Christmas meat pie

24/12/2020

Ingredients

pastry

• 2 cups spelt flour
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 200g butter, cold and diced
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup cold water

spice mix

• 1/2 tsp pepper
• 1/3 tsp nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp allspice
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp cloves
• 1 star anise

stew

• olive oil and butter
• 500g bladesteak/sukade/oysterblade
• mirepoix
  • 1 carrot finely diced
  • 1 large onion finely diced
  • 2 celery sticks finely diced
• 3 cloves of garlic diced
• 20g tomato paste
• 1-2 cups of wine or beer
• oat or spelt flour for thickening
• 20g pork fat (bacon or lards)

Steps

stew

• salt beef on all sides and let rest for ~1hr.
• preheat oven to ~110C (~230F).
• render pork fat
• brown beef on all sides then remove and set aside.
• reduce heat to medium-low and add the mirepoix.
• simmer for ~10minutes.
• add spice mix and garlic. Simmer until fragrant (~2min). Do not let garlic or spices burn.
• add tomato paste and cook further ~1min.
• add wine and de-glaze the pot. Simmer for ~5min.
• return meat to pot.
• add lid to dutch oven, and place in oven for ~3-4 hours.
• mix a tablespoon of spelt flour with juices from stew in a cup to create a slurry. Add the slurry back to the stew and cook for a further 1min.

pastry

• Combine flour, salt, butter in a bowl.
• Gently rub in the butter until it resembles breadcrumbs, but don’t overwork it (some butter bits is fine).
• Add water and egg in a bit at a time until the mixture forms a ball (you may not need all the water).
• Wrap in cling wrap and put in the fridge for a couple of hours (or overnight).
• Roll out to match your pie dish,
• Fill with stew and bake at ~170 for 20-35 mins (till golden brown).