Fallow Beef & Ale Pie

Description §

A quality beef and ale pie with deep flavour, fall-apart meat, a rich glossy sauce, and crisp suet pastry. This isn’t a quick pub pie or a shortcut recipe. It’s a chef’s beef & ale pie, made using proper browning, controlled braising, sauce reduction, resting, and careful assembly. It takes a while but the results are worth it.

This recipe was originally from the Fallow Youtube channel, but has been updated after cooking it.

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Ingredients §

Note: The original recipe called for short ribs and no shank, but short ribs are expensive so we subbed in some shank

• 2.8 lbs Beef Shank (on the bone)
• 1.5 lbs Beef Short Ribs (on the bone)
• 1.5 lbs Beef Cheeks
• Plain flour, for dusting
• Neutral oil, for frying

Mirepoix & Aromatics §

• 2 onions, roughly chopped
• 3 carrots, roughly chopped
• 2 celery sticks, roughly chopped (optional)
• 4 cloves garlic, crushed
• 2 tbsp tomato paste
• A few sprigs thyme
• A few sprigs rosemary
• Salt & black pepper

Braising Liquids §

• ½ bottle red wine
• 2 pints Guinness (or other stout)
• ~75 ml Worcestershire sauce
• Beef stock (enough to fully submerge meat)

For the Sauce Thickener (Beurre Manié) §

• 50 g reserved beef fat (skimmed from sauce)
• 50 g plain flour

Pie Filling Garnish §

• 3–4 carrots, cut into quarters
• 250 g button mushrooms, halved
• Fresh thyme
• Butter
• Salt & pepper

Caramelised Onions §

• 3 large onions, thinly sliced
• Oil
• Butter
• Salt

Suet Pastry §

• 800 g plain flour
• 11.5g kosher salt
• 160 g salted butter, small cubes
• 160 g suet, small chunks
• Cold water (approx. 320–400 ml)

To Assemble §

• 3 egg yolks, beaten (for egg wash)
• Extra butter for greasing tin
• Foil (to protect bone during baking)

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Method §

Braise §

1. Lightly dust the beef cheeks, short ribs, and shank in flour, shaking off any excess.
2. Heat a heavy-bottomed pan over low–medium heat with oil. Brown the beef gently on all sides until deeply golden. Work in batches. Remove and set aside.
3. Add the tomato paste and cook until brick red
   1. Note: We didn’t do this when we cooked it, but this seems to be the effect that the original recipe was going for
4. Turn off the heat. Add the chopped vegetables, cover briefly with a lid to steam and lift the fond.
5. Return to heat and lightly colour the vegetables. Add garlic and salt and cook out gently. Remove vegetables to a tray.
6. Deglaze the pan with red wine and Guinness. Reduce by half over a strong simmer (about 10 minutes).
7. Return vegetables and beef to the pan. Add Worcestershire sauce and enough stock to fully submerge the meat. Bring to a simmer. Cover with a cartouche and lid.
8. Cook in the oven at 350°F for 5 hours

Sauce §

1. Allow beef to cool in the liquid for 1 hour. You can crack the lid and set in a cool place
2. Gently remove the meat and set aside. Strain the braising liquid; discard vegetables.
3. Bring sauce to a simmer and skim excess fat.
4. Make a beurre manié by mixing equal parts (50g each) fat and flour. If you don’t have enough skimmed fat you can make up for it with butter
5. Whisk beurre manié into the sauce gradually until thick and glossy. Season with salt, pepper, and a little more Worcestershire.
6. Simmer gently for a few minutes. Set aside.

Caramelised Onions §

1. Cook onions slowly in oil, butter and salt.
2. Start on high heat, then reduce and cook for ~2 hours until deep brown. Set aside.

Mushrooms & Carrots §

1. Fry mushrooms in oil over medium-high heat until golden.
2. Add carrots, butter, salt, pepper and thyme. Lightly colour, keeping vegetables firm. Set aside.

Pastry §

1. Set the butter and suet in the freezer for a few minutes to firm them up
2. Combine flour and salt in the bowl of a food processor, pulse a few times to mix.
3. Add the butter and suet to the bowl of the processor and pulse ten times, about one second each. The result should be a sandy texture.
4. Take the water and shake it with ice in a cocktail shaker.
5. Add cold water gradually, then pulse a few times, and repeat until dough just comes together.
   1. I poured about 3/4 of the water in the liquid dripper that my food processor has and then pulsed while it dripped in
6. Wrap and chill overnight (minimum 2–3 hours).
7. Take a little over 2/3rds of the dought and roll to ~5 mm thickness.
8. Butter a 10-inch spring form pan
9. Line carefully, pushing pastry into corners.
10. Trim excess, leaving slight overhang.
11. Chill 20–30 minutes.
12. Roll remaining 1/3 and chill pastry lid separately.
    1. When rolling you can use a 12” plate or lid to get a nice circle

Assemble the Pie §

1. Choose the best short rib to keep whole for the centre. Alternatively you can just use the shank bone and stand it in the middle
2. Break remaining beef into large chunks.
3. Position the bone upright in the centre.
4. Layer:
   1. Caramelised onions
   2. Beef
   3. Mushrooms & carrots
   4. Sauce
5. Repeat, filling only ~75–80% to avoid blowout. Be sure to mound a bit of meat up in the middle to support the lid where it meets the bone
6. Egg wash rim and lid.
7. Cut slit for bone, place lid on top, seal well.
8. Trim, crimp edges, fork-seal.
9. Cover bone with foil.
10. Chill pie thoroughly before baking. About 30 minutes.
11. Bake at 350°F for 90 minutes
    1. Remove foil for final color if needed
12. Rest at least 30 minutes (up to an hour) before serving otherwise it’ll all blow out when you cut into it
    1. There is still going to be some blow out even after 30 minutes