Do you watch a lot of Great British Bake Off? Are
you an American and didn’t know what a hot water crust was? SAME. Also, I bet
you can tell that a lot of my inspirations for this challenge came from GBBO.
#maryberryforpresident.
Anyway, I wanted to try my hand at a hot water
crust. I will say that my final product was not very pretty the first time, but probably one
of the most delicious and stick to your ribs meals ever. You know when you just
don’t care and you wear pajamas and don’t shave your legs and maybe, maaaybe
brush your hair? Maybe you don’t even do that, but you don’t care because you
know that you’re beautiful on the inside, and that’s what counts? Yeah, same
for this meat pie. **Edit this picture up here is from my third attempt. You will see the ugly later AND see why it didn't work right the first time- because I'm an idiot.
Additionally, I made this in June because my husband
didn’t want to wait for colder weather. I’d recommend doing this in like Fall
or Winter, but whatever. I still ate it and enjoyed even though it was 90
degrees outside.
I will also say that this recipe calls for beef brisket,
which is a bit expensive (or I’m cheap, whatever). So, what I’m saying is save
this for something special- it IS impressive. OR you can do it with a cheaper
cut of meat. I’m sure it would still be delicious. You do want a chunked meat,
not a ground meat. ** I have made this a few times since, and this last time I did it with bottom round roast which is significantly cheaper and still delicious!
Meat
Filling:
3.3 lb beef brisket, trimmed and cut into 2in pieces
1 tsp salt
1 – 2 tbsp olive oil
1 large onion, diced
2 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
1 tbsp tomato paste
2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tbsp brown sugar
2 c beef stock
1 ¾ c Guinness
2 tbsp flour
12 oz baby Portobello mushrooms
1. Start by trimming the brisket, trying to get as much
fat off as possible. Cut into 2in cubes. You will be shredding these in the
end, so it doesn’t have to be perfect. Sprinkle the meat with salt. *I also did pepper because everything should always have pepper.
2. In a Dutch oven, heat 1 tbsp olive oil over medium
heat. Add brisket in batches to brown the outsides. You don’t want to crowd the
pan, or they won’t sear well, so just do it in batches and put the finished
ones on a plate for later. If the beef tries to rip apart when you flip it
over, it’s not done yet. Patience, young padawan.
3. While the meat browns, dice onions and peel and
crush garlic. When the meat is done and set aside, sauté the onion in the same
pan until soft and translucent. You may need to add a bit more olive oil to the
pan. Then add garlic and cook just until fragrant.
4. Add the tomato paste and Worcestershire sauce
to the pan. Let it cook for a minute or two before adding liquids. You want to
cook out the raw tomato flavor a bit.
5. Add the stock, Guinness, and sugar. *My can of Guinness
had a little extra left, which means a little for the cook!
6. Finally, return the brisket back to the pot. Turn
the heat to low and simmer for about 2 hours with the lid on, then remove the
lid and simmer for another 30 minutes, until the meat is tender and shreds
easily with a fork.
7. While the meat cooks, clean and chop the mushrooms
into quarters.
8. You can also prepare the hot water crust at this
point. *I didn’t start preparing until I had taken the lid off of the meat.
9. Once the meat is ready, remove just the meat from
the pot and shred with two forks.
10. Add flour to the remaining liquid that’s still in
the pot, stirring for about 3 minutes until the raw flour flavor is cooked out
and the liquid thickens.
11. Return the meat to the pan and add chopped
mushrooms. Stir together. It’s ready for the crust! *It’s like really thick-
you want it to be thick. It’s going into a pie.
Hot
Water Crust:
21.5 tbsp unsalted butter or 300 g (a little less
than 3 sticks) *hot water crust is a British thing mostly, so I used the
British measurements.
1 1/3 c water (360 ml)
1 tsp salt
5 c flour (750 g)
1 egg (for the egg wash- not being added to the actual dough)
1. In a medium pot over high heat, combine butter,
water, and salt, and bring to a boil.
2. While this is happening, in a large bowl, place the
flour and make a well in the middle.
3. Prepare your countertop to roll out the dough. *The
recipe said she likes to use parchment to roll out the dough. She also said you
could just use the countertop, which I did. She sits on a throne of lies. I think
maybe parchment is the way to go. Maybe you could then flip that shit right
into your dish. You’ll see later what happened to me.
4. Once the water and butter come to a boil, pour into
the middle of the well of flour. Mix to combine. This will be hot!! *surprise,
it has boiling water in it. As you mix, it will start to cool down.
5. Once it seems pretty solid, turn it out onto the
floured work surface. Knead for several minutes until smooth and elastic. *You
know, maybe I didn’t do this.Look at this video! Pretty fucking sure
I didn’t knead it. This may have been my “downfall”, ie why my dough was so
soft. Thanks a lot, Jenna. You can see my original crust here. NOW I know and I do kneed it for about 10 - 15 minutes, and it's way easier to roll out and much easier to handle.
6. Once the dough is ready, roll it out. You want it to
be big enough to fit all the way up the sides of a 9in deep dish pie pan. *I actually
used a 9in springform pan.
7. You will need some of the dough for the top of the
crust, so keep that in mind. So, basically, you will have two circles, one
bigger (for the bottom and the sides) and one a bit smaller.
Assembly:
1. Preheat oven to 400F.
2. Lightly spray the pan or grease with oil. Place the
bigger circle of dough into the pan, pushing into the bottom and all the way up
the sides.
3. Pour in the filling.
4. Cover the pie with the second circle of pie dough,
pinching the top dough with the side so that it’s sealed. *I made a hole on the
top for the steam to escape. This felt right. Follow your heart. My pie looks rather sad because I didn't knead it. I will say, though, that the crust tasted totally delicious still, so I can't be completely angry.
 |
| First Time |
 |
| Third Time |
6. Bake for 40 – 45 minutes until the top is golden.
7. Take out and let sit for a while before trying to
serve. *Since I put it in a springform, I waited like 30 minutes so that I felt
confident about unmolding it. This also gives the innards time to calm the fuck
down and not just spill out immediately when you cut it. Don’t worry; it will
still be demon hot when you eat it.
 |
| Again, First Time |
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| Now - Much prettier! |
Difficulty: 2
Amount of time: 4
Awesomeness: 5
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