Beef and Mustard Pies with Champ
Photography Manja Wachsmuth.
This is a comfort food classic and is best made with a cut such as boneless shin or gravy beef to produce a rich and meltingly tender stew.
Serves: 4–6
INGREDIENTS
1 kilogram diced stewing beef
½ cup plain flour
olive oil
2 onions, diced
1 stick celery, finely sliced
1 large carrot, diced
2 cloves garlic, crushed
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon grain mustard
1 x 355 ml bottle pale ale
1 cup beef stock
sea salt and freshly ground pepper
Champ
1½ kilograms floury potatoes, peeled
1/3 – ½ cup cream
good knob of butter
2 spring onions, finely sliced
2 cloves garlic, crushed
2 tablespoons finely chopped flat-leaf parsley
sea salt and freshly ground pepper
METHOD
Preheat the oven to 150˚C.
Heat a little olive oil in a large ovenproof casserole or saucepan. Season the flour and toss through the beef, shaking off the excess. Brown the beef in batches until lightly golden, transferring to a plate as they brown. Add a little more oil to the pan between batches and don’t let the base of the pan catch and burn.
Add the onions, celery and carrot with a good pinch of salt and cook for 5 minutes, adding a splash of the ale to the pan if it’s too dry. Stir in the tomato paste, Worcestershire sauce, soy sauce and the mustard and cook for 1 minute. Add the ale and stock along with the beef and any meat juices. Season and bring to the boil. Place a piece of baking paper over the meat then cover tightly with a lid or foil. Braise for 2 hours, stirring every 30 minutes until the beef is very tender.
Champ: Cut the potatoes into chunks and cook in boiling salted water until tender.
Drain well and tip back into the saucepan. Place over a low heat to drive off excess moisture. Stir in the remaining ingredients and season well.
To assemble: Divide the beef between ovenproof ramekins and top with the champ, roughing it up with a fork. Drizzle over a little melted butter then bake until the filling is hot and the champ is golden.
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In Dream Escape, we journey from Japan and Morocco to Italy, India and beyond, sharing recipes inspired by travel, heritage and comfort. We celebrate the champions of the Outstanding Food Producer Awards, explore the stories and recipes of chefs shaped by their cultural roots, and warm up with everything from West African soups and slow-braised lamb to porchetta, butter chicken and beef noodle soup. Alongside destination menus, Scandinavian sweets and cosy pub classics, Chrisanne Terblanche shares her favourite street-side dining spots in Bangkok, while Yvonne Lorkin explores red wine varietals. This issue, we invite you to slow down, turn the pages and escape through food.