Steak and ale humble pie
Steaks
My sister who has lived in England since the 70's, has introduced me to many British traditions over the years. I also spent a summer working on a dig in York, England, another in Lowestoft and one in Bognor Regis, where I grew accustomed to various meat pies for our short lunch breaks. For this recipe I have elected to "New Englandize" a steak pie recipe. I am suggesting puff pastry (if you have 3 days to make a proper one, I have a great recipe) or a shortcrust pastry with a bit of pumpkin and corn meal added in. I bought my grassfed sirloin from a local farm and the fresh harvest vegetables at my local farmer's market. The pumpkin ale hails from New England. The maple syrup is a gift from a neighbor and herbs from my garden The flour comes from Vermont. If you wanted, you could add some fresh lamb kidney (6 oz.) to this, but I usually don't care for it all that much. This pie has some root to the British humble pie with the original dish dating back to 16th Century England. Then it was called "umbles pie" — a meat pie made from deer umbles (the innards). These less desirable meats would be taken home by the huntsman who killed a deer for a nobleman, while the nobleman would get the venison. The "umbles" would be baked into a more modest dish eaten by the working class: "Umble pie" indicated social order. The term has evolved to have many new meanings and forms, now known as "humble pie," including many meats and even sweet fillings such as huckleberries. For the new year and the coming of spring we make a steak and oyster pie, which is great. Using a sirloin here, the meat was plenty tender. You could also use other cuts of natural preferably grassfed beef, as long as they will be tender for stewing. I have made this using fresh venison and a few juniper berries, when a hunter friend gave me steaks. - Sagegreen
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