Beef & Venison Pie & Mash

drawing inspiration from some of the oldest restaurants in London, this old school recipe combines the best that beef and venison can give, in a rich red wine sauce. It's the perfect showpiece main in any dinner party with a couple of 'cheats' in there to make it a breeze to make! Oh, and you can make it all a day or two before and just reheat; tastes just as good.

Prep Time: 60 mins

Cook Time: 40 Mins

Difficulty: Easy

Serves: Makes 6

Ingredients

For the Pie

• Shortcrust pastry - 1 pack
• Venison steak - 200g (7oz)
• Beef steak - 200g (7oz)
• Garlic - 1 bulb
• Shallots - around 10
• Garden peas - a good handful
• Carrots - 2
• Red wine - 300ml (1.25 cups)
• Bay leaves - around 3
• Juniper berries - around 8
• Thyme - around 4 stalks
• Mustard - 2 tsp
• Salted butter - 50g (2oz)
• Fresh gravy - 700g (25oz)
• (Optional) Red current jelly - 3tsp

For the Mash

• Potatoes (any recommended for mashing) - 1kg (2.2lbs)
• Chicken Stock - 2 cubes / stock pots
• Salted butter - 100g (3.5 oz)
• Mustard - 3tbsp

Peas Francaise (Optional)

• Carrots - around 4 (an thyme)
• Parsley - small handful
• Lettuce - large handful
• peas
• Chicken Stock - 1 cube / stock pot

To Serve (Optional)

• Carrots for roasting - around 4 (an thyme)
• Thyme - small handful
• Parsley - a small handful

Special Kit

• Semi-circle aluminum pudding moulds (about £5 - £10 on Amazon) - although a Yorkshire Pudding tray will also work

Roasting garlic releases amazing caramelised flavours that we're going to want for the pies. Chop the head off the garlic, place on a piece of foil (big enough to wrap it in), sprinkle a pinch of salt and pepper over, and place a teaspoon of butter on top.

Pre-heat the oven to 180°c (350°f, Gas Mark 4). Then cut off the top of the garlic bulb and remove any loose layers of skin. Put the garlic onto a sheet of foil (big enough to wrap it in) and top with a pinch of salt and pepper, plus a teaspoon of butter.

Wrap it in the foil and place in the oven for 45 minutes, until it caramelises.

Once cooked, crush the garlic cloves to get the pulp, put aside the pulp to cool for later.

Next is  the mash (as it can be reheated to serve). To get that extra boost of flavour into it, chuck the stock pots / cubes into the water whilst and boil the potatoes in stock. There's an old test of when they drop off a knife they're done, let them have another 3-5 minutes after this for really good mash.

Then strain them, leaving a couple of minutes for the moisture to evaporate. mash, and whisk in the butter and mustard (plus seasoning), about 75% of it to start, taste, and keep adding until it's to your liking. Cover in foil and set aside for heating later.

Get the venison  and beef to room temperature, season them, then oil them (it's a good trick for cooking steaks generally; oil the meat not the pan, but make sure the seasonings on the meat first).

In a medium-hot frying pan, sear the meat until browned (note; you don't need to fully cook them, just get the seared flavour on the meat).

Try not to overload the pan (it'll cool it down too much if you put a lot of meat in and won't let your sear), cook in batches if there's too much meat for the pan.

Once the meat is seared, rest and then chop into small chunks ready for the pies.

Take the pastry out of the fridge and let it start to warm up a little bit (it still needs to be cold, just slightly warmer than the fridge).

Flour a worktop, and roll two thirds of the pastry to slightly thinner than the width of a pound coin (retain the last third for the tops).

Cut the pastry into circles; allowing to completely cover the inside of the moulds, plus excess of at least half an inch (1cm) - it'll shrink when coking.

Oil brush the moulds and line with pastry.

Mix the veg / red wine mix with the meat, and the garlic pulp. Taste and add mustard / seasoning / wine as required.

fill the pastry moulds with the pie mix.

Roll the remaining pastry - again slightly thinner than a pound coin - cut into circles big enough to top the pies with a little excess.

With a little water, wet the pastry on the rim of the filled pies and top each of the pies with one of the pastry circles.

Using a fork, gently apply pressure all around the tops of the pies to seal them. Trim any excess pastry with scissors or a knife (whichever's easier) to allow about half an inch around the top of the pie. 

They're now ready to cook. But can be left for a day or so until needed.

If you're looking to serve with peas franciase, slice the bacon and cook over a low-medium heat until really crispy.

Note - you're looking to render all the fat of the bacon (this reaction happens at low-medium heat but takes time), play with the temperature to aim to cook the bacon over 20-25 minutes, stirring occasionally, trying to render the fat but not burn the meat.

Once the bacon is crispy, stir in thinly sliced lettuce, peas, chopped parsley, the stock cube (and optionally a teaspoon of mustard). Season and cook for a further few minutes until the lettuce starts to soften. Set aside to cool.

You now have everything you need for the meal. It can be held cold for a day or so, but when you're ready, it'll take about an hour to bring together. Pre-heat the oven to 180°c (350°f, Gas Mark 4)

(optional) if using, slice the carrots and put on a roasting tray with some oil, thyme, and seasoning.

60 mins away from serving - put the mashed potatoes, completely wrapped in foil,  into the oven.

45 mins away from serving - put the pies in the oven, uncovered.

30 mins away from serving - (optional) put the carrots in the oven, uncovered, and start to heat the gravy on low on the hob.

5 mins away from serving - put the peas francaise in the microwave to heat through.

Stir and serve the mash on the plate, then the peas, carrots, turn out the pies and add put one on top, top with gravy and serve with additional gravy on the side, and that's it.

Hope you enjoy!