Steak and Kidney Pie

We had a really good bottle of Chateauneuf du Pape, and when I googled what we should eat with it, the answer was steak and kidney pie. I made this, and it was delicious. The basic recipe is in Maw Broon’s cookbook. 

INGREDIENTS:

• 375g Bells ready-rolled puff pastry
• 2 sheep’s kidneys
• Approx 150g mushrooms, roughly chopped. 
• 1/2 onion, finely chopped
• 50g butter
• 450g steak
• A little water
• Milk or beaten egg to glaze

METHOD:

• Turn the oven to 220C
• Dice the steak into large chunks. Peel the kidneys of their membrane, and cut out the central fibrous tissue. Coat the meat in seasoned flour. 
• Fry the onion gently in the butter until translucent, for around five minutes. 
• Add the mushrooms, and continue to fry gently for another three to five minutes. 
• Mix in the meat, and fill the pie dish with the mixture. The dish should be fairly full. Add a little water. 
• I needed to fold the rolled pastry in half, and then gave it a gentle roll to ensure it was just a shade larger than my dish. Wet the edge of the pie dish and trim a strip of pastry, and press this onto the wetted edge of the pie dish. Cover the pie filling with the pastry, pierce a few holes to let steam out, and decorate as you wish. 
• Glaze the pastry with egg or milk. 
• Cook in a hot oven, 220C until the pastry is golden, and then turn the heat down to 180C and cook for a further hour and a half. 

We had mashed potatoes and garlic cabbage with this.