We're doing a Beef and Guinness Pie tomorrow for the two of us,
followed by a two-days-after-the-fact party with friends (schedule
conflicts):

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Beef And Guinness Pie

meats and poultry

2 lb boneless beef chuck; cut into 1 inch pices
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 large onion; coarsly chopped
2 garlic cloves; chopped
3 tablespoons water
1 1/2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 cup beef broth
1 cup guinness or other irish stout
1 tablespoon worcestershire sauce
2 teaspoons drained brined green peppercorns; coarsly chopped
2 fresh thyme sprigs
puff pastry
1 large egg; lightly beaten
1 tablespoon water

Special equipment: 4 (14-oz) deep bowls or ramekins (4 to 5 inches
wide.

Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 350°F.

Pat beef dry. Stir together flour, salt, and pepper in a shallow dish.
Add beef, turning to coat, then shake off excess and transfer to a
plate. Heat oil in a wide 5- to 6-quart ovenproof heavy pot over
moderately high heat until just smoking, then brown meat in 3 batches,
turning occasionally, about 5 minutes per batch, transferring to a
bowl. Add onion, garlic, and water to pot and cook, scraping up any
brown bits from bottom of pot and stirring frequently, until onion is
softened, about 5 minutes. Add tomato paste and cook, stirring, 1
minute. Stir in beef with any juices accumulated in bowl, broth, beer,
Worcestershire sauce, peppercorns, and thyme and bring to a simmer,
then cover and transfer to oven. Braise until beef is very tender and
sauce is thickened, about 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 hours. Discard thyme and cool
stew completely, uncovered, about 30 minutes. (If stew is warm while
assembling pies, it will melt uncooked pastry top.)

Put a shallow baking pan on middle rack of oven and increase oven
temperature to 425°F.

Divide cooled stew among bowls (they won't be completely full). Roll
out pastry dough on a lightly floured surface with a lightly floured
rolling pin into a 13-inch square, about 1/8 inch thick. Trim edges
and cut dough into quarters. Stir together egg and water and brush a
1-inch border of egg wash around each square. Invert 1 square over
each bowl and drape, pressing sides lightly to help adhere. Brush
pastry tops with some of remaining egg wash and freeze 15 minutes to
thoroughly chill dough. Bake pies in preheated shallow baking pan
until pastry is puffed and golden brown, about 20 minutes.

Reduce oven temperature to 400°F and bake 5 minutes more to fully cook
dough.

Cooks' note:

Stew (without pastry) can be made 2 days ahead, cooled completely, and
chilled, covered. Bring to room temperature before using.

Contributor: Gourmet October 2004

Yield: 4 main-courses

Terry "Squeaks" Pulliam Burd
AAC(F)BV66.0748.CA

"Most vigitaryans I iver see looked enough like their food to be
classed as cannybals."

Finley Peter Dunne (1900)

To reply, replace "spaminator" with "cox"