Stockman chuck steak pie

A Bite To Eat With Alice: Stockman's chuck steak pie

Ingredients

1kg grass-fed chuck steak, cut into cubes

2 tablespoons plain flour

½ teaspoon each of salt flakes and freshly ground pepper

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 large onion, peeled and cut into 1cm dice

3 medium carrots, peeled and cut into 1cm discs

2-3 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed

3 tablespoons tomato paste

2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

375ml pale ale

4 sprigs fresh thyme

2 bay leaves

1 cup (250mL) beef stock

Salt and lots of freshly ground pepper to taste

For the mashed potato topping:

1kg potato, peeled and cut into 1cm slices

75g butter

75mL pouring cream

5-6 rasps of nutmeg

1 egg

Flaked salt, to season

Freshly cracked black pepper, to season

Method

1. Preheat oven to 180°C.
2. Toss the beef in the flour, salt flakes and pepper. 
3. Heat oil on high in a large Dutch oven and add the beef in batches, browning very well on all sides. When caramelised, scoop out into a bowl and continue to do the rest, adding more oil as needed.
4. After removing the last batch of browned beef, pop in the onions and carrots and gently sweat with the lid on for 5-8 minutes until the onions are translucent and soft. Add the garlic, tossing about for a minute or so until aromatic then add the tomato paste and cook out for 2 minutes. Add the beef back to the mix including any juices.
5. Deglaze the pan with the beer and Worcestershire sauce, scraping up any squiggly brown bits. Pour in the stock then toss in the thyme and bay leaves, cooking together until the liquid has reduced slightly and to thicken the filling into a shiny happy gravy.
6. Put the lid back on and place in the oven for 1½ hours until the chuck steak is soft.
7. In the meantime, place potatoes in a saucepan with 1 litre of cold salted water, bring to the boil and simmer for 20 minutes until very tender. Drain the potatoes and place back into the pot over low heat and let all the moisture steam off the potatoes. Turn off the heat then mash well with the butter then add the cream, rasp in the nutmeg, season with salt and pepper and give it a good stir. Now, beat in the egg and set aside until you're ready to assemble the pie.
8. Increase oven temperature to 200°C.
9. Remove the braised beef from the oven and discard the bay leaf and thyme sprigs. Top with the mashed potato, run a fork over the top to create little valleys. Bake for 30 minutes until golden and bubbling.