Description
Plan ahead for this worthwhile pie, the stew should cook overnight to tenderize the tough-but-flavorful oxtail and the whole filling has to rest for several hours before adding the crust.
Ingredients
Scale
For the filling:
- 1 oxtail (ask your butcher to chop into pieces)
- 2 white onions
- 4 cloves garlic
- 200g button mushrooms
- 10 juniper berries (crushed)
- 3 bay leaves
- 1 large bottle of ale
- 500ml beef stock
- salt and pepper
- butter/oil for frying
For the pastry:
- 250g plain flour
- 250g butter
- pinch salt
- 100ml cold water
Instructions
- Start by browning the meat in a smoking hot pan. Try to do this in the same pan that you plan to cook the final stew in, so it should be ovenproof!
- Remove the meat and then add the mushrooms and brown these very quickly.
- Turn down the heat and then add the sliced onions and cook slowly until very soft.
- Add the chopped garlic and cook for another 2 minutes. Return the meat and mushrooms to the pan.
- Throw in the juniper berries, bay leaves, ale, stock and seasoning and bring to the boil.
- At this stage, make sure the meat is completely covered in liquid and then put on lid on the pan. Put in a the oven at about 110/120C and leave for atleast 8 hours. As long as the stew is not bubbling, there is no chance of it boiling dry.
- To make the pastry, sift the flour and salt into a bowl and then add the butter (cut into cubes). Use your fingers to combine the flour and butter – don’t worry about it being perfect, lumps of butter will make for a better pastry! Slowly add the water until a rough dough is formed. Wrap in cling film and place in the fridge for 20 minutes,
- Roll out the pastry into a rectangle, taking care to only roll in one direction. Then fold down the top third followed by folding up the bottom third. Turn the dough around 90 degrees and repeat the rolling and folding process. Cover again and place in the fridge for another 30 minutes. After 30 minutes take out the pastry and roll into a rectangle to a thickness of about 0.5cm.
- In the meantime, prepare the pie filling. Sieve the mixture in order to remove all of the liquid. Make sure you reserve the liquid though as this will make your gravy.
- Tip the filling into the dish and place the pastry over the top. Then put this into a preheated oven at 180C for about 25 minutes until golden brown.
- To finish the gravy simply heat through in pan. If the gravy is not thick enough, you can either add a cornflour paste, or form a roux in a fresh pan and add the gravy to this.
- Prep Time: 10 hours
- Cook Time: 10 hours
- Category: Main