Mary Gavin’s Steak Pie
As a family we were blessed with the presence of GG, our beloved grandmother who lived to the grand old age of 105. If you live that long in Scotland it is fair to say you have had your fair share of steak pies. ( If you want to hear more about GG head over to short stories where you will find more about her).
She had the most amazing knack of giving and taking away. My Jane once laboured long and hard to make her a home made steak pie. This was declared by GG as the ‘best one ever’…although the pastry was ‘shop bought’, as opposed to home made.
So if you want to be proper old school with your steak pie, then you have to make it from scratch.
This little story has always tickled me, so I dropped it in to my book - The Dogs of Avarice.
Ingredients
3 x TBSP Sunflower oil
1 x kg Braising steak
2 x onions, chopped
3 x TBSP plain flour
1 x TBSP Tomato Ketchup
2 x Beef Stock cubes, with 600ml boiling water
375g x ready rolled puff pastry ( ignoring the disapproval from above)
1 x egg yolk beaten
Heat the oven to 160c.
Brown the meat in small batches.
Add the onion and cook on a low peep for 5 mins.
Scatter over the flour , stirring until it turns brown. Add the meat, ketchup and stock. Cover with a lid and cook in the oven for 2 hours.
Tip the filling in to a pie dish. Unravel the pastry, cover the dish and brush the pie with egg yok. Bake for 40 mins until golden brown.
I am not adverse to chucking in a few sausages for a wee surprise.
Also the older I get I dont mind kidney now, but then you are veering towards a pudding as opposed to a pie.
Although to be honest to save all the hassle, go to a traditional butchers and buy one there. Make sure you ask for extra gravy.