Beef with Pickled Walnuts & Pastry Stars

Recipe for: BEEF with PICKLED WALNUTS & PASTRY STARS

Ingredients: (serves 8)

For the beef:

·        1.5kg/ 3lb 5 oz stewing or braising steak, cut into generous cubes, fat removed

·        2 garlic cloves, peeled & crushed

·        1 bay leaf

·        440ml can/ bottle of stout or Guinness

·        85g/ 3oz butter

·        3 tblsp olive oil

·        100g/ 4 oz smoked streaky bacon in slices, chopped, or cubes

·        3 large Spanish onions

·        350ml/ 12 fl oz port

·        390g jar pickled walnuts (Sainsburys, since you ask), halved, reserving about half the pickling liquor

·        3 tblsp finely-chopped flat-leaf parsley

For the pastry stars:

·        2 tblsp flour

·        375g pack ready-rolled puff pastry

·        1 egg, beaten

Method:

1.      You can make the stars first or last – see the bit at the end.

2.      Put the beef, garlic, stout & bay leaf into a large non-metallic bowl.  Cover & chill for a few hours, or preferably overnight. Turn occasionally.

3.      Drain the meat & reserve the marinade.

4.      Pat the beef dry with kitchen towel.

5.      Heat half the butter & oil in a large pan, and brown the meat well in batches, removing to a flame-proof casserole with a slotted spoon.

6.      Add the rest of the butter & oil and fry the bacon & onions slowly & gently until they are golden brown and softened.

7.      While they are cooking, heat the oven to 150C/ 130C fan/ gas 2.

8.      When the onions are cooked down, stir in the flour, stirring well to create a roux

9.      Add the port and the reserved marinade & cook gently to blend to a smooth sauce/ gravy.

10.   Tip the lot into the casserole with the beef, and stir well to mix.

11.   Cover the casserole and cook in the oven for 2½ to 3 years, stirring occasionally.  Cook lower & slower if you can.

12.   The beef should become very soft & tender.

13.   Add the walnuts & reserved pickling vinegar. Add the parsley and stir through.

14.   Cook for another 5-10 minutes and serve.

15.   To make the pastry stars: roll out the pastry on a floured board. Using a star-shaped pastry cutter, cut out star shapes.  Put them on an oiled baking sheet. Brush with beaten egg & sprinkle with salt. Then place into a hot (200C/ fan 180C/ gas 6) oven and bake for 5-7 minutes until puffed, cooked & golden. Place on a rack to cool & reserve for serving later.

What else you need to know:

1.      Obviously you can make whatever pastry shapes you want, but stars are attractive & amusing.

2.      They can be cooked ahead of time & kept in an airtight tin for a couple of days.

3.      Before serving, just warm the pastry shapes very gently in the oven.

4.      Serve up the beef onto plates, then put the pastry shapes on top – makes a kind of deconstructed “pie”. Looks very impressive.

5.      Hand round a plate of extra stars/ shapes – they will soon disappear!

6.      The beef should be very soft & unctuous, the sauce very rich.

7.      No-one will guess that the mystery ingredient is pickled walnuts!