Steak and Ale Pie

Steak and Ale Pie is very popular in Britain, and there are many different varieties. Usually people make it ‘plain and simple’ without any preparation before hand, but I am a marinade fetishist, so here is a complicated recipe using a Stout beer marinade. Bitter beer can also be used.

You need:
650g diced beef (chuck steak)
You will need for the marinade:
0.3 litres British/Irish Stout beer (but NOT Guinness)
1 Tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 Tablespoon soy sauce
pinch of rosemary
pinch of marjoram
pinch of black pepper
1 Tablespoon oil (sunflower or olive)
Mix ingredients of marinade and pour over beef
and leave covered in bowl overnight in fridge, or for three to four hours.
For the next stage you need:
4 Tablespoons plain flour
I chopped leek
I chopped pepper
1 chopped onion
1-1.5 litres of lightly salted fresh beef or chicken stock (enough simply to cover the beef and the vegetables)
1/2 package frozen puff pastry.
A little cooking oil.

Put onion, leek and pepper into a pan with a little oil and cook until onions are soft. Remove them and put aside.

Take beef out of the marinade and roll it in or dust it with the flour, until the beef is covered with flour. Then brown the beef in the pan. When the beef is browned, add the put-aside ingredients and then add all the other ingredients except the pastry and including the marinade to the pan, cook gently on top of the stove for about ten minutes.

Transfer dish to a suitable baking dish, and trim the puff pastry to go over the top of the filling. Bake in a preheated oven at 190 C for 45-50 mins.