Traveling Desserts: Vanilla Pudding and Fifteens
8 years ago
Steak and Kidney Pie Filling
There's a huge trend for cupcakes and other fancy bakery treats at the moment, and likewise there is a multitude of blogs dedicated to their creation and delectation. Since my blog is a blog about nothing in particular, and I'm a wee bit fed up of these I would like to share my method for making steak and kidney pie. I'm not a big lover of steak and kidney pudding as I adore hot, golden shortcrust pastry; this is possibly a throwback from spending a lot of time at my grandmother's house, where she had a range in the kitchen which not only cooked the food, but heated the house and the hot water. She was a prolific baker and constantly had something cooking in the oven.
I don't buy meat from the supermarket as I am fortunate to live near to a good butchers shop which supplies high quality meat at a reasonable price, with good service as an added bonus. I bought 2lbs (just under 1 kilo) of diced beef steak and kidney - this will be enough for 1 large pie (serves 4-6) or 2 small pies (serves 2-3) . My butcher sells this 'ready mixed' in equal proportions, and they are happy to give you a bit more kidney or steak ratio as you wish. If you're buying your meat from a supermarket or a butcher who does not sell a mix, then buy equal quantities of diced beef for stewing, and lamb's kidneys.
Since I use a slow cooker, as well as the oven for my method, allow yourself a good 6 hours from walking through the kitchen door to putting the finished pie on the dining table.
Once the onions and celery have softened, place them in the slow cooker. Increase the heat for the frying pan so that you can brown the meat - I only brown the steak, I don't think the kidney's benefit a great deal from the process. The browning of the steak is not done to seal the meat but to increase the flavour of the finished dish. With the heat quite high, brown the steak in small batches - about a handful at a time, since putting too much meat in at once cools down the pan and the meat will not brown as efficiently.
Place the cooked meat in the slow cooker, and then add the trimmed kidneys. Now take your beer and add about 150mls to the hot pan and using a wooden spatula, scrape all the browned remnants of meat from the pan's base - watch the beer as it fizzles a bit when you pour it in the pan - this stage should only take half a minute or the beer will evaporate - if it does start to disappear too quickly add a bit of the water from the kettle. Now pour this into the slow cooker with the meat, and then add the pre-boiled water so that it just covers the meat and add a teaspoon of dried sage.
I don't buy meat from the supermarket as I am fortunate to live near to a good butchers shop which supplies high quality meat at a reasonable price, with good service as an added bonus. I bought 2lbs (just under 1 kilo) of diced beef steak and kidney - this will be enough for 1 large pie (serves 4-6) or 2 small pies (serves 2-3) . My butcher sells this 'ready mixed' in equal proportions, and they are happy to give you a bit more kidney or steak ratio as you wish. If you're buying your meat from a supermarket or a butcher who does not sell a mix, then buy equal quantities of diced beef for stewing, and lamb's kidneys.
As well as the meat, you will need half an onion, half a stick of celery, some relish (Worcestershire Sauce or Henderson's Relish, for example), a stock cube, beer (bitter or ale - I use Spitfire, since that is my drink of choice) sage, cornflour, oil for frying and hot water. You will also need ingredients for the pastry. For argument's sake, I will assume that you, dear reader, can make pastry, but if you are unsure, please check out this methodology from Delia Smith.
Since I use a slow cooker, as well as the oven for my method, allow yourself a good 6 hours from walking through the kitchen door to putting the finished pie on the dining table.
First of all, turn on the slow cooker and turn to the high setting, and assemble the ingredients for the filling. Boil half a kettle full of water so that you will have warm water to add to your cooker once the meat is browned. Finely chop the the celery and the onion, and soften over a medium heat in a frying pan using a fat of your choice (I use a bit of lard, since it's going in the pastry anyway).
While the onions and celery are softening, you can tend to your kidneys. The fat and gristle from the middle of the kidney should be removed with a sharp paring knife or kitchen scissors as it does not add to the dish. Although kidneys were often soaked in milk, this practice was done to improve the flavour of pig's kidneys, but since lamb's kidneys are used the flavour is not as over-powering. If there are any large pieces of fat on the steak, remove these too.
Once the onions and celery have softened, place them in the slow cooker. Increase the heat for the frying pan so that you can brown the meat - I only brown the steak, I don't think the kidney's benefit a great deal from the process. The browning of the steak is not done to seal the meat but to increase the flavour of the finished dish. With the heat quite high, brown the steak in small batches - about a handful at a time, since putting too much meat in at once cools down the pan and the meat will not brown as efficiently.
Right, once you make your pastry, you can do what you like for about 4 - 6 hours while the meat simmers away. You can keep checking periodically but avoid the temptation to stir too much. After 4 hours, take a bit of steak out of the pot and check the texture - it should pull apart nicely, and not be tough or chewy; if it's still a little 'bouncey' then leave to cook for a little longer depending on your slow cooker. Once you are satisfied with the tenderness of the meat, remove it from the cooker using a slotted spoon and place it in a dish. You want it to cool a little since the pastry will sag a little if it placed straight onto hot meat. You will be left with a nice gravy in the bottom of the slow cooker, but it will probably need a bit of a thickening. Now you have two choices - add a stock cube and some cornflower (sorry, if this is called something else in the USA, I don't know!) or you can add some gravy granules. I know this may seem like a bit of a cop-out after everything you've done so far, but gravy granules are just stock and flour anyway. If you're going to use stock and corn flower, crumble the stock cube into the liquid, then mix two teaspoons of cornflower with a little water and gradually add to the liquid, stirring all the time while it thickens. Same goes for the granules, add as much as you need to give you a reasonably thick gravy.
That's it now - steak and kidney pie filling, so you can pop it in your pie dish which has been lined with pastry, add.the meat and a little of the gravy, plonk the pastry lid on, and bang it in the oven!
The filling will freeze; allow it to cool a little before freezing and defrost overnight before cooking as y.ou would with the fresh filling.
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