With the lead up to Christmas, life has been extra crazy! I woke up extra early today for some reason, and with time to kill before work, I thought I'd do a quick post.
We made these pies last weekend for dinner from Donna Hay's; No Time To Cook, cookbook.

They were fairly simple to make, but we forgot to read the part about having to cook the meat for an hour. Luckily mum suggested we start cooking a little bit earlier than we anticipated, and dinner was served at a reasonable hour.

The pies were fantastic! Full of flavour, and you could really taste the beer. We just got a $2 beer from the bottle-o, instead of a nice boutique beer.
The meat was so tender, and the shortcrust pastry was nice instead of the usual puff pastry.

The recipe makes 6 pies, so there are freezing instructions listed below should you want to have some on hand for those nights you can't be bothered cooking!

 Beef and Beer Individual Pies

2 tablespoons olive oil
1kg chuck steak, cubed
2 brown onions, chopped
2 cloves garlic, crushed
4 sprigs thyme
2 bay leaves
375ml beer
2 cups (500ml) beef stock
8 chat (baby) potatoes, quartered or 3 normal size potatoes, largely cubed
2 tablespoons cornflour
2 tablespoons water
1 cup (120g) fresh or frozen peas
2 sheets (25cm x 25cm) store-bought shortcrust pastry
beaten egg, for brushing

1. Heat oil in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Add beef and cook, in batches, until well browned. Remove beed using a slotted spoon and set aside. Add garlic, onion, thyme and bay leaves and cook for 3 minutes or until onion is soft. Add beer and cook for 2 minutes to reduce slightly. Return beef to the pan and add stock and potatoes. Cover pan, reduce heat and simmer gently for 1 hour, or until beef is tender.

2. Combine water and cornflour, stir into the beef mixture for 3 mintues or until sauce thickens.

3. Remove from heat, add peas and cool the mixture slightly before dividing amount 6 x 330ml capacity ramekins or pie dishes.

4. Preheat the oven to 200°. Cut pastry lids to fit ramekins, place on top of pies and brush with egg. Bake pies for 20 minutes or until pastry is lightly golden.

To freeze, wrap the pie dishes in layers of baking paper, plastic wrap and aluminium foil to seal. Freeze for up to 3 months.

Recipe makes 6.