 One of my favourite comfort foods is a good old traditional meat pie. I like to make a big batch of pie pastry and keep it in my freezer.
I use this Pie Pastry Recipe (just omit the sugar for savoury pies)
I use my Kuhn Rikon Pressure Cooker when making my beef pie filling. Not only does it speed things up but it also tenderizes even the cheapest cuts of meat (which was perfect today as I had a package of organic stewing beef on hand)
This recipe makes enough to fill 2 large pies or 4 small pies
| Ingredients: |
| 2 lbs stewing beef (cubed) |
| 1 cup flour |
| 5 rashers bacon (chopped) |
| 2 large chopped onions |
| 1 clove garlic (crushed) |
| 3 cups mixed veg (celery, carrots, peas) |
| 1 cup sliced mushrooms |
| 1 T butter |
| 1 cup beer, red wine or tomato juice |
| 1 cup beef stock |
| 1/2 t worcestershire sauce |
| 1 t dried thyme |
| Salt and Pepper to taste |
| |
 Coat each of the cubes of stewing beef in flour. Place the pressure cooker pot over medium heat. Using half the butter, brown the beef on all sides (do this in a couple of batches.
Watch the heat. If the pot is too hot, the flour will stick to the bottom of the pot and burn.
Remove the beef from the pot and place to one side.
Leave the pot over medium heat, add the remaining butter and cook the bacon until translucent.
Add the onions and garlic. Turn the heat on the stove up now, as we want to caramalize the onion (if you wish, you could add 1/2 teaspoon of sugar to enhance the caramalized taste of the onions).
 Add the remaining vegetables and stir into the onions and bacon. Add the dried thyme, salt and pepper.
Pour in the beer, wine or tomato juice. Stir and allow to reduce a little before adding the stock.
Once the stock is added, stir in the beef and the worcestershire sauce. Make sure the beef is covered in stock
 Place lid on the pressure cooker by lining up the arrows on the lid and handle. Twist and lock the lid into place.
Turn the heat down to medium. Once the pressure builds in the pressure cooker, gently release some steam, turn down the heat and allow to simmer for 30 minutes. Keep the pressure guage aligned with the top line, releasing steam or turning down the heat as neccessary.
After 30 minutes. Place the pressure cooker in the sink under running cold water. The pressure guage will drop back into place and the lid will 'sigh' indicating that all the pressure has been released.
 I found the pie filling to be a little runny, so I returned it to the stove (heat very low) and added 1 1/2 cups of Ultra Gel Thickening Powder.
Keep stirring until the filling has thickened.
Remove pot from heat and allow filling to cool before placing in pie shell
 Fill your pie shell, top with pastry, poke holes in the top to allow for the release of steam.
Place the pie in the refrigerator for a couple of hours before cooking.
When ready to bake, brush the top with egg wash (egg & water mix) place the pie on baking sheet into pre-heated 400 degree oven and bake for 30 minutes
 The great thing about this recipe is that you have enough filling left over to make an extra pie that can be frozen (unbaked) and cooked up later (cook from frozen - brush with egg wash, 400 degree oven for 45 - 50 minutes)
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Add the remaining vegetables and stir into the onions and bacon. Add the dried thyme, salt and pepper.
Place lid on the pressure cooker by lining up the arrows on the lid and handle. Twist and lock the lid into place.
I found the pie filling to be a little runny, so I returned it to the stove (heat very low) and added 1 1/2 cups of 
The great thing about this recipe is that you have enough filling left over to make an extra pie that can be frozen (unbaked) and cooked up later (cook from frozen - brush with egg wash, 400 degree oven for 45 - 50 minutes)
