Guinness Beef and Mushroom Pie

I've posted this before, but it's been quite a few years. This is my version of Guinness Pie from O'Connor's Restaurant & Bar in Worcester MA. It's usually my go to meal when we visit, but the rest of their menu is equally good.

The ingredients:

Chuck Roast diced into bite-sized pieces
Baby Bella Mushrooms
Carrots
Celery
Onion
Garlic
Potatoes
Guinness!



I coated the meat in a flour mixture containing S&P and Bovine Bold. Out to the Goldens', set up indirect with the Lodge Dutch oven with EVOO. Meat is browned in two separate batches, then removed and set aside -



Next up: cook the onion and celery, until both were tender and the onion translucent -



Followed by the garlic and mushrooms -



After 8 to 10 minutes -



Then add the carrots and potatoes which have been pre-cooked for a bit in the microwave to ensure they'll be tender -



Add the browned beef back in -



And finally two bottles of Guinness -





Let it simmer uncovered for about 30-40 minutes, allowing it to reduce a bit. I added a bit of cornstarch slurry to help thicken it -



I transferred it to my cast iron casserole, covered it with pie dough pieced together (store bought) and gave it a bit of an egg wash. Back out onto the Goldens' it goes around 400F until the crust browns. Doesn't look like much at first but of course it gets better -



Browning after about 40 minutes -



To properly crisp up the crust and complete the browning it went into the oven for the last 8 minutes. That looks a lot better -





Let it cool for 10 minutes or so, then we'll cut into it and see how we did -



Plated pics -












I'll have to admit - this was outstanding. The beef was tender, the veggies were perfectly cooked, the resultant Guinness gravy was heavenly. You could argue it's simply a beef stew cooked in Guinness with a pie crust, but the final product always seems to be more than that.

I don't know why I haven't made this in well over a year, perhaps even two but it's a great winter meal and will be back in my rotation over the next few months.

The only thing missing would be to pour a proper Black & Tan, which I struggle with. Besides I was out of Guinness and Bass Ale.

As always, thanks for reading through to the end of this post and following along with tonight's dinner. Give it a try yourself. Somewhere I have a recipe written down but it's not really needed. Veggies and quantities are up to you, the only required ingredients are the Beef, the Mushrooms and the Guinness.

Regards,
-lunchman

ModelMaker said:

I kinda was expecting a sour dough crust.
Ed

Click to expand...

Great idea! Why didn't i think of that? :doh: Next iteration of the recipe, Ed.

Thanks all, for the kind responses.

This really is comfort food at its finest. I looked back through my original written recipe from 2010 or thereabouts. The only items I omitted this time were bay leaves and thyme. But since I used liberal amounts of Bovine Bold the thyme wasn't necessary. I should have mentioned I was dusting the meat with it as it was browning.

I did have thoughts of making homemade pie dough but I had enough prep work to do and got a late start. I will admit it would have looked a whole lot better and more magazine worthy with a single, continuous crust on top. But this is home cooking, not a restaurant. :mrgreen:

In the past I've usually baked it in the large Lodge skillet which a round pie dough covers nicely. This time I opted for my CI casserole, just because. Doesn't matter what it looks like, what matters is how good does it taste.

Again, my thanks to you all.

-Dom