I am a little addicted to making food that I see in blogs. I'll often just Google an ingredient and scroll through the lists of blogs that have a recipe that contain that ingredient. Then I spend countless hours just flicking around the site, seeing what else I can find that looks interesting. Yes, riveting. I know. I do however come across some different meals, and with a little bit of creativity I can generally make em happen.
That's what dinner was today.
As I was making the pie, I thought for sure it would not be something that ended up on this blog. Blue cheese is not the sort of thing you offer to someone unless they have an ounce of gastronomic adventure in them. However, when I served the final product I realized that you could hardly tell there were vegetables in it, yet over half the pie is made of veggies. And the blue cheese wasn't overwhelming.
Score!
Unfortunately there isn't any leftover to see if Goose likes it, so I can't vouch for the discerning child appeal - but The Dude enjoyed it and ate all of his (as long as it was served like a choo-choo train).
I'd say if you are an adult who doesn't like vegetables, this is a great dish for you. Sophisticated(ish) and full of interesting flavors. If you are making food for a picky child, have something on back up just in case the flavors are too strong.
If a Dutch oven or an ovenproof casserole with a lid is not in your cupboards, you can just simmer the beef on the stovetop instead over a low-medium heat. It could also be served as a stew, but if that's what you intend to do I suggest using the stewing beef instead of mince - mince stews make me shudder.
Ingredients
olive oil
2 carrots, peeled and grated
1 parsnip, peeled and chopped
1 medium potato, scrubbed and diced
2 stalks of celery, chopped
1 large onion, chopped
1 leek, white and light green part only, cut in half lengthwise and sliced
3 garlic cloves, chopped
1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme leaves or 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
salt and freshly ground black pepper
750g (1.5 lb) mince (ground beef), or stewing beef chopped into bite sized pieces
2 tablespoons flour
500 ml (2 cups) beer (original recipe calls for an ale, I used a very cheap IPA and it turned out fine)
100 g (2/3 cup) crumbled blue cheese
2 sheets ready-rolled puff pastry (or 1 sheet if you are doing one big pie)
1 egg, beaten
Directions
Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F).
In a large Dutch oven or other ovenproof pot (or just a large pot if you’ll be cooking it on the stovetop; see note above), heat a good splash of olive oil on a medium heat. Add the carrots, parsnip, potato, celery, onion and leek along with a pinch of salt so the onions don’t brown. Cook for 10 to 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are soft. Add the garlic, thyme and a generous seasoning of salt and pepper and cook for 1 or 2 minutes more. Stir in the beef, then add in the flour. Stir well to coat the beef and vegetables with the flour and cook for 2 or 3 minutes. Pour in the ale, give everything a stir and bring to a boil.
Cover the pot with a lid and place in the preheated oven for 2 - 2 1/2 hours, giving it a stir now and then, until the meat is tender. If the stew looks too liquid, put the pot on the stovetop, uncovered, and simmer it until it reduces to a consistency you like. Once it’s ready, either straight from the oven or after reducing, take it off the heat and stir in the cheese, then taste it and adjust the seasoning if necessary.
Place one large ovenproof pie dish or individual gratin dishes on a baking tray just in case any filling bubbles up and over the sides, then spoon the stew into the dish(es). Cut the ready-rolled sheet of pastry to fit the top of the pie dish (or individual dishes), rolling it out a little on a lightly floured countertop with a rolling pin if you need to in order for it to cover your dish. Brush the edges of the dish(es) with some of the beaten egg to help the pastry stick in place, then carefully place the pastry lid on top. Brush the pastry with the beaten egg, then bake in the oven for 20 minutes, or until the pastry has risen and is golden. Allow to stand for 10 minutes before serving.
Serves 4
Original recipe (which I hardly adapted and pretty much copied word for word because it was so well written) from Kristin at Edible Ireland.
Let me know how you get on if you make this one! I'd love to hear how people received it!
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