SHORT CRUST PASTRY 
For use in quiches, pasties, etc
250g flour
125g chilled butter
pinch salt
sufficient iced water to blend
METHOD
1. Place the flour and salt in a large bowl.
2. Using the tips of the fingers, rub the butter into the flour until it resembles coarse crumbs.
3. Add just sufficient iced water to help form a firm ball of dough. Do not knead or mix. It is better to have the pastry on the dry side rather than too wet.
4. Wrap in wax proof paper and refrigerate until ready to use.
5. If baking blind, roll out and fit into pie tin ensuring that the pastry is not stretched. Prick base very lightly and fill with ‘pastry beans’.
6. Bake in oven 400ºF/200ºC for about 10 - 15 minutes. Remove from oven and place on cooling rack until ready to use.
STEAK AND ALE PIE
FOR THE PIE CRUST
1. Using short crust pastry (see separate recipe), roll out the pastry and line a round aluminium foil dish or small pottery dishes of desired size.
2. Prick the base and chill well.
3. Roll out and cut appropriately sized pastry tops and chill these too. They must be slightly larger than the selected pie receptacle.
4. Alternatively if only tops are desired, cut discs about ½" larger all round than the size of the selected pie dish.
FOR THE FILLING
2¾lbs/1.25kg braising steak cut into 5cm cubes
4 tablespoons olive oil or rapeseed oil
4 onions chopped coarsely
6 cloves garlic chopped
13 ozs/375ml good ale
½ cup chopped parsley
a few good sized sprigs of thyme
2 bayleaves
freshly ground salt and pepper
4 ozs/125g plain flour mixed to a paste with 1 cup water to be used as required to thicken gravy
METHOD
1. Heat the oil and keeping the heat high, fry the cubed beef, a few pieces at a time, until well browned. If a lot of fat is obtained with the frying, pour it off.
2. When all the meat is browned, fry the onions until golden and then add the garlic and cook for a minute or two until both are well cooked. Do not cook the onions and garlic together. 3. Return the browned meat to the pan, pour over the ale, add the herbs and bring the stew up to the boil.
4. Turn down and allow to simmer for approximately 1.5 hours - do not use a lid. 5. If the meat is tender before the sauce has reduced, remove the meat and boil the sauce down rapidly to reduce so that a good thick gravy is formed. Return the meat to the pan again and heat through. The sauce can be thickened lightly with flour and water paste if desired. 6. Season to taste with freshly ground salt and pepper.
7. Blast chill the filling before using.
8. For a pie with a pastry base, fill the filling into the prepared shell but do not overfill. Wet around the edges and place the top in place then fork around to make a good seal.
9. For a pie with a top only, fill the filling into the container of choice and wet the edge of the dish and place the top on it, again forking gently to ensure that it holds.
10. Glaze if desired with a light egg yolk, salt and water glaze.
11. Chill until ready to bake. Then bake in oven 375ºF/180ºC until pastry is cooked through and golden.
CHICKEN AND MUSHROOM PIE FOR THE PIE CRUST
1. Using short crust pastry (see separate recipe), roll out the pastry and line a round aluminium foil dish or small pottery dishes of desired size.
2. Prick the base and chill well.
3. Roll out and cut appropriately sized pastry tops and chill these too. They must be slightly larger than the selected pie receptacle.
4. Alternatively if only tops are desired, cut discs about ½" larger all round than the size of the selected pie dish.
FOR THE FILLING
1 2.5lb/1kg chicken
4 ozs/125g rapeseed oil
8 ozs/250g onions coarsely chopped
2 bay leaves
4 cloves
6 peppercorns
8 ozs/250g mushrooms coarsely sliced or quartered if small
1 cup chopped parsley
1 good sized twig of rosemary chopped
4 ozs/125g plain flour mixed to a paste with 1 cup water
freshly ground salt and pepper
www.cookeryschool.co.uk
METHOD
1. Brown the chicken in half of the rapeseed oil until golden brown.
2. Add the bay leaves, cloves and peppercorns.
3. Add sufficient water to cover the chicken and bring up to the boil. Turn down and simmer until the bird is good and soft and the liquid in which it has been cooked has reduced drastically. Set aside to cool.
4. Once cooled, carefully remove the cooked meat from the bones ensuring that no small bones are left in the meat as these are horribly dangerous. Leave in large chunks. Set aside. 5. Brown the onions until well coloured in the remaining oil.
6. Then add mushrooms, brown too and cook until well softened.
7. Add the parsley and rosemary.
8. Add sufficient ladlefuls of the cooking liquor to cover these ingredients and bring to the boil. 9. Whilst this is happening, add further ladlefuls of the cooled liquor to the flour paste to thin it down. 10. Gently pour the mushroom/onion mixture onto the smooth flour/stock mixture. Mix well. 11. Return the saucepan containing this mixture to the heat, stirring all the while to heat through and
thicken the flour. If too thick, add more stock. The mixture ought to be slightly thickened but not heavy and stodgy.
12. At this point add the large chicken chunks and fold in to make sure that the pieces of chicken to do fall apart and become stringly in the sauce. Mix as little as possible.
13. Season with salt and pepper and then chill before using as a filling in a pie. 14. For a pie with a pastry base, fill the filling into the prepared shell but do not overfill. Wet around the edges and place the top in place then fork around to make a good seal.
15. For a pie with a top only, fill the filling into the container of choice and wet the edge of the dish and place the top on it, again forking gently to ensure that it holds.
16. Glaze if desired with a light egg yolk, salt and water glaze.
17. Chill until ready to bake. Then bake in oven 375ºF/180ºC until pastry is cooked through and golden.
