Beef and Guinness Pie

This time of year has me thinking of comfort food. One of my favorites is beef pie in a rich sauce of Guinness with mushrooms. Below is my version of a traditional British recipe

Ingredients

Approximately 1 pound chuck roast cut into bitesize cubes

1 Large onion chopped

4 large carrots cut into bitesize rounds

2 tsp Unprocessed sugar

4 tbsp Flour

1 Bottle Guinness Stout

1 1/2 Beef Stock

Fresh Thyme

Fresh Parsley

Bay leaf

7 ounces Smoked bacon

8 ounces Baby portobello mushrooms

Pastry

The Process

Heat 1 tbsp vegetable oil in a skillet. Lightly flour the beef and brown. Take it from Julia Child, add meat in batches so as to not crowd the pan. Once browned, set aside.

Add onion and carrots to the same pan and cook until onions are softened, approximately 5 minutes.

Add the mushrooms and drizzle with a little more oil. Then sprinkle with sugar and flour. Stir until flour browns.

Return beef and any juices back to the pan. Cover with stout and beef stock. Season with salt and pepper. Add a bundle of thyme and parsley tied with cooking twine.

Cover and allow to simmer for about 2 hours. Check frequently and add more water if needed.

While this is simmering, add the chopped bacon to a pan cooking until crisp about 4 minutes.

Let everything cool completely. Remove the herd bundle.

Heat oven to 400º F.

Add everything to a pie or casserole pan. Cover with pastry cutting vent holes.

Coat the pastry in egg yolk.

Cook for 40 minutes until the crust is golden. In this attempt some of the juices leaked through the vents—had no impact on the taste!