Ed Baines' steak pie

British food enthusiast and celebrity chef, Ed Baines, is a well known connoisseur of British food. So when Tabasco asked him for a traditional British recipe he was more than happy to indulge them with a few of his secrets!

• Serves: 4

What you need:

• 3 ounces of lard
• 500g short crust pastry
• 16 oz of beef rump steak or stewing steak cut into 1inch cubes
• 2 level tablespoons of flour
• 1 tsp celery salt
• 2 carrots finely chopped
• 2 small onions finely chopped (large onions are tasteless)
• 1 small bunch of parsley finely chopped
• 400ml of Guinness
• 250ml beef stock
• 2 medium sized tomatoes (finely chopped and salted)
• 1 tablespoon of malt vinegar
• 2 tsp Tabasco sauce
• 2 x 85g tins of smoked oysters in sunflower oil
• 1 egg (beaten)

What you do:

1. Lightly grease a 10 inch enamel plate (or pie dish) with lard. Roll out the pastry (enough to line the enamel plate and to make a lid for the pie) place the lid on a separate plate and put both in the fridge to rest.
2. In a large casserole pot heat 2/3 of the lard until smoking. Add the beef and fry until lightly browned, add the flour and the celery salt, brown for a further 2mins and remove.
3. Now add the chopped vegetables and the remaining lard and cook over a gentle heat for 5mins.
4. Put the beef back in the casserole, and add parsley, Guinness, beef stock, salted chopped tomatoes, vinegar, and the Tabasco. Cook over a low heat for 50mins, stirring every 10 minutes. Remove from the heat; pour onto a deep sided tray to cool. Pre-heat the oven to 170°c. Once the casserole has cooled gently fold in the strained smoked oysters.
5. Spoon the mixture into the pastry. Cover with the lid, pinch the edges.
6. Make a hole in the top of the pastry lid, and brush with beaten egg. Place in the oven, cook for 45-50mins. Remove from the oven, allow to rest for 5mins, and serve.

Cook's tip:

A traditional Victorian way of serving the pie is not to egg wash the pastry, remove the pie from the oven after 35 mins of cooking, cover the pie with a flat baking tray and flip the pie upside down onto the baking tray. Increase the oven temperature to 190°c, brush what has now become the top of the pie with beaten egg and cook for a further 10mins. Finally slide the pie off of the flat baking sheet onto a serving plate. This now resembles a flying saucer shape. The pie is served with mash, gravy and greens.

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