Читать книгу Sophie Conran’s Pies - David Loftus - Страница 17

William Leigh

This pie is served at my brother Tom’s fantastic pub. While I was living in Australia he called me up and in a very excited voice said, “Soph, I’ve bought a pub and named it after you.” “Thanks, that’s so sweet of you,” I replied. He giggled, “Yes. It’s called The Cow.”

SERVES 6

4 slices of beef shin 2.5cm (1in) thick (see tip)

2 tbsp vegetable oil

sea salt and a fully charged pepper mill

4½ or 5 large brown onions, finely sliced into half moons (you want more than you think)

2–3 cloves garlic, finely sliced

2 handfuls button mushrooms, halved and quartered, or 12 shucked oysters (see tip)

1 monstrous bunch of herbs, including thyme, bay leaves, rosemary, sage, parsley stalks and tarragon (only a touch of rosemary and sage as they are so vicious)

375g (13oz) good-quality butter puff pastry for 1 large pie, or 500g (1lb) for 6 individual pies

1 egg yolk, whisked with 1 tbsp milk

This recipe is a corruption of the mighty “Grillade des marinières du Rhône” as taught to me by the highly estimable chef Jeremy Lee. The oysters are an addition that would not have been out of place in a Victorian kitchen. They were often used to add body to meat dishes, as they were far cheaper than they are today. The mushrooms have more modern connotations: the memory of Pukka pies from the chippy after a beery night lives strong in me!

So, to begin with, pop a large pan on the stove over a high heat. It should be big enough to hold all the beef in one layer. Now turn to the beef; rub this lightly with oil and season well with salt and coarsely milled pepper. By this time your pan should be good and hot. Bung in a good glug (more than you expect) of the oil. Don’t worry; we’ll be dumping it later. Then chuck in your beef in one nice even layer. LEAVE IT! Don’t do any cheffy jiggling of the pan and don’t do the housewife “I’ll just take a peek”. Just let it colour for a goodly long time. But don’t by any stretch of the imagination burn it! It should be a good mahogany colour and a little crisp when you eventually flip it. Then repeat on the other side – you won’t be able to get such a good colour or “maillard reaction” on the second side. Then remove the beef and tip away any excess oil, but no quite all. You still need a touch in the pan to cook the rest of the ingredients in.

Return the pan to the stove, turn the heat down and dump in the onions and garlic and season timidly. Allow these to soften ever so slightly for about a minute or two and then add your other ingredients, either mushrooms or oysters, followed swiftly by the beef and the mammoth faggot of herbs. Turn this all around in the pan so the beef is nestled lovingly in mounds of onions. Cover the pot with a tight-fitting lid or, better still, tin foil and a lid. Leave on the lowest possible heat for 3 to 4 hours. I normally use the smallest burner on the stove on the lowest setting, with a heat diffuser or tray under the pan. Don’t worry about adding any liquid. That’s the joy of this dish: the beef cooks in the juice from the onions and vice versa. If you add too much liquid, the onions have a tendency to boil and never fully descend to the great rich sludginess you want from them.

Now, when the beef is completely cooked through and just falling off the bone and the onions have melted through, leaving a beautiful golden swamp of juice, it is ready to take off the heat. Leave it to cool for an hour or so before attempting to break it up. Otherwise you will just end up with white-hot onions dripping down your arm and a mess in the pot. Not fun, believe me! When the beef has cooled slightly, and therefore firmed up a little, break it away from the bone into forkful-sized chunks. Remove any of the skin and discard. Poke out the marrow from the middle of the bone into the onions. Now remove the bouquet garni from the onions and pop the beef back in. Taste it for seasoning and adjust as necessary.

The pie is now ready! Preheat the oven to 180°–200°C (350°–400°F/Gas 4–6). All you need to do is bang it in a suitable pie dish, either one big one or if you are feeling terribly posh have individual ones. Cover with good puff pastry, egg wash it with a bit of beaten yolk and milk and bang it in a goodly hot oven till puffed and golden.

Serve at once with mashed potatoes, or chips if the beery night seems somewhat more appropriate!

Tips – Getting the beef shin: You will need to acquire four slices of beef shin, about 2.5cm (1 in) thick and cut right through the bone. In Italian they call this “osso bucco”, meaning literally “on the bone”. Your butcher should be able to do this, but may need a bit of notice. The rest of the ingredients should be far simpler to lay your hands on.

Using oysters: If you want to do make an oyster pie, substitute about 12 rock oysters for the mushrooms. I like to buy the Pacific oysters from Falmouth Bay. Shuck them with an oyster knife, reserving any juice and removing any little bits of shell you find. Pass the juice through a sieve and pop the oysters back into it. Use both the oysters and their juice in the pie.