Tasty Steak & Ale Pie - Using Silicone Lasagne / Roasting Mould

Steak pie - one of the best dinners on a really cold winters evening. A classic for a Scottish New Year.

With the silicone lasagne / roasting tray mould you can easily make a big steak pie to serve 6 > 8 people. Once made (before cooking pastry), the whole thing including the silicone bakeware mould can be deep frozen for convenience. After thawing, you can finish off cooking it in the same dish.

ALWAYS always use the silicone lasagne / roasting tray mould on a baking tray. Do NOT lift it by the mould itself when full. The mould is intended to be used on a tray and without the tray as support there is a good chance it will tear due to the weight. This could result in burns and a ruined dinner and is not covered by warranty - so please heed this warning.

I will admit - mine never gets that far. Although there are only two of us - my husband won't complain about home made steak pie several days running. Preparation is fairly minimal and the recipe is simple. Cooking time is quite long - but it IS so worth it.

INGREDIENTS

150g mushrooms

250g carrots (peeled weight)

300g onions (peeled weight)

700g stweing steak

7 level tablespoons of plain flour

1 tablespoon of oregano (dried)

1/2 tablespoon of basil (dried)

1/2 tablespoon of thyme (dried)

1 tablespoon dark soy sauce (can be omitted)

100g cheddar cheese (preferably strong) - YES - CHEESE !!??!!

3 oxo cubes

1 bottle Theakston ale

200ml water

1 pack of puff pastry

METHOD

Slice carrots, mushrooms and onions. I like to leave the onions quite chunky. If using button mushrooms, you could leave whole

Cube the steak and add the vegetables and meat to the lasagne / roasting silicone bakeware mould. I don't bother browning the meat first.

In a little bowl mix the flour and herbs along with crumbled oxo cubes and cracked black pepper. Choose different herbs if you prefer You could use fresh herbs which would be even better - but mine aren't growing this time of year outside.

Put this on top of the veg and meat in the silicone baking tray and toss to coat along with 50g of the cheese. CHEESE ? Why cheese ? To be honest, I don't really know. I saw it on a Jamie Olive programme a few years back when he put it in a steak pie. I've no idea of the recipe and haven't seen it in a book - but I did add it to my steak pies. It results in a luxurious tasty and thick gravy and definately enhances it. It does not taste of cheese at all - nor does it go all stringy. You won't see it later.

Add the ale and water. Cover with foil and put in a fan oven at 160deg C for 2 hours.

Take out the oven, remove foil. Add remaining 50g cheese and stir. Put back in the oven for a further hour WITHOUT the foil

Prepare the pastry top. I like to roll it out a good bit larger than the dish. I like fairly dense puff pastry on this type of pie rather than toweringly high flakey stuff that goes everywhere when you cut into it. To stop that happening, I score it in a criss cross pattern all over. Mark your portions on the pastry, cutting about 3/4 through it. This will make it easy to serve with a serving spoon or slice. Knives and sharp objects will damage silicone and must not be used within the mould.

Whack the oven up to 200deg C.

Remove the tray from the oven and apply pastry top with beaten egg glaze. We've got our own chickens in the garden - there is nothing quite like really fresh eggs. The yolks are SO golden.

You could just place the pastry on top, but I like to press it to the rim of the mould. It'll puff up and then slip back in the dish, but you get a nice thick pastry edge.

Another 20 mins in the oven at 200deg C and it's done. Meltingly tender meat, thick rib sticking gravy and tasty pastry :-)

http://www.siliconemoulds.com/ - recipe for Steak and ale pie - Feb 2010