BEEF & STOUT PIES WITH CARAMELIZED ONIONS AND MUSHROOMS RECIPE

 

Ingredients:

For the hot milk pastry:

• 1-¼ cups milk
• ⅔ cup lard (or Crisco)
• 3½ cups all-purpose flour
• ¾ teaspoon salt

For the filling:

• ½ cup flour
• 1 teaspoon thyme
• 1½ pounds stewing beef
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 1 white onion, sliced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 cup sliced button mushrooms
• 1 can stout beer (like Guinness), approximately 2 cups
• 2 cups beef stock
• ½ tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 1 teaspoon thyme
• 1 tablespoon butter for greasing

Instructions:

1. Make the hot milk pastry:

   • Cut the lard into small pieces. In a medium saucepan over medium heat, combine the milk and the lard, heating until it is almost boiling.
   • Combine the salt and the flour, then slowly add the hot milk to the flour mixture, stirring with a wooden spoon until a dough forms. Alternatively, if you have a food processor, combine the flour mixture and hot milk, pulsing until a dough forms into a ball.
   • Flour your counter. Form the dough into a disc shape and let it rest for about 20 minutes, or until cool. Once the pastry is cool, you can wrap it and refrigerate it for up to two days, but you have to let it come to room temperature first.

2. Make the filling:

   • Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit (190 degrees Celsius).
   • In a bowl, combine the flour, salt, pepper, and thyme. Add the beef cubes, tossing them until coated in flour.
   • In a cast iron Dutch oven or oven-safe pot over medium heat, melt 1 tablespoon of butter and add the mushrooms, allowing them to sweat and cook.
   • While the mushrooms are cooking, add the remaining butter to a cast iron skillet on the grill and cook the onions down slowly, allowing them to caramelize.
   • Sear the beef skewers over direct heat on the cooking grids with the burners set to high.
   • Once the mushrooms are cooked down, add the beer to the Dutch oven and bring it to a simmer. Reduce the beer by half, then add the beef from the skewers and the onions from the skillet. Mix in the beef stock, Worcestershire sauce, and thyme. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
   • Move the Dutch oven to the grill, turn off two burners, and use indirect heat to simmer the stew for 30 minutes.
   • After 30 minutes, remove the stew from the grill and allow it to cool while you prepare the pastry for filling.

3. Assemble and bake the pies:

   • Roll the pastry dough out to about ¼-inch thick on a floured surface.
   • Brush a muffin tin thoroughly with melted butter.
   • Using a round cookie cutter to make the initial shape, press the dough-round into the muffin tin.
   • Fill the dough with the cooled stout stew.
   • Cut another round to make the top of the mini pie.
   • Roll the two edges of the pastry together.
   • Cut a small vent in the top.
   • Repeat until all of the dough and stew have been used up.
   • Chill the meat pies in the fridge while you prep the grill.

4. Grill the pies:

   • Clean the cast iron and set atop the cooking grids on the grill so that there is a burner to each side for an indirect cooking set up. For added heat management and even better results, place a pizza stone atop the cast iron.
   • Preheat the grill to 375 degrees Fahrenheit (190 degrees Celsius) by lighting the two outside burners that are on either side of the cast iron setup.
   • Place your muffin tin filled with chilled pies onto the preheated baking stone, which is sitting on the cast iron.
   • Bake the meat pies for 30 minutes or until the pastry is golden brown.

5. Serve and enjoy!

Tips:

• For a richer flavor, use beef broth instead of water to make the pastry.
• If you don't have a Dutch oven, you can use a large pot.
• If you don't have a grill, you can cook the pies in the oven at 375 degrees Fahrenheit (190 degrees Celsius) for 30-35 minutes, or until the pastry is golden brown.
• Serve the pies with a side of your favorite mashed potatoes or roasted vegetables.