Steak and (insert your choice here) Pie

Steak and Kidney Pie is what this really is.  However, I don't like kidney, so for me, it becomes Steak and Mushroom Pie.  For my brother, it is just Steak Pie.  Growing up, my mom would add the kidney's for my dad,  and mushrooms for everyone except my brother.   Which, upon reflection, was very nice of her!

As a mom now, cooking dinner seems to be a fine balance between getting your kids to eat what you are having (as closely as possible) yet still making them something that they will eat.  Not something you appreciate as a kid, but now, trying to figure these things out, you do.  My kids are still too young for this dish, but maybe in a few years, they will have their own version of it that they like.

You do need to plan some time into your day for this, as it takes a few hours to cook.  The trade off though, is that you can buy the stew meat at a lower price and save some money!

What you need:

1.25 kg steak (and kidney if using)
1/3 c flour
1 1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 small onion, diced
1 c dry red wine
1/2 c strong beef stock
2 Tbsp port
blatterteig (puff pastry)
mushrooms  (if using)

The first time I made this, I didn't have any red wine, only port from a recipe I'd made a while back, so I used all port.  It had a very strong flavor, but wasn't bad.  The second time, I did as directed, but it didn't taste quite as good.  I think I will try it again with a different wine, but a smaller amount, and some more port.  I'll get back to you with the results.

This is another of the 'make in a bag' variety of recipes.  Yay for low cleanup!

Put the flour, salt and pepper in a plastic bag
(I've been buying all mine from Ikea - there are 4 different sizes, you get a bunch, and they're less expensive than the grocery stores.  Plus they come in fun colors.  What's no to love?)
Shake the bag to mix the ingredients.
Add the meat, shake to coat well.
Pour into a 6 cup deep pie dish (I used a baking dish)

Add the onion, wine and beef broth. (To make it stronger using a bouillon cube, just add 1/4 less water than what it calls for)
Cover with foil, shiny side down

Baked at 150/160 C for 3 hours.

Take off the foil and stir the port into the meat.

If you are making individual pies for everyone, get your bowls out.  Using the bowl (or lid if you have one) as a guide, cut out a piece of the pastry slightly larger.  Also cut a thin strip, long enough to go around the outside rim of your bowl.

If making one large pie, you can use a pie funnel, or inverted china egg cup in the center of the meat to support the pastry.

Dampen the rim of the bowl with some water and place your thin strip around it.  Add a little more water, and place the pastry 'lid' on top.  Since it was Christmas time, I used cookie cutters to cut out a penguin and a Tree decoration for the pie top.  If using any decorations or trimmings, place those now as well.

I used a fork to press the two pastry pieces together (like making a pie).

Brush with a beaten egg to give it a nice golden color as it bakes.

Increase your oven temperature to 210 C and bake for the time indicated on the pastry wrapper (10-20 minutes).

Serve with mashed potatoes and a green vegetable.

Here is the one with the penguin

and a close up of the Christmas tree. 

Mushroom pizza with rucola and goat cheese

This recipe ended up being a combination of other things I've seen/had.  It started off as a recipe I saw in a WW cookbook - Wild mushrooms with a fire roasted tomato sauce.  It changed when I got to talking to a friend about what to make for a Christmas party - we wanted her to make her bruschetta again -tomato, rucola and goat cheese with garlic (fantastic by the way).

So this is a combination of those mixed in with a few other things I like.  I would make some changes next time (hubby said I could make it again in 2 weeks so it must have been decent anyway :) )

You may notice that I never make my own dough if I can help it - the dough we have available here is a good sized selection - and with 2 little kids I just don't have time.  When I tweak a recipe from another site though, they have usually made their own dough.  Eventually I'll get around to doing it (and have done it before)

What you need:

Pizza teig (I tried the Coop brand this time and it wasn't bad).
Mushrooms - I used the Coop mixture of wild mushrooms plus another container of button mushrooms.  I think I would buy 2 of the wild ones next time and use 1/2 of the button.
Goat cheese - I used the entire 'roll'
Rucola (happily 25% off this time)
1 jar of dried tomatoes in oil
1-2 cloves garlic, diced
1 small red onion, diced
I also had garlic bread on the side

Wash your mushrooms and slice them along with your garlic and onion. Toss the onion and garlic into a pan and cook for 1-2 minutes before adding the mushrooms.  Cook for about 5 minutes.

Roll out your dough.  Pour the oil out of the jar but don't worry about getting it all out - you want some of it.  Roughly chop the tomatoes and then spread the excess oil on the pizza dough and randomly place the tomatoes.

Spread your mushroom mixture on top of this and then slice your goat cheese and place it on top.  (I put the rucola on first this time but would wait until after cooking next time).

Bake for the specified time on the dough (teig) wrapper. Usually about 20 minutes.
After cooking, add some roughly chopped rucola.  Enjoy with a side of garlic bread.

Will post a picture of the next time I cook it with the rucola on top.