Adam Frost

It doesn’t get much better than this – my kitchen table, probably my favourite place in the world (after my garden obviously!). Add to that a few friends, their various offspring and Jamie’s Steak and Guinness pie (taken from his book ‘Happy Days with the Naked Chef’).
 
Good Old Steak and Guinness Pie
 
Ingredients
 
680g stewing beef, diced
sea seal and freshly ground black pepper
2 heaped tablespoons flour
olive oil
1 onion, peeled and roughly chopped
1 large carrot, peeled and roughly chopped
4 sticks of celery, trimmed and roughly chopped
2 parsnips, peeled and roughly chopped
handful of fresh mixed herbs (rosemary, thyme and bay)
565ml Guinness
2 x 400g tins of tomatoes
1 x 500g pack of puff pastry
1 large free-range or organic egg, beaten
 
Season your beef generously with salt and pepper, sprinkle with the flour and toss around until coated. Heat 2 or 3 lugs of olive oil in a large casserole-type pan and fry your meat in 2 batches if need be, until golden brown. Add the onion and fry for 1 more minute, then add the carrot, celery and herbs. Fry for a further 4 minutes then pour in your Guinness. Add the tinned tomatoes and bring to the boil. Stir around, then simmer for around 2 hours or until the meat is really tender. The sauce should be nice and thick with an intensely tasty flavour. Season. At this point you could serve it as a stew with mash, or it will keep really well for a good 5 days in the fridge (while improving in flavour at the same time).

To make the pies, preheat the oven to 190ºC/375ºF/gas 5. Put your meat filling into an appropriately-sized baking dish or dishes. I like to make small individual pies – any high-sided round ovenproof bowls are fine. Roll out your pastry, dusting with flour as you go, until 0.5cm thick. Cut out 6 circles about 1cm bigger than then tops of your bowls. Brush the rims of your bowls with beaten egg, then place the pastry circles on top, squashing the excess pastry down the outside of the bowls to secure. Lightly score the top of the pastry in a criss-cross fashion and brush with more of the beaten egg. Bake in the middle of the preheated for 45 minutes until golden and bubbling.
 
 
Of course, every good pie deserves to be accompanied by a suitable beverage and ours was washed down La Piuna Montepulcrano D’Abruzzo (currently on offer at Waitrose…) and my favourite Adnams Ale (probably the best beer in the world. Lots of talk – mostly from the women as the football was on – and subjects included boob job/tummy tucks/tattooing eyebrows (what’s all that about…?!) all being observed by my 90-year old Nan, who I must admit, didn’t bat an eyelid (bless you Nan). I must, of course, thank Mr Oliver – I’m sure you’d have enjoyed the day as well….!