Mansion Pie!

We usually have a family get together at Easter and this year was no different. I had heard good things about one of the local butchers so I called in and ordered a 2-3 rib of beef to feed 9 people, however, when I picked it up on Easter Saturday, it was nowhere near the size I had been expecting and there ensued a wild beef chase around Eastwood, finally Woods butchers, the one's I usually go to, came up with the goods.

Rib Roast courtesy of Woods, Eastwood

This left me with a problem in my freezer. Tony was very eager to recreate some steaks that we'd had when we visited Santander camping and thought that hacking up the rib would be the answer.

Tony going caveman (this wasn't just for 2 of us!!)

So we defrosted the joint and it was then that Tony realised that we didn't have the tools needed to make t-bones out of the rib, so he cut 3 generous rib-eye steaks, but we were still left with a hunk of beef which we couldn't refreeze. Even though it was the hottest day of the year so far, I decided the only way to save the meat was to make it into a stew, which I could then freeze.

Here is the basic recipe, I made mine slightly different as I don't just have Mackeson's lying around the house, but luckily Tony had sampled some black beer and didn't like it, so I used the extra bottle.

Beef in Beer Stew

Season 1lb cubed stewing beef, fry in oil in batches, until the beef is sealed and golden all over. Reserve on a plate, and the fry 2 large sliced onions in the pan until they are browned. Arrange the meat back on top of the onions and add the juices from the plate. Season with salt and pepper, pour over 5fl oz stout (Mackesons or Guinness) and 1/2 tsp of Worcestershire sauce. Bring to the boil and then cover and put in the oven GM3/325F/165C for about 2 1/2 hours until the meat is tender.

This is a basic recipe, you can substitute red wine and/or beef stock instead of stout, add a bayleaf, some fresh or dried herbs,  include some shallots or carrots or add some mushrooms.

So I made the stew and put it in the freezer and that brings us to Wednesday night, when I realised the cupboards were almost bare. I had a few carrots, 6 mushrooms, some frozen peas, some baking potatoes and a ball of mozzarella and what was that lurking in the freezer...the beef stew.

Me and Lauren went through some options with the Ready, Steady Cook ingredients we had and Lauren came up with a Shepherds pie, but of course it would have to be Cottage pie as it's beef not lamb, but it's prime rib of beef for goodness sake so we made our version....

Mansion Pie

Easy really, I boiled and mashed some potatoes with milk and butter. I heated up the stew and added the mushrooms. Put the stew into an oven proof dish, topped it with the potato, sprinkled over the grated mozzarella (cheddar may more appropriate but I had to work with what I had!) and baked in the oven GM5/375F/190C for 30 minutes until the top was crunchy and brown and bubbling.

In the meantime I boiled the carrots and steamed the peas and suddenly there was a meal.

Sorry, we ate it before I remembered to take a photo! It was creamy and beefy, a nice surprise if you know what I mean) to find succulent chunks of meltingly soft beef under the mash rather than chewy bobbles of mince. I think I had under seasoned my stew so beware of that, but all in all although we laughed that on the plate with the peas and carrots it looked like something off a café (caf!!) menu but it tasted top class!