Steak and Kidney Pie with Iron Maiden Ale

 

I might have mentioned once or twice before that I bloody love pies. I also love real ale, but have yet to enter that smelly jumper and socks and sandals stage (although it's there thumbing its CAMRA good pub guide just over my shoulder). I'm also a big fan of Iron Maiden – the seminal British heavy metalists, not the medieval torture device. So what better way to celebrate the release of their latest album, Book of Souls – the 15th in their long and brilliant history – than with a meaty steak and kidney pie with Iron Maiden ale. Oh, didn't I mention that Iron Maiden also have their own beer, The Trooper, named after their Piece of Mind classic, brewed by the excellent Robinson's brewery in Stockport?
This will make one big pie to serve six, or, as pictured, three "sharing" pies. And when I say "sharing", I actually mean "touch my pie and I'll rip your bloody arms off"... Prepare the filling the day before for a richer flavour.

Ingredients:
1kg beef skirt or stewing steak, cut into 4-5cm chunks
oil
30g plain flour, well seasoned
300g lamb kidneys, cored and cut into chunks
1 bottle Iron Maiden's The Trooper (or similar ale)
1 onion, peeled and sliced
350g button mushrooms, quartered
1tbsp tomato purée
1tsp English mustard
1 bay leaf
400ml beef stock
salt and pepper

For the rough puff pastry
400g plain flour
pinch salt
200g butter, chilled and cubed
200g water, chilled

Method:
1. Heat a little oil in a large frying pan over a medium heat. Toss the beef in the flour and fry in batches. When brown all over, transfer to a large pan. Repeat with all beef and kidney, adding more oil if necessary.
2. Deglaze the pan with a third of the ale, scrapping off all the crusty bits of meat. Add to the pan.
3. Add more oil and soften the onion for a few minutes. Add to the pan.
4. Repeat with the mushrooms. Add to the pan with the purée, mustard and bay leaf. Add the stock and the remaining ale.
5. Bring to a boil, the gently simmer for two hours, stirring occasionally and until the beef is tender.
6. Check the seasoning then leave to cool, preferably overnight.
7. To make the pastry, mix the flour and salt in a bowl. Add the cubed butter and bring together with up to 200ml of the chilled water.
8. Form into a rectangle and roll on a floured worktop to a long rectangle about 1cm thick. Fold toward you the top third, then fold up the bottom third to form book.
9. Rotate 90-degrees and repeat five times to build up the layers. Chill for at least one hour.
10. When readyto cook the pie, heat the oven to 190C/gas 5.
11. Remove pastry from the fridge and cut off one-third for the lid. Set aside. Lightly grease a 1.2lt pie dish. Roll out the bigger bit of pastry so it fits the dish with an overhang. Brush the rim with beaten egg.
11. Roll out the lid to fit. Crimp the edges and make a hole in the top.
12. Brush with beaten egg and bake for 50-60 minutes. Leave to stand for 15 minutes before serving with mash, veg and more Iron Maiden ale.

Top three tenuous Iron Maiden/cooking songs:
1. Aces Pie
2. Bun to the Hills
3. Thyme of the Ancient Marriner