decorate the
top. Paint the pie lid with glaze. Bake in a preheated oven to
200C/400F/Gas Mark 6 for 15 minutes. Lower the heat to 180C/350F/Gas mark 4
and cook for 30 minutes until the pastry is golden brown.

Lindsay Bareham

From Gemini's MASSIVE MealMaster collection at www.synapse.com/~gemini