The Ultimate English Steak & Kidney Pie

The Master Pie Maker

I come from Yorkshire in the North of England, which together with the neighbouring county of Lancashire is the epicentre of the finest savoury pies in the world. My Yorkshire Streak & Kidney Pie recipe is one of simple, no nonsense ingredients. It has no fancy cuts of meat, in fact I was watching one of the so called ‘Celebrity Chefs’ on T.V. the other day all three of what he called every day meals contained ‘Fillet Steak’ and to top it all, his by-line was “You can feed a family of 4 with this recipe for just £29.00” some every day meal Eh?

Well I costed this pie out and it worked out to 6.00€ so convert that at today’s rates, it’s less than £1.00 per portion

The Ingredients

The beef I use for this recipe was Crop/Chuck steak, also known as braising steak, but you can use any beef you like. I suggest you always use beef from the front end of the animal, it’s cheaper and as it loves to be slow cooked, it has miles more flavour too. I have even made this recipe with shin-beef with excellent results. Beef from the rear end of the animal is certainly leaner but in a pie it tends to be very dry and chewy however you cook it.. The kidney was beef kidney, you can use lamb or pig’s, but I think it’s correct to keep everything beef in this Special pie.

The vegetables in the recipe are just one simple onion, nothing else, no exotic things like garlic, ginger, celeriac, etc.

The spices are almost as simple, salt, black pepper, mustard powder.

And the herbs even simpler, one sprig of Thyme and two Bay-leaves, that’s it

As for the beef stock, well, as I cook a lot I usually have some home made beef stock in the freezer, but on occasions I buy a carton from the supermarket, or I make up a stock cube, they’re all good these days.

You can also watch the video of me making this awesome pie HERE

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The Ultimate English Steak & Kidney Pie

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Course: Mains

Cuisine: English

Author: :Mr. Paul

Ingredients

• For the filling
• 750 g beef cubed in 2.5cm I use chuck/crop steak see my tips below
• 300 g beef kidney cubed in 2.5cm
• 1 medium sized onion chopped
• 50 g beef dripping see my tips below
• 500 ml beef stock fresh, carton or a made up stock cube are all OK
• Sprig of fresh thyme
• 2 bay leaves
• Flour for coating the meat.
• Salt pepper and mustard powder
• Dash of Worcestershire sauce
• For the pastry
• 500 g plain flour
• 125 g lard
• 125 g butter or margarine
• ½ tsp baking powder NOT baking soda
• 95 g cold water see my tips below

DISCLAIMER

I recommend using the Metric measurements (instead of cups & spoons) for more accuracy and better results.

Instructions

• Heat some of your fat in a heavy bottomed ovenproof pan and sauté the onions gently until just beginning to colour (Careful not to burn them) this should take about 6 - 7 minutes.
• Remove them and set aside.
• Now season the flour with salt, pepper and the mustard powder and coat the beef in the mixture. I usually do this is a zip-loc© bag (see my video) which saves a lot of mess.
• Add more fat to your pan and fry the beef in several batches until nicely browned all over, then continue to do the same with the kidney.
• Add all the beef, kidney and onions to your pot, add a little of the stock and scrape up all the brown bits on the pan bottom, this is where most of the flavour is so don’t waste it.
• Add the rest of the stock and Worcestershire sauce together with the sprig of thyme and the two bay leaves ( I like to scrunch them up to help them release their aromatic oils).
• Bring to the boil, cover with a lid and into the oven at 170ºC for about 1hr 45 mins to 2 hrs or until the beef in nice and tender.
• Remove from oven and leave until properly COLD, you cannot make pies with a warm filling, the pastry will go very soggy.
• Divide your pastry and line the bottom of whatever pie dish you are using and fill with the cold filling. Make sure you fill to the top otherwise you pastry lid will sink down onto the filling and will not crisp up properly.
• Wet the top edge of the pastry base then place on the top and make sure the two layers of pastry are well sealed.
• Brush the top with a beaten egg and bake at 180ºC for about 45 - 60 minutes depending on the size of your pie. You will see when the to is crisp and nicely coloured.
• Allow to rest for about 15 minutes before serving.

Mr Paul's Tips
I always use beef from the front end of the animal because it has a nice fat content (No Fat No Flavour), also it's always a cheaper cut but as you slow cook it, it's always tender.
I also use beef dripping when cooking beef, but you can use lard or any oil you choose.

Have you tried this recipe?Please leave a comment below, or If you have any other questions or problems Leave me a message HERE

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