Four days after Gabriel’s birthday it was Neil’s turn to celebrate his. After countless offers from my parents to take him out for a meal he still preferred my home cooking to any restaurants in the area and with good reason.
There are two pubs in the tiny village, called Canewdon, I live in. One is called The Chequers and the other The Anchor Inn. The latter’s food is on the dismal side and it’s a ghost town on most evenings while The Chequers is bursting at its seams with clientele. The Chequers is believed to be owned by Jamie Oliver’s family and my parents loved hanging out there.
While Neil was at work my father and I ventured to the nice pub and ordered Chicken Satay for starters and duck breast with apricot sauce for a main course. What was placed before me was anything but Chicken Satay. The meat on the skewers resembled something that comes out of the frozen section from a price-cut store, which was then chucked in a deep fryer since it was over-browned and glistening with oil. The pieces were perfectly formed and upon further inspection I couldn’t even see a grain in the meat. The sauce was a watery chilli one.
The duck breast was delicious but the vegetables were another story. Now I’ve boiled broccoli many times in my life. There are three possible outcomes: overcooked and mushy, perfectly cooked and tender or undercooked and crunchy. The broccoli and cauliflower were tough and the edges were scorched brown. I clicked. They gave us last night’s leftover vegetables and microwaved it!
My sticky toffee pudding was burned to death and very unapologetically I sent it back in a blink of an eye.
Would you like to save this?
We'll email this post to you, so you can come back to it later!
While we were eating my mother was babysitting Gabriel at home and I relieved her while my father took her out to lunch. Unfortunately, they ended up sitting right opposite the kitchen and saw how every single meal came out of the microwave. There were two of them and they were working over time. What a shame its standards have gone down so much...
Having worked in a “gastro” pub, more accurately a “microwave” pub, myself for a full four weeks (any longer and I would have died), I know the problem is not local. Especially in these days of economic hardship we want bang for our buck. In terms of food at restaurants we want fresh and quality produce, not a ready-made meal we could have bought at half the price from the supermarket and microwaved it at home.
Although the pie took in total about three hours to prepare, it was worth every crumb of pastry and dribble of sauce. At least we knew exactly what we were eating.
📖 Recipe
Beef, Mushroom & Ale Pie
- Total Time: 2 hours 40 minutes
- Yield: 4 1x
Ingredients
- 400g (1lb) mushrooms
- 15ml (1 tbsp) vegetable oil
- 60g (2oz) butter
- 1 onion
- 2 carrots, chopped
- 900g (2lb) chuck [stewing] beef, cubed
- 15ml (1 tbsp) flour, plus extra for dusting
- 30ml (2 tbsp) Worcestershire sauce
- 30ml (2 tbsp) fresh thyme leaves, or 5ml (1 tsp) dried thyme
- 15ml (1 tbsp) English mustard
- 250ml (1 cup) ale
- 250ml (1 cup) beef stock
- 225g (½lb) puff pastry
- 1 egg, beaten
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180°C/fan 160°C/356°F/gas 4.
- For the filling, in a heavy-bottomed saucepan fry the mushrooms in the oil until softened then drain on kitchen paper. Add the butter to the pan and gently sweat the chopped onion and carrots until cooked but not coloured.
- Add the beef and flour to the pan and brown. Tip in the softened mushrooms, then add the Worcestershire sauce, thyme, mustard and ale.
- Place the lid on the pan and place in the oven. After 30 minutes, turn the temperature down to 140°C/fan 120°C/275°F/gas 1 and simmer for another hour.
- Remove from the oven and allow to rest for 5 minutes.
- Adjust the oven’s temperature to 220°C/fan 200°C/425°F/gas 7.
- On a floured surface, roll out the pastry to 5mm (¼ inch) thick. Pour the filling into a pie dish. Brush the beaten egg around the rim of the dish. Top with the pastry and crimp the edges down. Make a hole in the pie lid and decorate with the excess pastry, then brush with egg. Bake in the oven for 15 to 20 minutes, or until golden brown.
- Remove the pie from the oven and allow cooling for a few minutes before serving.
Notes
- We enjoyed this pie with mashed potato, roast parsnips and butter-fried leeks.
- I didn’t have any ale in the house, so used Guinness instead, which worked just as well.
- Prep Time: 150 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 serving
- Calories: 340
- Sodium: 176 mg
- Fat: 24.8 g
- Saturated Fat: 8.7 g
- Carbohydrates: 10.025 g
- Protein: 17.6 g
- Cholesterol: 78 mg
Renil M. George
Your pie is beautiful
michelle
thanks!
Michelle
Lisa: You can give it a try but I have a hunch that it might turn the meat a tad bitter but if you like it that way, why not?!
Lisa
Is it an idea to marinate the beef in the ale overnight? Im going to try recipe tomorrow!
Michelle
Jenny: Thanks for the great feedback! It is much appreciated. Happy eating and do let me know how you get on with other recipes on the site. 🙂
JENNY MASEFIELD
I HAVE JUST FORWARDED THIS RECIPE TO MY COUSIN JOHANNA IN MALTA. I HAVE MADE IT TWICE AND IT IS DELICIOUS, I ALSO USED ONLY A TINY BIT OF THE STOCK AND OLD SPECKLED HEN.
WE'RE HAVING IT FOR SUPPER TONIGHT, I MADE THE FILLING YESTERDAY AND LET IT SIMMER IN THE BOTTOM AGA OVEN FOR 3 HOURS.
YUMMY.
NickG
I have made this twice and it was wonderful both times! The first I had to force myself not to eat the whole thing in one sitting!!
The second time I made the stew ahead of time and took it with me to an informal dinner party me and my friends had and baked the pie there--worked like a charm!
Jo
Made today, an absolute triumph, only problem it didnt say when to add the stock and it seemed rather a lot so I only added 200 ml at the end with the ale.
I also seasoned the flour.
Oh and I used Old Speckled Hen.
It was a masterpiece.
Jo
Made today, an absolute triumph, only problem it didnt say when to add the stock and it seemed rather a lot so I only added 200 ml at the end with the ale.
I also seasoned the flour.
Oh and I used Old Speckled Hen.
It was a masterpiece.
Michelle
Thanks, Ciel. Are you going to try making it some time? 😉
Jo: I didn't have any ale in the house because I kept forgetting to buy it at the shops! Instead I used Guinness. Feel free to experiment with an ale of your choice and let me know how it turned out. 😉
Jeanne
Oh wow - how good that pie looks! And sadly, I think there are more microwave pubs than ones who actually cook...
Jo
Thanks for the PM, I have Guiness in alraedy, even better, I was considering it.
Jo
I am going to make that pie this week, cant beat homemade pie.
Can I ask what ale you use.
Susan from Food Blogga
This brings me right back to my honeymoon when we went to a couple traditional British pubs in London that served deliciously homey food like this. We loved it.
Ciel
Your pie is beautiful - I can well believe it was worth every second of love and attention you poured into it!
Jan Westley
Hi Michelle
It's Jan from Woodford's farm shop here! I saw your photo in Olive magazine and thought I'd look at your blog. It's really good, I've really enjoyed looking through it.
I know exactly what you mean re The Chequers - I've watched the very same thing with the veg - horrible.
Well, hope you get a chance to look at my blog!
http://www.theamplecook.blogspot.com. I'll be tuning in to yours regularly.
Jan
The Duo Dishes
Sorry the resto experience was a bust but obviously the at-home meal was great.