Stifado meat pies!

Recipe: Stifado meat pies
By: Carol Takouridis

Ahhh…It's great being a Greek Australian…Best of both worlds. So here I combine 2 of my favourite meals in one.
The first being the wonderfully Aussie meat pie and the second being beef stifado.  I must admit though I do prefer a lago stifado (hare stifado) over a beef one!

Marinade ingredients

Caramelising onions and deglazing with the ancient Greek condiment "Oxymelo"

My pie filling bubbling slowly away

Time to roll the dough

Fresh out of the oven 

voila….meat pie with sauce

Happy customer!

Yields

12 muffin size pies

4 normal size pies 

1 kg chuck steak

500 gm beef mince

1 large onion minced

3 onions cut into quarters

2 tbs oxymelo (or 1 tbs honey ½ tbs balsamic vinegar)

1 tbs tomato paste

salt pepper

2 cups water

cornflour mixture

2 tbs

¼ cup water

(mix together until it’s a smooth paste)

marinade

5 cloves garlic chopped in half

10 allspice berries

1 tsp peppercorn

3 cinnamon sticks

3 bay leaves

2 tsp oregano

3 tbs red wine vinegar

1 cup red wine

shortcrust pastry recipe

Step 1.  Cut the chuck steak into small cubes and marinade in above labeled ingredients overnight. I place meat and marinade in a large zip lock bag.

Step 2.  Saute minced onion and garlic from marinade

Step 3. Add the meat you have removed from the marinade.  (reserve marinade and spices)

Step 4. Brown the chuck steak and mince meat, add the tomato paste and then the marinade.

Step 5.  In a separate fry pan sauté the 3 onions until slightly caramelized and deglaze pan with oxymelo.  Add the mixture to the meat.

Step 5. Add the water to the meat , season and simmer for about 2 hours or until the cubed meat is very tender. 

Step 6. Make sure to stir and ensure that the pie filling does not stick to the bottom of the saucepan.  Add a bit of water if required.

Step 7. Once the filling is cooked add the cornflour mixture.  Stir well and cook for a further minute or so.  Cool the filling before making the pies.

Step 8. Remove bay leaves and cinnamon stick from meat filling.

Step 8.  Roll out pastry and add to your oiled pie dish.  Add filling and then top with more pastry.  Brush with some beaten egg yolk and bake for about 45 minutes (or until crisp) in a 180°.