I had some leftover skirt steak, so I bought extra ingredients (peas, carrots, celery, potatoes) and made a couple pies that I took to the office:
The pie filling tasted great when I put it all together last night. Today, though, the whole thing was good but kind of bland, and the muted reactions of my coworkers signaled the truth of the matter. I'd say the pie needs a bit more salt, and maybe some help with a little hot sauce. (I did add some cayenne and red-chili flakes, but only sparingly, and I guess that wasn't enough to pep the dish up.) I had added a can of beer to the filling as well, but when I asked one coworker whether he tasted the beer at all, he said no. Alas. The beef, at least, ended up the perfect texture for this kind of pie. I deem the pie edible, but little more than that. I should try making that twisted version of a Scotch pie again. That was damn good.
6 comments:
They look really good.
Thanks. I hate to say it, but I should've added more aromatics like onions. (I did add dried onion flakes because I hate regular onions, but that wasn't enough, apparently.)
Perhaps you have discovered another possible retirement vocation! Could be the best pies in Wyoming...
Beer is more of a flavor-enhancer, I think. If you can actually taste the beer in a stew or pie, that would be an indicator to me that there was way too much beer in it.
Also, the kind of beer matters as well. If you just dumped a can of Cass in there, for example, you're not going to taste anything. But if you dumped a bottle of bourbon-barrel-aged stout in there, that might be a different story. I imagine that it still would not jump out at you, though.
John,
I'll need to keep working on those pies before they're even close to qualifying as the best in any category.
One major difference between this current batch of pies and the beef pie I'd done last year is that, last year, I had made an awesome yuksu, i.e., beef broth, through a slow-cooking process. This time, I rushed it with some bouillon. Won't make that mistake again.
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