Steak pie recipe

I like to use beef shin or beef cheek, it's cheap but needs to be cooked for a long time so the connective tissue breaks down. I add onion, garlic and chopped celery. Toss the beef in flour and fry off the shin in a hot pan until browned, add the onion etc, then deglaze with some red wine or beer. I use a knorr rich stock cube and cook for a long time either in the bottom of an aga or a slow cooker. A low heat in an oven is fine too but make sure it's up to the boil first. You can add carrots, mushrooms etc but I like to reduce the gravy so it's really rich and tasty. I don't put pastry on the top, I buy the ready made stuff and cook it separately then just put it on top of the meat and sauce. I add herbs too, just dried ones, thyme and parsley is nice. Sometimes I add some tomatoes or tomato puree. I think the secret is a flavoursome cut of beef with some fat on it, long slow cooking and making sure it's seasoned well. Like a lot of things the flavour is always better the next day.

I pressure cook my beef,toss it in seasoned flour and brown in oil and butter,set aside .put stock ,tomato puree and mustard in the pan and cook together pour over the steak cook for 45 minutes to an hour.Put steak in pie dish thicken gravy and pour over ,top with puff pastry ,eggwash ,put a hole in the top and bake at 200 .
You can add mushrooms ,lightly fried onions or my DIL's favourite sausages to the steak before baking.
You can cook it in the oven or on the hob if you dont have a pressure cooker .

I usually use the slow cooker for mine. I peel baby onions or shallots and brown them in a bit of oil, then put them in the slow cooker. I toss cubed shin or braising steak in a mix of flour, salt and pepper and mustard powder, before frying it in batches until it's brown. If there is any seasoned flour left, I add that to the pan after taking the last of the meat out, and fry it for a couple of minutes before deglazing the pan with a splash of dark ale from a 500cl bottle.

I put the meat, the juices from the pan with the cooked flour and the rest of the beer over the onions, and add a couple of thickly sliced carrots, and cook for 6 hours on low, resisting the temptation to remove the lid. When it's ready, I taste for seasoning and sometimes add a tablespoon of horseradish if I think it needs it. If it's not thick enough I add a tsp of Bisto powder (not the granules) mixed with a bit of water, stir it in and cook it for a bit longer to thicken.

I'm another who uses bought puff pastry and cooks it separately. I cut it to fit the top of the serving dish before cooking. Sometimes I add a pack of cooked chestnuts in the winter - they make it more seasonal, and are tasty.

Toby you are spoilt for choice all of these recipes are delicious enjoy what you eventually make with your own little tweak.