Beef Pot Pie

This is my simple recipe for beef pot pie.  That being said there is no reason you couldn't use different meat, vegetables, and or broth and just follow the same basic steps.  The recipe for what I did will follow at the end.

The first step was to decide what I was going to use.  I'll not lie, only part of this was planning and part of it was using up vegetables that I had extras of in the fridge. You'll notice some small round peppers.  I'm not sure exactly what they are, they're from an unidentified plant that I bought at a fundraiser, but bell peppers would work just as well. 

 

Next I cut everything up into appropriate bite sized pieces.  You'll notice that the mushrooms are in little cubes, that's because I'm using a meatier shitaki than normal and you don't want too big of a piece.  They are in 2 bowls because I misjudged how many I had, but they go in together.  You'll also notice that the carrots, onions, and peppers are in the same bowl.  That's because I cook them at the same time. 

This is the Better than Bullion, garlic, and 2 T of Herbs de Provence.  I put it in a cup with about half a cup of water and use an immersion blender to blend it since I'm cooking for someone that doesn't like the texture of the herbs.  I also like a lot of herbs so if you don't you may want to lower the amount of herbs in your version.  After that I then add another 1/2 cup of water to use this as my first cup of liquid when making a roux.

Next I brown the meat.  It took me 2 batches to brown all the meat that I had.  You want to be careful and not crowd the pan too much or it will steam instead of browning.

Next is sauteing the vegetables.  Each of the vegetables was sauteed by itself other than the onion, carrots, and peppers which were together. 

Mix everything in a large bowl as it comes off the stove.

Combine the mixed meat and vegetables with the roux.  If you are unsure of how to make a roux look at my previous post and it will walk you through it step by step with the roux I used in this recipe.  You want to heat this all back up and let it simmer on low for about half an hour or so to let the meat become tender.

Meanwhile cut out tops for the pot pies.  These are 9inch rounds of pie dough.  I just put the pan upside down as a template for the dough.  As you can see you get 2 whole ones out of a round with a largish area left over.  This time I used 3 pie rounds because I had them leftover and was going to have to throw them away anyway.  Normally I would use 2 rounds and cut strips out of the left over dough in order to cover the extra 2 pies.

Fill the pans with filling. 

Put one round on top of each and pinch the edges against the pan to create a seal.

Mix 1 egg with 2T of water.

Brush each of the pies with the egg wash and then cut some places the top crust to allow steam to escape.

Voila

Beef Pot Pie

1-1.5 lbs Beef Flap Meat

1/2 large Zucchini

1 Turnip

1/4 lbs Mushrooms

Small Handful of Yellow Peppers or 1 Bell Pepper

1 Onion

2 Carrots

2 cloves of Garlic

1 Stick of Butter

3/4 C of Flour

1T Better than Bullion

1-2T Herbs de Provence

pinch of salt and pepper

1 Egg

2-3 Pie Crusts

6 pot pie pans

Cut everything into bite sized pieces.  I prefer them on the minced side, but bitter will not be a problem.  Sprinkle the beef with salt and pepper.  Brown the beef in 2 batches so that you don't crowd the pan.  Place browned beef in a large bowl.  Separately brown the zucchini, turnip, and mushrooms.  Place each in the bowl with the meat as they finish.  Next brown the onion, carrots, and peppers together.  The pan will be crowded and they will steam a bit more than fry.  That's desirable and makes it softer.  Different stoves will cook at different speeds, but with mine it was about 4 minutes for each batch of beef, 5 minutes for mushrooms, 2-3 minutes for the turnips, 3-4 minutes for the zucchini, and 3 minutes for the onions, carrots, and peppers mix.  My stove does cook hot though so yours may take more time.

Next you need to make your roux.  Melt the butter in a pan.  Once the butter is liquid add the flour and stir.  Once it starts to brown a bit you'll add the water a little at a time starting with your prepared broth.  I ended up adding about 5 more cups of water in this one.  You may add a little more or less to get the correct consistency.  You are aiming for about the consistency of thick gravy.  If you need more detailed instructions they can be found here.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Mix the meat and vegetables into the roux and allow to simmer on low for about 30 minutes until things become tender.  

Take your crusts and cut out rounds that match to outer edge of the pot pie pans you will be using.

Divide the filling between the 6 pans you have and cover each with one of the dough rounds.  Press down around the edge of the pan to create a seal with each of the rounds.  Mix 2 T of water with an egg to create an egg wash.  Brush each pie with the egg wash and cut small holes to allow for the escape of steam.  

Place the pies on a cookie sheet and bake until golden brown.  This takes about 25-30 minutes.

Enjoy.