Steak and Stilton Pie

Introduction & method

Britain has several vaiations on steak pies - with ale, with kidneys, with onions, but this one is fairly unusual: with blue Stilton cheese. It's amazing.

Make the Filling

Have a look at the beef - if the chunks are too big, cut them down to about 15mm (three quarter inch) cubes. Cut off any fat or gristle. Set it aside, then top and tail, peel and dice the onion. Now we need to start cooking the beef. Mix one or two tbsps of flour with some salt and pepper. Toss the chunks of beef in this and get them coated all over. Heat some oil in a frying pan and when it is nice and hot add some of the beef cubes. Swizz them around get that flour coating browned. When you've done that, remove them and then add some more floury beef. When all the beef is browned, add more oil to the pan and then cook the onions for about five minutes until they are soft. Add the stock, the bay leaves and the thyme and bring it to the boil. If you are doing this in a pressure cooker give it 15-20 minutes, in a pan on the stove give it three hours, and in a slow cooker six hours or overnight. Thicken the gravy with a slurry of 1 tsp cornflour (corn starch) mixed with 1 tsp cold water. Remove the bay leaves and set the filling aside to cool.

Make the hot water pastry

Cut the lard into small chunks. Place the boiling water and lard chunks into a small pan and heat them until the lard has melted. In a mixing bowl, stir the salt into the flour, pour in some of the molten fat and mix well. Add more water and fat until it is all used up. Mix well. If you have a stand mixer or food processor and don't mind creating extra washing up, those will do the job in seconds. Tip the dough out onto your worktop and give it a massage to make sure all the flour is combined. Wrap the dough in plastic film and let it rest in the fridge for half an hour.

Make the Pie

What you make and bake the pie in is up to you. You could use an enamelled steel plate or pie dish, but I'm using a cake tin with a removable bottom. I'm using a traditional enamelled steel pie dish measuring 20cm x 15cm x 5cm deep (8 inches x 6 inches x 2 inches deep). Sprinkle some flour on your worktop, take one third of the pastry and roll it into a rectangle or circle that's just a bit bigger than your pie dish. Trim the pastry around the edge of the pie dish - this will be the lid of the pie. Roll out the rest of the pastry and gently lower it into the pie dish. Be careful not to fold, crease, or break the paster. Trim the edge of the pastry to the rim of the dish. Spoon meat filling into the base of the pie, leaving a small gap where you place a layer of fairlt thickly sliced blue cheese. Moisten the rim of the pie with water, place the lid on and press it down with your thumbs. If you wish, you can do some fancy crimping around the edge.

Bake the Pie

Heat your oven to 180° Celsius (356° Fahrenheit) for a fan/convection/airfryer oven, or 200° Celsius (392° Fahrenheit) for a conventional one, or gas 6. Place the on a baking sheet in the middle of the oven and cook it for 40 minutes - turn it round halfway through to ensure even browning.

The video above is from the Keef Cooks YouTube channel. Click here to see the video recipe of Steak and Stilton Pie on YouTube.

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Lancashire Hotpot

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Ingredients & Info

FILLING

400 grams stewing beef, diced

1 large onion

500 ml beef stock

2 bay leaves

1 tsp dried thyme

115 grams stilton (or other blue cheese)
PASTRY

450 grams plain white flour

225 ml hot water

225 grams lard or beef dripping

PLUS

A beaten egg and a splash of milk for glazing.

Serves 4
Prep time: 15 minutes.
Cooling time: 1 hour.
Cooking time: 3 hours 30 minutes.
Total time: 4 hours 40 minutes.

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