:: Mini Beef and Mushroom Pies!

I have mentioned here before that I like to have my finger in all the pies of life, and staying true to that statement I have a really tasty steak and mushroom pie recipe to share here. Not only that but I thought it was time to tell you that, I’ll be playing Peter Pan this year in the Tivoli theatre Panto in Dublin (For international visitors, panto is like a kids Christmas show). Will I have any self respect left after donning a pair of green tights while being suspended in mid air? Time will tell! We had our first day of rehearsals today and last week we all got flying lessons, which was so much fun! Check out this video, I think I still have a bit more practice to go until this looks perfect!



If you’re in Dublin at all over the next two months make sure to come to the show, there’s a really great cast, lots of laughs, and sure the kids will love it! Tickets can be bought here.


On to more pressing issues, I recently bought a huge quantity of stew steak from the butcher, so I have been trying to come up with ways to get through it. This is a really simple recipe, which makes a really tasty winter warmer. The process is fairly easy, for convenience I use ready to roll puff pastry and just place it over the top of the pie dish, but you can easily make your own and add it here. The steak and mushroom mix is really tasty and can even be eaten by itself with rice. So if the thoughts of pastry are all too much for you, don’t count it out just yet!

Steak and Mushroom Pie

These look great served in individual little pie dishes, but if you don’t have any to hand, simply use one large pie dish. You can cook the pie mix ahead of time, freeze and defrost when you want to use it.

2 tablespoons of sunflower oil.
1 ½ lb of stew steak or diced beef.
250g of mushrooms.
500ml of beef stock.
250g of puff pastry.
2 red onions, finely chopped.
4 cloves of garlic, finely chopped.
A generous pinch of sea salt and ground black pepper.
2 egg yolks.

Heat a tablespoon of oil in a large frying pan, and brown the meat on all sides. You may need to fry the meat in batches in order to get a nice colour. Remove from the pan and set aside. Add the rest of the oil to the pan and fry the garlic and onions until soft. Add the beef stock, meat pieces, salt and pepper and combine. Lower the heat, cover and cook over gentle heat for approximately 1 hour and 30 minutes. Make sure to give the mix a stir every now and then to prevent it sticking at the bottom. The aim is to get the meat as tender as possible, so you may need to add a longer cooking time depending on the meat you buy.
10 minutes before the mix is finished add the finely sliced mushrooms and stir through to combine. Remove from the heat and allow to cool.
Preheat the oven to 220˚C/ 430˚F/ Gas 7.
Dust your work surface with a little flour and roll out the pastry to about ½ a centimetre in thickness. Empty the steak and mushroom filling into your chosen pie dish or dishes and drape over the pastry. Leave about 1cm of pastry over the side of the dish and then push the pastry in to the dish so you end up with a nice crust the whole way round. Using a pastry brush, coat the pastry with the egg yolk, this will produce a delicious golden coloured crust.
Place in the oven for approximately 15-20 minutes or until the pastry puffs up and turns a nice golden brown.
Serve straight away with a tasty salad and enjoy!