Beef and Mushroom Pie

After having much success making turkey pot pie with leftovers I was looking forward to trying a similar recipe for leftover beef.

I made a Prime Rib last weekend (I won’t show the result as I had to have it well done for relatives) and I had some leftover roast beef and bones.

As tasty as Prime Rib is (and as expensive as it is), it simply isn’t as good the next day as a leftover. I used to force feed myself with leftover roast beef but to be frank, it was a chore.

The Beef and mushroom pie recipe follows a similar path as it’s turkey cousin, using leftover over meat, stock and some sauteed veggies with a pastry top to finish off the dish.

I’m delighted to share that the dish turned out remarkably well. The meat was tender and flaky, the biscuit dough turned out wonderfully this time as I did not forget to add the cream this time.

However, the one major step everyone should follow is braising the meat before using it for the pie. In my instance I had placed the bones and leftover meat in a pressure cooker for 45 minutes and my result was a rich beef stock and flaky, tender beef. Perfect…I’m ready for Beef and Mushroom pie! The next time I make this, I will include some frozen peas, otherwise this was a textbook comfort food dish.

Beef and Mushroom Pie

1/2 stick unsalted butter
2 medium sized onions, diced
2 large carrots, peeled and cut into 1/2 inch circles
2 cup of button mushrooms, halved
2 cloves of garlic, minced
2 tsp. of fresh thyme
2 bay leaves
1/3 cup dry white wine

3 cups beef stock
1/2 cup of flour
1 1/2 lbs. of bite-sized pieces of beef
1 Tbsp of Worcestershire Sauce
salt and pepper to taste

1. Place your butter into a large saucepan to melt on medium-high heat. Add your onions, garlic, mushrooms, carrots, thyme and bay leaves. Turn down the heat to medium-low and let them cook & soften for about 15 minutes.
2. Add your flour, turn up the heat to medium and stir constantly to mix the flour. Allow the flour to cook off for about 5 minutes. Add your stock and wine and bring the heat back up to high. Once it starts boiling, turn the heat back down to medium, stir constantly and allow the sauce to simmer until it thickens to a consistency of a creamed soup.
3. Remove the bay leaves. Add your beef pieces, Worcestershire Sauce and peas mix them in as well. Adjust seasoning with salt and black pepper. Reserve.

Sour Cream Biscuit Dough

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 Tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup frozen butter
1/2 cup half/half cream
1/2 cup sour cream

1. Into a bowl, sift the flour, baking powder and salt into a food processor. Using a box grater, grate the cold butter into the flour. Add your sour cream and half/half cream. Pulse a few times until the mixture looks dry with some buttery lumps.
2. Take the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead the dough several times. Roll the dough out and cut it into the shape & size of the vessels you’ll use to bake your turkey pot pies.

Assembly

1. Preheat your oven to 425F, rack in the middle.
2. Spoon your pie filling into your baking vessels of choice.
3. Set the biscuit dough over the pie filling and brush the tops with an egg wash (1 lightly beaten egg with 3 Tbsp. water).
4. Place the baking vessels on a baking sheet and place in the oven for about 20-30 minutes or until the tops are golden-brown.