Steak pie is a traditional British and Scottish dish made with beef, vegetables, and gravy cooked inside a pastry shell. It is often served with potatoes and is a popular dish for celebrations, especially on New Year’s Day in Scotland.
A steak pie refers to a savory meat dish enjoyed as part of traditional British and Scottish cuisine. The dish is basically steak, vegetables and gravy cooked inside a shell. Meat pie is somewhat similar to chicken pot pie, an American classic consisting of chicken, chicken gravy, and vegetables cooked inside a flaky pastry shell.
In a basic version of steak pie, the beef is either seared in a skillet until brown on both sides or placed in a pressure cooker. Usually an onion is added and cooked until tender, and mushrooms can also be sauteed and added to the dish. Other vegetables that are sometimes added to quiches include carrots, potatoes, and tomato puree. After the meat and vegetables are cooked, gravy can be made and the whole dish can be allowed to continue cooking until tender on the stove or in the oven. If the gravy isn’t made from scratch, it’s often made with a dry gravy mix or beef stock.
Once the stew is made, it is cooked inside a pie crust. Scotch steak pies are usually baked inside a rectangular shaped flaky pastry shell. In some versions, the crust is placed only on top of the saucepan. In the traditional version, however, the bottom and top of the dish are both usually crusted. The pasta is usually cooked with the dish and not pre-cooked, allowing the crust to absorb the flavor of the dish.
Potatoes are often served as a side dish for steak pie. They are usually served as mashed potatoes or as chips, the name for french fries in some parts of the world. The chips are usually garnished with salt and vinegar or covered in chippie sauce, a thin brownish condiment found mostly in the Edinburgh region of Scotland. The exact ingredients of the sauce are debated, but ingredients included in some versions reportedly include malt vinegar, bacon, and various spices.
Steak pie is usually made from a stewed steak. This cut of beef is suitable for slow stewing with plenty of moisture to make the tougher cut of meat tender and juicy. Alternatively, beef stew, round steak or other cuts of beef are used in some variations of the recipe. A variation is steak and kidney pie, a popular British savory pie made with beef and diced sheep or veal kidneys. Beef sausages are another popular addition in some variations.
In Scotland, steak pie is part of everyday cuisine but is also typically served at celebrations. In particular, the cake is served on New Year’s Day. The festivities typically begin the night before and include eating steak pie while enjoying other festivities to ring in the new year.
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