Steak & Guinness Pie

I received this cookbook from my best friend on my 1st wedding anniversary.  He had moved to the NYC area and fallen in love with Tea & Sympathy.  It is a quaint little shop, 1 half sweets shop and cup'a tea to go and the other half exquisite eatery and tea service.  This past December, upon visiting him we made a few stops to this fine establishment, I fell in love too!  The tea, the desserts, the Steak & Guinness Pie :)  We had the privilege of speaking with the Grand Madam, Nicola, herself and she assured me that if I followed her recipe I would have superb Steak & Guinness Pie at home......I was terribly excited to try, but knew I wanted to wait until St. Patrick's Day.

Enjoying some Rose Tea while awaiting my Steak & Guinness Pie

 - Tea & Sympathy December 2013

 After my success with my RockCrok Dutch Oven when preparing French Onion & Mushroom soup a few weeks ago, I decided to test the great versatility of the pot again with this recipe.

 First I cubed my steak, I can't recall the cut of the meat as my husband is the one who purchased it.  You don't want anything too thick and want to cut into small cubes.  Adding 1/4 c. butter and a splash of olive oil to my dutch oven on Med-High heat, I seared the meat until brown and mostly done.

As the meat cooked, I cut my onions.  I usually do all my onions by hand, but decided to try my Simple Slicer.  I will rarely cut onions by hand again.  This little device was amazing to use and easy to clean ( I have been using it non-stop now for a week )

When the meat is done, scoop into a dish a set aside.  Now place your onions and garlic into the meat juices and continue to cook.  I don't like my onions mushy soft, so when they were brown and to the consistency I appreciate, the meat was replaced to the dutch oven. 

Meat, onion and garlic

To the meat, onion and garlic combination, I added flour, paprika, brown sugar and tomato puree.  Cook for about 5 minutes to make sure all ingredients are combined. 

Flour, brown sugar and paprika

 Now add 2 1/2 c.  Beef stock and 2 1/2 c. Guinness  - for the Guinness this is roughly 2 bottles.  

Stock and Guinness added

I added my herbs and bay leaves, turned to a Med-Low to simmer, stirring occasionally.  

I took a quick taste test.  I prefer savory tastes, so did go outside the recipe and added 1 1/2 tsp. of cayenne pepper to help eliminate the brown sugar sweetness.

Next for the Pastry:

I am not a pastry making person and knew this could be the challenge for me.

Sift your flour and salt into a bowl and "rub" butter and shortening in until your mixture has the consistency of crumbs. Create a well, add your cold water and mix until a dough forms.  Roll quickly into a ball with your hands and place in cellophane and in the fridge for 30 minutes.

After 30 minutes, I rolled my dough out on the counter with a well floured counter top and rolling pin.

I used the dutch oven lid and a faux cookie cutter for the pie.  This is where I learned that the RockCrok Everyday Pan or the Deep Dish Pie Plate may be better options.  I had troubles creating a seal of the crust around the outside of the dutch oven. 

 Make sure to brush a little egg on your pastry and then bake for about 1 hour.

I dyed left over dough and hand cut shamrocks for a lil flare.

Regardless of the small pastry struggle, this recipe was amazing!  My husband and I were both pleased with the results and he was happy for my addition of cayenne pepper to offset the sweet.