We had a fun group of people over last night, including my sister Marghi. She is definitely on the picky side, so I wanted to make something she would like. I have been dying to make a really good meat pie ever since my last trip to London, which was about a year ago, but somehow I had never found the time or occasion to do so. Last night presented the perfect opportunity to try a Jamie Oliver recipe for meat and mushroom pie!


Meat & Mushroom Pie
This amount will serve 8 people.

Ingredients:

• 1 T lard (or vegetable oil, or crisco)
• 2 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped
• about a pound of wild mushrooms, chopped (I used a mix of portobellos, criminis, chanterelles, and shiitakes)
• 1 large or 2 small onions, sliced
• 2 carrots, peeled and diced
• 3 celery stalks, trimmed and chopped
• about 4 pounds of stew meat, cut in cubes
• a bit of flour for coating
• leaves of 2 sprigs of thyme
• a couple dashes of worcestershire sauce
• about 2 cups of red wine
  
• about 5 oz grated cheddar cheese
• 1 egg
• 1 T milk
• 2 boxes of frozen puff pastry, thawed according to package (I used Pepperidge Farms)
• salt and pepper
  

Method:

• Melt lard (or oil or crisco) in a big pot on high heat. Add mushrooms and cook, stirring, for a couple of minutes.
• Add garlic, onions, carrot, and celery. Cook about 5-10 minutes, until vegetables soften a bit, stirring often.
• Meanwhile, toss the beef in some flour, pepper, and salt to coat. Shake off excess and add the beef to the pot and brown. At this point you will have a whole bunch of stuff in the pot so just keep stirring every few minutes or so, until the beef is a little brown. This will probably take around 15 -20 minutes.
• Throw the thyme in the pot, and the wine. Stir the mixture and try to scrape the crusty bits off the bottom of the pan as the wine deglazes the pot.
• Smoosh the meat down into the pan. Add just enough water to completely cover the meat.
• Bring to a boil and boil for 5 minutes. Turn the heat down and cover the pot. Simmer for about 2 hours, checking once every 20 or 30 minutes to make sure there is just enough water to cover. If not, add a little more (hot water is better.)
• Once the meat is very tender and coming apart, pull it out with a slotted spoon and put it in a big bowl.
  
• Cook the sauce on high until it reduces and gets thicker. If, after about 15 minutes, it's not thick and gravy-like, mix a couple tablespoons of cornstarch with a couple tablespoons of water, and drizzle it into the mixture a little bit at a time, stirring all the time. You will immediately be able to see it thickening.
• When desired thickness, pour the sauce into the bowl with the meat. Stir in the cheddar cheese. Taste the mixture and add salt and pepper if necessary. Set aside.
  
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9X13 glass pan with non-stick spray, and line with the puff pastry. Since the puff pastry comes folded, I just broke it apart at the folds and laid it in the pan, smooshing the seams together. Cover the bottom and sides, leaving a little overhang. Remember it is just the bottom so it doesn't need to be pretty, it just needs to basically cover the bottom and sides.
  
• Spoon the meat mixture and gravy into the lined pan and even out. Lay strips of puff pastry over pan, overlapping a bit. (This saves you from having to roll out the pastry and what have you.) Smoosh all the pastry edges together and trim with a knife. If you have extra puff pastry, cut decorative leaves or hearts or whatever out of the pastry, and place on top.
• Whisk the egg and milk together with a bit of salt and brush over the top of the pastry. Cut a few slits in the pastry for the steam to escape.
• Cook at 375 for about an hour, until puffed and golden. If the top is getting overly brown while the sides and bottom are not done (you will be able to see, because you are using a glass pan) then cover the top loosely with a piece of foil while you continue cooking.
• Serve immediately, but be careful when bringing it to the table because it will weigh a whole lot and be super hot!