Steak & ale pies

Name: Steak & ale pies
Yield: For 4 people
Cuisine: United Kingdom
Ingredients: 1 slice of bread spread with English mustard; 1 egg yolk + 1 tbsp milk, for egg wash; 150 ml (5 fl oz) water; 150 g (5½ oz) cheddar cheese, grated, or 150 g (5½ oz) butter; 80-100 g (2¾-3½ oz) Stilton cheese; 1 onion, finely chopped; 2-3 tbsp flour, for dusting the meat; 800 g (1 lb 12 oz) beef chuck steak; 600 g (1 lb 5 oz) plain (all-purpose) flour; oil, for frying; 1 carrot, finely chopped; ½ tsp sea salt; 250 ml (9 fl oz) Guinness, stout, porter or bitter dark beer (or use beef stock for an alcohol-free alternative); 150 g (5½ oz) chilled butter, diced; 2 tbsp tomato paste (concentrated purée)

Preparation info

For
4
people

Difficulty
Medium

Appears in

Oats in the North, Wheat from the South

By Regula Ysewijn

Published 2020

About

This pie is a real pub classic. If you want to eat it like they do in the pub, then serve it with steamed peas, carrots and thick-cut chips. You can also make these pies with left-over stew – just halve the recipe for the dough if necessary. The variation with Stilton cheese is another example of a classic British pie and if you want to go Victorian style, add a couple of raw oysters to the stew. This used to be the custom to make the meat stretch further when oysters were poor people’s foo