Steak Pies (the ultimate meat pie)

Hello again .

My name's John .

I'm a retired cook from the northeast of England in the UK .

And welcome to my latest video recipe .

And in this one I'll be making our very popular , mouthwatering individual steak pie recipe .

It really is very easy to make , and also I'll be using my very convenient and simple hot water crust pastry method once more .

You can view the ingredients list and full written method for this recipe on the recipe page on the Channel's website .

I'll leave a link in the description under the video , or you can click on the eye icon top right of the screen to take you directly to the recipe page .

And I'd like to thank the Patreon and PayPal supporters for their very kind help .

I'll be doing the shout out and name Splash a little later in the video .

OK , let's get on with today's recipe .

OK , I'll start by getting the pie filling onto cook .

Pour the 570 mils .

That's one pint of beef stock into a pan on a medium heat .

If you have natural beef stock , that's great .

I don't So I'm using two of these Oxo cubes you can use any beef stock cubes that's available in your part of the world .

Now , while that's heating up , I'll start cutting the meat for this recipe .

I'm using this quite cheap but lean stewing or casserole beef .

Now , if you want to add extra flavour to these pies and make the filling go further , you can add kidney and an onion .

But I'm keeping mind plain and simple with just beef .

First , cut the meat into strips and then cut those into small cubes about 12 millimetres .

And that's about half an inch right .

Nothing too complicated so far .

Now let's move back to the stove , and all you do now is simply place the meat into the simmering stock and give it a good stir .

Now you've got to be careful with the seasoning .

Like I said earlier , I'm using stock cubes in mine , which do contain quite a bit of salt .

And also I'll be using gravy Granules to thicken the finished filling and that also contains salt .

And don't forget the salt in the pastry , too , so there's actually no need to add any extra salt to this meat at all .

You can , of course , add white or black pepper if you wish , but all I'm adding to mine is these two bear leaves .

Now these are a wonderful flavour to the beef .

OK , I'll stick the lid on and let that slowly simmer for 1.5 to 2 hours .

Right While the meat is cooking , I'll move on to making the pastry .

Pour the water into a small pan and bring it to a simmer .

Now add the salt to the flour .

Place the butter and fat into the hot water and stir until it melts .

Make a well in the flour and add the hot liquid .

Using my trusty wooden spoon handle , I'll bring it all together .

HM .

Once it all together , scrape down the sides of the bowl .

Now tip the door onto a flowered surface and fold it all together into a smooth bowl .

Try not to over mix at this stage .

Incidentally , this is exactly how you make pastry for your traditional pork pies .

I do have a two part video on how to make pork pies .

I'll leave links in the description box below the video .

If you're interested in making those right , this pastry is way too hot and soft to use at the moment , so I'll cut it into two pieces , one large one for the base of the pies and a smaller one for the tops .

Now I'll wrap them in cling film or plastic food bags and get them into the fridge for at least two hours .

Now this pastry can be made well in advance or even the day before right back to the stove .

To prepare the filling .

First , remove the two bay leaves .

They've done their job .

Now the meat has been slowly simmering for about 1.5 hours , and it's very tender and starting to break down a little .

This is exactly what we want .

Now , carefully ladle off half of the stock into a jug .

This will be used to make the gravy , and I'll show you how to do that a little later on in the video .

Once the level of the stock reaches the top of the meat , stop there to thicken .

And to add more flavour to this beautiful steak pie filling , I'll be using 20 grammes .

That's 1.5 tablespoons of these beef gravy Granules .

If you don't have gravy Granules where you live , you can use a little corn flour .

Or you may know that as corn starch in a little cold water to thicken it .

But the gravy Granules give this filling that dark , rich appearance .

Now give that a good stir until yours resembles the same consistency as mine .

Here , in a video not too runny and not too thick .

Now cover the pot and let it completely cool .

A good way of quickly Cooling something down like this is to float the pan in a sink of cold water back to the pastry .

Now these are the small little pie tins that I'll be using .

They're an ideal size for these pies , and I'll be making four of these .

By the way , I'll leave a link in the description box below for all the dimensions .

Now you need to grease these tins .

I like to use a little lard to grease mine , but you can use butter , shortening or even a little oil to grease yours right on to rolling out the pastry .

Take your pastry from the fridge now on a flowered surface , roll the larger piece until it's around four millimetres or 3 16 of an inch thick .

A good way of getting a uniform thickness in your pastry is to use these pastry guide sticks .

They work great .

If I can get hold of some , I'll get them onto the website shop .

But with a little imagination , I'm sure you can come up with a version of your own right .

That's the pastry rolled , so I'll cut out the circles for the base of the pies , so you'll need to find something a bit larger than the tins that you're using .

I'll just make sure I can get all four out of this piece , right ?

That's the base done , so I'll set those aside for now .

Now roll out the pastry for the lids of these pies , and in this video I'll be using this smaller bowl to cut those out right .

That's all the pastry ready to go ?

Don't forget .

Any pastry you have left can be rolled up and frozen for your next recipe , right ?

I'll have a little clean up and then I'll be back to put these beautiful pies together .

OK , place your pastry base in the centre of the tin and gently press it down right to the bottom corners .

Make sure you don't have any air pockets in the bottom .

And for those girls and guys with long , fashionable nails , you can use a little piece of pastry to push it down .

And for those who are not sure where the corner of the tin is , I'm referring to this part where the bottom meets the sides .

It's important to get the pastry right down into it .

Make sure you have a lip of pastry all around the edges shown OK .

Time to fill these cases with the meat .

Spoon this delicious filling into each pie base right to the top .

Gently compact in it , so there are no gaps or air pockets in the filling at all right , that's each pie case filled for the egg wash .

Crack a small egg into a suitable container and add a dash of milk and whisk thoroughly until it's nice and smooth and runny .

Now , before going any further , preheat your oven to 100 and 70 Celsius .

That's 3 40 F or gas mark .

Three .

Time to put the lids on .

Now brush a little egg wash all around the rim of the pie , being careful not to get any egg wash between the pastry and the sides of the tins as this may make the pie stick as it bakes in the oven .

Now place the lid on and gently press it down all the way around .

Now trim the edges together all the way around as Sean .

Now this takes a little practise , but once you've done one or two , you'll pick it up very easily , right .

Get yourself a small knife and cut two vent holes in each pie as shown .

Once all four pies are done , place them on a baking tray .

Now give each pie a good coat of the egg wash .

Once again being very careful not to get any on the tin , make sure that your vent halls are not blocked with the egg wash .

That there's nothing worse .

By the way , I do get asked quite a lot in the comments .

If there's an alternative to eggs in the egg wash , as many people can't have them , you can't use plain milk instead of the egg .

The colour will be a bit flat and there'll be no shine , but it will work now .

Place them in the preheated oven .

I like to place mine near the bottom of the oven with the bottom element turned on .

This ensures that the bottom of the pastry is well cooked as you'll see a little later in the video .

Now set your timer for 45 minutes .

And while those are baking , I hope you don't mind if I give my two recipe books a bit of a plug .

The books have lots of our favourite , easy to follow recipes from our work kitchens in them .

Both books are available in the website shop , along with lots of other equipment I use in the videos and by popular demand .

The skeleton style oven gloves will soon be available , too .

Just click on the eye icon top right of your screen , and that will take you directly to the website shop , right , making time up so I'll get them out now .

No oven runs exactly at the correct temperature , so if yours is looking a little underdone , just give them a little longer .

But keep an eye on them .

And as you can see , mine are looking fantastic .

So I'll leave them on a wire rack for about 10 minutes , and when I come back .

I'll pop on out of its tin and show you the inside and , as always , have a little taste .

OK , as promised , I'll show you how to make this delicious , beefy gravy .

First , add the stock to a small saucepan .

Now add a couple of small knobs of butter .

This will give the gravy a nice glaze .

I'll bring that to a simmer Now for a thickening agent , mix a heaped teaspoon of corn flour .

You may know that as corn starch in a little cold water .

Now add the corn flour mixture to the gravy and whisk .

And if you don't like your gravy too thick , just add a little of the corn flour mixture a bit at a time until you reach the thickness that you like .

Now to cook the flour taste off .

Just let it simmer for about five minutes .

OK , these have been resting for a few minutes now , and they're still pretty hot and it's come out of the tin very easily .

And as you can see , the bottom is well cooked .

OK , I'll cut this beauty open and just look at that mouthwatering , moist filling .

OK , I'll add a little of that rich beef gravy , and they smell absolutely delicious , by the way .

And here I go and , oh yes , absolutely delicious .

And if you follow my recipe carefully , this will probably be the best pie you've ever tasted .

And I'm not joking .

And this is how we serve this meal from our work kitchens with chips or mush and peas , with a good drizzle of that rich , beefy gravy and definitely a big thumbs up for another great pie recipe .

And as promised at the beginning , here is the latest list of my Patreon and PayPal supporters , and they are .

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And in the meantime , here's a few of my other videos and playlists that you may want to watch so until the next time , be safe in your kitchen and bye for now .