Reinventing the wheel can't be done. Reinventing "the pie", or at least giving it a re-vamp, is possible. Particularly if you really think about every single component involved in a perfect pie and try to use the very best natural ingredients possible. Do this whilst teaming up with other local artisan producers, pooling together quality, experience and knowledge and you might just come up with something special - a sort of artisan alliance. We think this kind of cooperation is key to small producers staying in the game in rural areas, particularly when faced with so much competition from larger more established brands and people's buying habits.
There are some crappy pies out there, there are a lot of very average pies out there but there are also some very good ones, so this was not going to be easy. So I got together with Nicci Gurr, a friend who runs her own high-end catering business, Home Gurr'own, to see what we could come up with together. (Nicci has a massive amount of experience cooking in restaurants all over the world, including working with the Roux Brothers in London).
Early on in the process we decided to really think about what we wanted from every part of the pie, particularly the flavour of the gravy, and knew that we would have to use a particular style of beer, one which was superior in quality but most importantly a beer that was from a local brewery. So we had a word with Old Dairy Brewery in Rolvenden and asked them if we could use their Silver Top Stout in our filling. Old Dairy are a small, skilled and innovative team of young brewers who make distinctly different real ales. We decided to use their beer because in our view it gives a much richer flavour to the overall filling and is not as bitter as some of the mainstream stouts available - they didn’t hesitate in putting their name to our pie once they had all tasted it!
The pastry was a bit of a no-brainer. Nicci had always sworn by using a tried and tested recipe for an all-butter shortcrust during her career. Flour-salt-butter, plus a drizzle of water – that’s it. The result being rich, buttery, crispy and crumbly - exactly what pastry should be. The gravy is made from the beer as well as real stock made from the beef bones. This is combined with our beautiful dry-aged beef, plus some herbs, salt and pepper and that’s just about it. We let the quality of the ingredients do the work for us during a long, slow cook to get everything succulent and tender.
Finally, because we think we have created something truly unique, we wanted to come up with a unique name, so we chose “Steer & Beer”. Think of it like a “Steak & Ale” pie, but better...
The pies will be ready from the middle of March, so if you fancy a stonker of a pie get in touch - you can pre order - delivery available!
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