Heat
enough olive oil to cover the bottom of a heavy based pot and brown the
bacon.
Remove and set aside in a bowl large enough to take the all of
the meat.
Brown
the flour dredged beef cubes in two or three batches. Don’t overcrowd
your pot or the meat will release it’s juices and stew! As each batch is
browned remove it to the bowl with the browned bacon.
Add
a little more olive oil and brown the garlic, rosemary and shallots or
onions and leave them in the pot – add the carrots and celery and
lightly fry them for 1 minute.
Now add all the other ingredients.
Bring
this up to the boil as you need to cook off the alcohol in the red
wine.
Boil for about 15 minutes then reduce down to a gentle simmer
and cover the pot with the lid for 2 - 3 hours.
If you don’t want to leave this on your stove – you can put it into the oven at 120°C , also covered for a few hours, until tender.
The flour that you dredged the meat in will have thickened the sauce.
This
beef really improves overnight – the flavours just explode the next day
which makes this an ideal dish to make a day in advance of a dinner
party or luncheon.
Always check
for seasoning – and adjust if needs be before serving.
For the pie dishes
Cut your squares of pastry according to the size of your dinner plates.
Cut 4 x 2cm wide strips and place on each edge.
Using a knife – puncture holes in the pastry.
Brush each pastry with the lightly beaten egg.
MAKE SURE that you don’t get any of the egg wash over the edges as this will prevent the pastry from rising.
Place on a baking sheet covered with grease proof baking paper and pop into a hot oven –
220°C
for 15 minutes or so – then bring the temperature down to brown them
some more – for another 10 minutes or so.
Each oven is different – so
use these times as a guideline only.
Keep one eye on the oven and watch them – you don’t want the pastry to be too brown or burnt!
When
the pastry cases come out of the oven allow to cool down until you can
handle them – then, using a sharp knife cut around the edge of the
centre piece – remove it carefully in one piece to use as a garnish –
and hollow out the centre.
Reprinted
with permission of
Janice Tripepi.
To
visit
Janice Tripepi’s
blog,
click here.
