We’ve gone a little crazy with our pastry here and cooked it separately as nests to place on the pies after they’re cooked. If you prefer a more traditional presentation, cut rounds of pastry to cover the pies. The bacon rinds add great flavour and a lip-smacking texture to the sauce thanks to the gelatine in the pork skin. We pop leftover rinds in the freezer so they’re on hand for dishes such as this.
Ingredients
Method
1.Preheat oven to 150C. Heat fat or oil in a casserole over medium-high heat, dust beef in seasoned flour, shake off excess and fry beef, turning occasionally, until browned (4-6 minutes). Remove from pan and set aside. Add rind to casserole, stir until fat renders and rind starts to crisp (2-4 minutes), then add onion and stir until softened and golden (3-5 minutes). Deglaze casserole with wine and simmer until reduced by half (3-5 minutes), then add stock and thyme, and bring to a simmer. Return beef to casserole, season to taste, cover, transfer to oven and cook until beef is very tender (2-2¼ hours). Add mushrooms, cover and return to oven, until tender (5 minutes). Set aside to cool, then spoon off excess fat.
2.Preheat oven to 200C and use a serving bowl to trace 4 circles on a sheet of baking paper and place it on a baking tray. Remove beef from sauce and coarsely shred, stir back into sauce, then divide filling among 4 ovenproof serving bowls. Loosely arrange pastry strips inside each circle to form a round nest, then place in oven along with bowls of beef on a separate oven tray and cook until beef mixture is hot and pastry is crisp and golden on the base (10-15 minutes). Top each bowl with a pastry nest, scatter with extra thyme and serve.
For beef fat, render the trim from the oyster blade in a small pan; otherwise use grapeseed oil. Wood-ear mushrooms are available from select greengrocers. We use Carême Sour Cream Shortcrust Pastry, which comes in 375gm sheets.
Drink Suggestion: Full-bodied red such as durif. Drink suggestion by Max Allen.
Notes
