Cooking beef goulash in Guinness (or other dark beer) with this simple method produces a soft and succulent pie filling, with a rich, brown gravy. I made individual pies, but of course you can make one large pie if you prefer.
Ingredients:
- 750g beef goulash, cut into 1cm cubes
- 3 Tbs flour
- 3 large onions, chopped
- 350ml Guinness (2/3 bottle)
- 1 can button mushrooms
- 2 Tbs chopped thyme (optional)
- 1 tsp Worcester Sauce (optional)
- 1 tsp nustard poweder (optional)
- 500g pastry
- 1 egg, beaten
Directions:
- Sprinkle beef with flour, and mix well to coat
- Fry onions in 3 Tbs oil till soft
- Add meat and cook on a low heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, till browned all over
- Add the beer and next three ingredients, bring to boil, cover and simmer for an hour, stirring regularly to prevent sticking
- Don't drink the remaining beer yet; you may need to add a bit more to the meat
- Roll out the pastry and line pie molds
- Fill and cover
- Bake at 180C until golden
I had quite a lot of leftover pastry trimmings, which wouldn't make good pies (well actually I just couldn't be bothered to roll out any more). So I just rolled them out roughly, cut them into irregular strips, sprinkled them with paprika, salt and pepper, and served them drizzled with thick gravy (a la vol-au-vent) at a different meal.
