I hate baking!
Hate!!!
But i'll bake a savory pie though...and banana bread, but that will be another post.
It is pie season and i'm giddy with excitement. Hearty. filling, savory goodness all inside a buttery, flaky crust. I'm here for it! :)
Here's what you'll need;
400g Kidney
1Kg Beef (Chuck Roast)
1 Cup Diced Mushrooms
300g Flour
140g Butter (Frozen or cold and rough diced)
1 Egg
1 Onion
1 Tablespoon Milk
Seasoning Cubes, Salt & Black Pepper
Bay Leaf
Vegetable Oil
Cut out the middle fatty core of the kidney and dice kidney and beef.
Lightly season with salt & pepper. Add 2 tablespoons of oil to a pan and brown it lightly on all sides. Transfer into a paper towel lined bowl.
Pre-heat oven to 325F.
Soften chopped onions in 2 tablespoons of butter, for 10 minutes on low to medium heat, stirring constantly so that it doesn't burn.
Transfer onions to dutch oven...
Season some flour in a ziplock bag and add beef cubes. Seal and shake to coat meat properly.
Fry beef pieces in very hot oil until browned on all sides.
Clean/wash pan and lightly soften mushrooms with 1 teaspoon of oil.
Add kidney and mushrooms to beef an onions in the dutch oven.
Add bay leaves, 1 seasoning cube, salt, pepper and 1/2L of hot water or light beef stock stock. If you're going to use stock, check your salt content.
Cover dutch oven and transfer to oven to cook for 90 minutes.
*finished product; a thick, rich gravy*
Allow to cool in the refrigerator for at least an hour or overnight. Skim off any excess fat that might have formed at the top.
Time to make a delicious, flaky, buttery crust...
Add flour, a pinch of salt and butter to your food processor and mix until the flour and butter looks like breadcrumbs. The colder your butter, the better your crust will be. I like to transfer my butter from the fridge to the freezer 30 minutes before i'm ready to use it.
Whisk egg yolk and 3 tablespoons of water together and whizz until it forms into a ball.
Gather ball out of food processor, wrap in cling film and refrigerate for at least an hour. Never forget; Cold dough is the foundation of a great pie crust!
Flour a cool, dry surface and roll out thinly.
Pre-heat oven to 375F.
Turn your pie dish over your rolled out dough and measure out an extra inch or so to seal the sides.
Trim off excess, butter the rim of your dish and line the inside edges.
I love pie birds because they are cute, but you do not need a pie bird. The purpose of the pie bird is to release steam as your pie cooks, you can cut thin slashes int your dough and achieve the same result.
If you are using a pie bird, place it in a central position and transfer your filling int your pie dish and carefully transfer your dough over the dish to cover it. This dough is very buttery so it is quite delicate, my finger poked right through one corner so...yeah...careful... Lol.
Carefully pinch the edges together to seal (my edges are incredibly ugly, lol). Beat Egg white and milk together and gaze the top of your pie.
Pop in the oven and bake for 20 minutes, turn the heat down to 325F and bake for an additional 15 minutes.
Take out of the oven and allow to cool for 10 - 15 minutes.
Serve up and enjoy!
