Beef Cheek and Ale Pie

• total time: 4 hours 21 minutes

Ingredients

For the filling -

1kg beef cheeks.

2 tbsp plain flour

2 tbsp olive oil

1 onion, diced

2 carrots, diced

2 celery stalks, diced

2 garlic cloves, minced

500ml ale

500ml beef stock

2 tbsp tomato paste

1 tsp roasting herbs (rosemary, thyme & sage)

Salt and pepper to taste

FOR THE SHORT CRUST PASTRY: buy it from the shop haha

for the chips -

Maris Piper potatoes.

Veg oil.

Salt.

Mushy peas -

Marrow fat peas.

Mint.

Butter.

Lemon.

Directions

Cook the beef cheeks:

Toss beef cheeks in flour. Heat olive oil in a pan and brown the meat in batches. Remove and set aside.

Make the filling:

In the same pan, sauté onion, carrots, celery, and garlic for 5 minutes. Add tomato paste, ale, beef stock, thyme, and bay leaf. Return the beef to the pot. Put the pan/pot into the oven at 150°c for 3-4 hours or until spoon tender.

Make the chips: cut you spuds into similar sizes, into cold water with a good pinch of salt, switch on the hob and bring to a boil. Boil for 8 minutes then remove and let them cool down. Bring your oil up to temp for the first cook which is at 115°c and cook for 10-12 minutes. Remove and set aside, bring the oil temp up to around 180°c and put the chips back in until golden brown.

Assemble and bake: Preheat oven to 200°C. Line the pie dish with short crust pastry. Spoon the filling into the pie dish. Cover with the remaining short crust, trim the edges, and brush with beaten egg.

Bake for 25-30 minutes until golden.

Mushy peas: Pour the peas into your pan, bring to a simmer and let it reduce, when it's reduced by half add in a knob of butter, a handful of mint, sprinkle of salt and a squeeze of lemon.

Make some gravy, plate it all up, get it in your mouth and be happy.