Hairy Bikers Cow Pie Recipe

This Hairy Bikers cow pie recipe slow-cooks braising steak with potatoes and carrots, then tops it with puff pastry and a pair of pastry horns. And the Perfect Pies version feeds 8 in about 6½ hours by my count, at roughly 1,000 calories a portion.

Two blocks of puff pastry cover 1kg of steak, so “a sight for hungry eyes” fits, and Si and Dave call it “the big ’un”. Since the potatoes and optional chantenay carrots cook in the stew for its last hour or more, it’s “a meal in itself”.

Piling the filling high in the middle is what holds the crust up, because the pastry needs that support as it rises. And they warn against dripping beaten egg down the sides, since egg there stops the edges puffing up properly.

Hairy Bikers Cow Pie Recipe

Author: Alex Saidani Cooking Method:Baking Cuisine:British Courses:Dinner

Difficulty:BeginnerPrep time: 40 minutesCook time:4 hours 30 minutesRest time:1 hour 10 minutesTotal time:6 hours 20 minutesServings:8 servingsCalories:1000 kcal Best Season:Summer

Description

Browned beef, onions and garlic braise in wine, stock and tomatoes for hours, with chunks of potato and baby carrots added halfway. Then the cooled stew goes into a deep dish under a puffed golden lid, crowned with two pastry horns shaped over foil.

Ingredients

For the filling

• 6 to 8 tbsp sunflower oil
• 3 medium onions, halved and sliced
• 4 garlic cloves, crushed
• 1kg well-marbled braising steak, trimmed of hard fat or gristle
• 1 tsp flaked sea salt
• 200ml red wine or water
• 600ml hot beef stock (made with 2 stock cubes)
• 400g can chopped tomatoes
• 2 tbsp tomato purée
• 1 tbsp English mustard
• 1 tsp caster sugar
• 1 tsp dried mixed herbs
• 2 bay leaves
• 3 tbsp cornflour, blended with 3 tbsp cold water
• 750g potatoes (preferably Maris Pipers), peeled and cut into 5cm chunks
• 400g chantenay carrots, trimmed and peeled (optional)
• freshly ground black pepper

For the pastry and horns

• 2 x 500g blocks of ready-made puff pastry
• plain flour, for rolling
• beaten egg, to glaze

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Instructions

1. Fry the onions: Heat 2 tablespoons of the oil in a large frying pan and fry the onions and garlic for 5 minutes until golden, stirring regularly. Then tip them into a large flameproof casserole and toss the steak, cut into 3.5cm cubes, with the salt and plenty of pepper.
2. Brown the beef: Add another 2 tablespoons of oil to the pan, then fry the meat in 3 batches until well browned, adding more oil between batches. Then move each batch into the casserole.
3. Braise: Preheat the oven to 180°C/Fan 160°C/Gas 4, then deglaze the pan with the wine or water and pour it over the beef. Then add the stock, tomatoes, purée, mustard, sugar and herbs, bring to the boil, cover and cook in the oven for 1½ hours.
4. Add the vegetables: Stir in the cornflour mixture, potatoes and carrots, then cover and return to the oven for 1 to 1½ hours. Once the beef is very tender and the sauce is thick, check the seasoning. Then leave it to cool.
5. Fill the dish: Heat the oven to 200°C/Fan 180°C/Gas 6. Then spoon the filling into a 2-litre pie dish or a roasting tin, piling it up in the centre to support the pastry.
6. Add the pastry: Roll the pastry at least 5cm larger than the dish and cut strips about 1cm wider than the rim. Then fix the strips on the egg-brushed rim, brush them with egg and lay the rest of the pastry on top.
7. Seal and glaze: Press firmly to seal, and leave the excess hanging over the sides for 10 minutes. Then trim, knock up the edges and make a small central hole. And brush the top with egg, keeping it off the sides.
8. Make the horns: Wrap the pastry trimmings around two horns of crumpled foil, smoothing any splits, and brush them with egg. Then bake them on a foil-lined sheet for 15 to 20 minutes before the pie goes in, and leave them to cool.
9. Bake: Bake the pie in the centre of the oven for 45 minutes. Then lower to 180°C/Fan 160°C/Gas 4 for a further 15 to 25 minutes, until puffed up and golden.
10. Add the horns: Make two small cuts in the baked lid and push the bottom 2 to 3cm of each horn in, going deeper if they won’t stand. Then carry it to the table “with a flourish”, as they put it.

FAQs

Why is it called a cow pie?

Its full name in Perfect Pies is the Desperate Biker Cow Pie, which looks like a nod to Desperate Dan’s cow pie in The Dandy. But that’s only my reading, while the horns themselves are leftover puff pastry wrapped around crumpled foil.

They say to make them a bit smaller than you want, because “they’ll really puff up in the oven”.

Can you make it ahead?

Yes, the filling can be made a day ahead, then cooled, covered and chilled. Then they say to let it stand at room temperature for an hour before the pastry goes on.

That splits a 6½-hour job neatly across two days, which is how I’d tackle it for a crowd. And with no storage advice printed, I’d chill leftovers and eat them within 2 days, reheated until piping hot.

What if you haven’t got a 2-litre pie dish?

A roasting tin is the alternative they give, and the filling still gets piled up high in the middle.

But the pastry has to be rolled at least 5cm larger than whatever you use, so measure the tin before you roll.

What do you serve with it?

Extra greens or chips, if anything, because the potatoes and carrots are already baked in. And with 750g of potatoes in the filling, I’d keep the sides light.

If you’d rather have ale in the gravy, their Perfect Pies steak and ale pie braises steak and smoked bacon with a whole bottle.

How does it compare with their other beef pies?

It feeds the most of any beef pie on this site, because 1kg of steak with potatoes stretches to 8.

For a Northern classic in lard shortcrust, their Perfect Pies meat and potato pie uses minced beef instead. And their double-crust steak and mushroom pie braises chuck steak with red wine and Worcestershire sauce.