Steak and Ale Pie

Kathy and I in Queen's Park

Kathy and I spent a week in London this past April and let me tell you, all that talk about British food being bland and dull is complete horsehockey.   Although it helped that our stay was in a 5 star hotel, my every attempt at sampling local and indigenous cuisine was met with absolute success!

One of the many bright spots of our visit was to the Allsop Arms in Marylebone, just a couple blocks from our hotel, The Landmark London.  This wonderful and traditional pub offered an "Abbot Ale Pie" on the menu that was absolutely to die for.  Despite my best efforts to wrestle the recipe out of the courteous and prompt waitstaff, I had to rely on my own sleuthing and the close examination of numerous recipes on the 'Net once I found myself stateside to come up with a close approximation.  After a few tries,  I've come very close.   Well, the folks at the Allsop may not think so, but it's delicious and as true to my memory of the dish as I can recall.  Regardless, it's wonderful and relatively easy to make.

The Allsop Arms

It's a fairly forgiving recipe, only some simple basic ingredients and methods are involved.  As for the vegetables, you can pretty much go wild with whatever you want to add.  The dish I had at the Allsop Arms had mushrooms, carrots and peas, if I recall correctly.  For the recipe pictured and listed here, I used celery, carrots and parsnips as I was out of mushrooms.  Potatoes, turnips or rutabaga could also be added, or any combination thereof.

UPDATE 09/2018   Instant Pot version!!!   See below.

Ingredients:

2lb. Beef Roast, trimmed of all fat and cut into small 1/2" to 3/4" cubes (I used a chuck roast)

16 oz. of British Ale (most liquor stores of large size that have a lot of import beer will have something suitable.  "Abbot" was the brand of ale that the Allsop uses, but I have been unable to locate it in my area.  I used Murphy's Stout)

1 large onion

1 T minced garlic

1/2 tsp chili powder

3-4 sprigs of Thyme or 1 tsp Thyme

1 tsp Olive Oil

1 T Beef Bouillon powder

2 stalks Celery

1 Carrot

1 Parsnip

1 T flour

8 oz. fresh Mushrooms

Salt and Pepper to taste

Pie crust (2 frozen ones or see recipe for pie crust to follow)

Instructions:

Add olive oil to a large skillet on medium-high heat.  Coarsely chop the onion and add to the skillet along with the garlic, heat for about a minute or until the onion starts to turn clear.  Add the beef and brown thoroughly, there should be no pink showing anywhere.  Add 8 oz. of the Ale and simmer for a minute, then add the rest of the ale, the vegetables, thyme, chili powder, beef bouillon and salt and pepper to taste.  Simmer for 10 minutes.

(INSTANT POT:  Instead of simmering for 10 min/baking, add the browned beef and all ingredients listed above to the Instant Pot.  Pressure cook on HIGH for 30 minutes.  Quick-release steam.  With slotted spoon, take all the goodies out and put in pie crust.  Save off a little of the juice, stir in some flour to make gravy, and add about a half cup to the pie.  Skip ahead to the 'bake the pie' part below.)

Transfer to a 9x12 Pyrex casserole dish and bake in a 350 oven for 1.5 hours.  Remove from oven, add 1 T of flour and stir to thicken the juices into a gravy.  You may want to pop open another can or bottle of ale to make a tad more gravy at this point if it seems a little dry.  Plus, you can drink the rest of the ale.  Pour into a pie crust, cover with a top crust, slit to vent and bake at 350 for about 45 minutes.  

Crust:

This is my quick and easy pie crust that I use for most things requiring a pie crust.  

2.5 cups of Flour

1/2 cup Olive Oil

1 tsp Salt

Up to 1/2 cup of Buttermilk

Catch it right between "crumbly" and "dough".

Stir dry ingredients well.   You can use a fork, I use a mixmaster.  Add oil and stir.  Slowly add Buttermilk and stir...it will become crumbly at first, then start to turn more into a dough.  You want to catch it right between 'crumbly' and 'dough', which is why you want to add the buttermilk slowly, a little at a time.  See picture, the dough should look like that.   Divide in half, roll out one half for the bottom of the pie crust.  Fold half of it over, pick up and lay half over one half of the pie tin, then unfold.  Add the filling.  Do the same with the other half of the dough and pinch edges, trim with a sharp knife so there's no dough hanging over the sides.

Tomato Pie with Bacon and Peppers

Hi All!

Summer's over and I'm back in the kitchen.  As I regroup and settle into a new kitchen, here's a great post from my favorite cooking blog (other than my own!), "Homesick Texan" for Tomato Pie with Bacon and Jalapenos.  I'm using Poblano (Ancho) peppers instead of Jalapenos, as Kathy isn't that big on hot stuff.  I'm also using some beautiful beefsteak tomatoes that I recently froze...other than that, I made no changes.  Yum!

Tomato pie with bacon and jalapeños

Ingredients:

For the filling:
1 1/2 pounds tomatoes, sliced (about 3-4 large fresh tomatoes)
1 teaspoon salt
3 cups (12 ounces) pepper Jack cheese, shredded (or extra sharp cheddar)
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 jalapeño, seeded and sliced (or try banana peppers, if you don't like 'hot')
8 ounces cooked bacon, diced

For the crust:
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup cornmeal
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
8 tablespoons unsalted butter, chilled
3/4 cups buttermilk

Place the sliced tomatoes in a colander and then place the colander in a mixing bowl. Toss the tomatoes with the salt, and allow them to sit at room temperature for 30 minutes to extract some of the juices.

Meanwhile, to make the crust, stir together the flour, cornmeal, baking powder, baking soda, salt and pepper. Cut into the flour the chilled butter, until the flour has a crumbly, pea-like texture. Stir in the buttermilk and mix until well combined. On a lightly floured surface, turn out the dough and roll it out into it’s about an 11-inch circle.

Preheat the oven to 375°F and lightly grease a deep-dish pie pan or a large cast-iron skillet. Gently lift the dough and place it into the pan, working the dough until the pan is evenly lined with the crust. (Unlike regular pie crusts, I don’t do anything fancy with the top of the crust since it’s puffier than most as it’s a biscuit crust, I simply make sure it goes to the top of the pan.)

To fill the pie, sprinkle half of the cheese along the bottom of the crust. Layer in the tomatoes, garlic, jalapeño slices and bacon, topping with the remaining cheese.

Line a baking sheet with foil or parchment paper and place the pie pan on top. (This is to catch any juices if it boils over.) Slide the sheet into the oven and cook the pie uncovered for 45 minutes or until the crust and cheese are lightly browned and the pie is bubbling.

Some notes after making this recipe:

- It was DELICIOUS
- I used Ancho (Poblano) peppers, it was still too hot for Kathy.  I'm a pepperhead, but for the average eater, consider just using green pepper or maybe a sweet banana.
- I used my own garden frozen tomatoes, in which case 1.5 pounds is not enough...I used 3 pounds, well drained.
- I also topped with a mix of Feta cheese and mozzarella, and used mozzarella instead of pepper jack.
- The crust is AWESOME.
- Your  baking time may be longer, depending on your oven.  Should have sort of a pizza crust thing going on.