South African Pepper Steak Pie

Name: South African Pepper Steak Pie
Prep time: 150 min
Total time: 1080 min
Yield: 6
Ingredients: 1 kg Beef short ribs, bone-in, cut into single ribs; 1 Oxtail, jointed; 2 slice Beef shin, cross-cut, bone-in; 6 g Salt; 14 g Black pepper, coarsely cracked; 16 g Plain flour, for dredging; 30 ml Sunflower oil; 2 Onion, large, diced; 6 clove Garlic, minced; 35 g Tomato paste; 60 ml Brandy; 750 ml Merlot; 200 ml Beef stock; 200 g Crushed tomatoes; 30 ml Worcestershire sauce; 30 g Demi-glace; 4 sprig Thyme, fresh; 2 leaf Bay leaf; Water; 8 g Cornstarch (optional); Puff pastry; 10 g Butter; 1 Egg, separated; 15 g Breadcrumbs, fine, dry; 15 ml Whole milk

Oxtail, short rib and shin, braised in merlot and set in their own gelatin, in a sealed puff pastry case.

The South African garage pie, made as a full pie in a glass dish. Three collagen-rich cuts are braised for 3.5 h. The braising liquid sets to a firm jelly overnight, so the filling goes into the pastry cold and solid. A blind bake, an egg-white seal and a layer of breadcrumbs keep the base crisp. Black pepper goes in twice: at the sear and into the finished filling. Paper strips under the pastry lift the whole pie out of the dish.

TechniqueBraising EquipmentDutch oven CourseMain CuisineSouth African TextureUnctuous TechniqueBaking TechniqueBlind baking TextureCrisp EquipmentFine-mesh sieve EquipmentGlass pie dish TechniqueReduction TechniqueSearing

For

6 servings

Why the first revision

First record. Written from the cook with 1 large oxtail, 1 kg short rib, 2 shin slices and one bottle of merlot reduced into the braise, with Edeka puff pastry in a glass dish.

Day 1: braise

21 steps

1 A
Heat the oven to 150 °C.
Temp 150 °C
2 A
Dry the short ribs, oxtail and shin fully with paper towel.
1 kg Beef short ribs 1 Oxtail 2 slice Beef shin
3 A
Season all sides with the salt and 7 g of the black pepper.
14 g Black pepper 6 g Salt
4 A
Dust the meat lightly with the flour.
16 g Plain flour
5 A
Heat the oil in the Dutch oven on high heat until it shimmers.
30 ml Sunflower oil
Tool Dutch oven
6 A
Sear the meat in batches, 3 to 4 min on each side, until dark brown. Do not crowd the pot.
Time 3 min–4 min
Work Searing
7 A
Remove the meat. Lower the heat to medium.
8 A
Cook the onion in the fat until golden.
2 Onion
Time 8 min
9 A
Add the garlic. Stir for 1 min.
6 clove Garlic
Time 1 min
10 A
Add the tomato paste. Cook until it goes darker.
35 g Tomato paste
Time 2 min
11 A
Add the brandy. Scrape the base of the pot. Boil for 30 seconds.
60 ml Brandy
12 A
Add the merlot. Boil it until it is reduced by half.
750 ml Merlot
Time 15 min
Work Reduction
13 A
Put the meat back in the pot. Add the stock, tomatoes, Worcestershire sauce, demi-glace, thyme and bay leaves.
2 leaf Bay leaf 30 ml Worcestershire sauce 30 g Demi-glace 4 sprig Thyme 200 ml Beef stock 200 g Crushed tomatoes
14 A
Add water until the liquid is two thirds of the way up the meat.
Water
15 A
Bring to a bare simmer. Cover with a tight lid.
16 A
Braise in the oven.
Time 3.5 h
Temp 150 °C
Work Braising
Tool Dutch oven
17 A
Test the meat. A fork must go in with no resistance and the bones must move freely. If not, braise for 30 min more.
The thickest piece reads 93 to 96 °C.
18 A
Lift the meat onto a board. Remove all the bones. Freeze the bones for stock.
19 A
Pull the meat into pieces of 20 to 30 mm with two forks.
20 A
Strain the liquid through a fine-mesh sieve.
Tool Fine-mesh sieve
21 A
Refrigerate the meat and the liquid in separate containers overnight.
The liquid must set to a firm jelly under a cap of fat.
Time 8 h

Day 2: filling

6 steps

22 B
Lift the fat cap off the jelly. Keep it: it is beef tallow.
23 B
Melt the jelly in a saucepan. Reduce it by half until it coats a spoon.
Time 20 min
Work Reduction
24 B
If it is too thin, mix the cornstarch with 15 ml cold water. Stir it in. Simmer for 2 min.
Water 8 g Cornstarch
Time 2 min
25 B
Taste. Adjust the salt and the Worcestershire sauce.
6 g Salt 30 ml Worcestershire sauce
26 B
Fold in the meat and the remaining 7 g of black pepper.
14 g Black pepper
27 B
Cool, then refrigerate. The filling must hold its shape on a spoon.
Time 2 h

Day 2: pastry and bake

25 steps

28 C
Butter the glass dish. Lay two crossed strips of baking paper in it, with overhang on all sides.
The paper strips lift the baked pie out of the dish.
10 g Butter
Tool Glass pie dish
29 C
Overlap two pastry sheets by 20 mm. Brush the overlap with water. Press the seam and roll over it lightly.
Water Puff pastry
30 C
Join sheets until the pastry covers the base and sides with 30 mm overhang. Chill for 10 min.
Time 10 min
31 C
Roll the pastry to 3 to 4 mm. Line the dish without stretching the pastry.
Put the seams across the centre of the base, not on the sides.
32 C
Freeze the lined dish.
Time 20 min
33 C
Heat the oven to 220 °C.
Temp 220 °C
34 C
Line the pastry with crumpled baking paper. Fill with baking beans. Push them against the sides.
35 C
Bake on the lowest shelf.
Time 15 min
Temp 220 °C
Work Blind baking
36 C
Remove the beans and the paper. Prick the base 6 to 8 times with a fork.
37 C
Bake until the surface is dry and matte.
Time 5 min
Temp 190 °C
Work Blind baking
38 C
Brush the hot base with the egg white. Bake for 2 min more.
1 Egg
Time 2 min
Temp 190 °C
39 C
Sprinkle the breadcrumbs evenly over the base.
15 g Breadcrumbs
40 C
Spoon in the cold filling. Mound it slightly at the centre.
41 C
Join and roll pastry for the lid, with a 20 mm overhang.
Puff pastry
42 C
Brush the rim of the base with water. Lay the lid on top. Press the edges together.
Water
43 C
Fold the lid edge under the base edge. Crimp all round with a fork.
44 C
Cut 4 slits and a centre hole in the lid. Put a small foil chimney in the hole.
45 C
Beat the egg yolk with the milk. Brush it over the whole lid.
1 Egg 15 ml Whole milk
46 C
Freeze the pie for 15 to 20 min.
Time 15 min–20 min
47 C
Put the dish on a baking sheet at room temperature. Do not use a hot sheet.
48 C
Bake on the lowest shelf.
Time 15 min
Temp 200 °C
Work Baking
49 C
Lower the oven to 180 °C. Move the pie to the middle shelf. Bake until deep golden.
Time 40 min–50 min
Temp 180 °C
Work Baking
50 C
Look at the base through the glass. It must be golden, not pale.
51 C
Rest the pie.
Time 15 min–20 min
52 C
Lift the pie out with the paper strips. Cut with a serrated knife.

Notes

WARNING Glass dish: freezer to hot oven

The assembled pie goes from the freezer into a 200 °C oven. A sudden change in temperature can crack glass.

Pyrex sold in Europe is borosilicate glass, which tolerates this well. A soda-lime glass dish is less tolerant.

Freeze for 15 to 20 min only. Do not freeze the dish solid. Put it on a baking sheet at room temperature, never on a hot sheet or a wet surface.

CAUTION · IDEA Shortcrust base, puff lid

Not tried. A butter and lard shortcrust base takes up less water than puff pastry and holds a heavy filling better. Keep puff pastry for the lid only. Suggested base: 225 g plain flour, 60 g butter, 60 g lard, 1 egg yolk, 45 ml ice water.

Provenance

The pepper steak pie sold at South African petrol stations. This version must have pastry on all sides and must come out of the dish whole.

PreparationReferences

Demi-Glace

A 48–72 hour reduction, done properly

The demi-glace in the braise is this preparation.

The science

What is actually happening in the dish, and why the techniques work.

The gelatin is the structure of the filling

Oxtail, shin and short rib all hold a lot of collagen. Collagen converts to gelatin slowly from 70 °C and much faster above 80 °C. The long braise dissolves it into the liquid.

Below approximately 40 °C, dissolved gelatin sets to a gel. So the chilled liquid sets to a firm jelly, and the fat rises and sets as a cap that lifts off in one piece.

The cold filling goes into the pastry as a solid. A solid filling gives off less steam and no free liquid while the base sets. In the oven the gel melts again and becomes the gravy.

This is why the filling must be cold, not warm, when the pie is assembled.

150 °C oven · 3.5 h covered · 93 °C → 96 °C in the meat · overnight in the refrigerator

Three barriers keep the base crisp

Puff pastry takes up water fast because it is thin layers of dough and butter. The base needs three barriers.

Blind bake. Heat drives water out of the pastry and sets the starch into a rigid structure before the filling touches it.

Egg white. Egg white proteins set from approximately 62 °C into a thin film that water does not easily cross. Brush it on the hot base so it sets at once.

Breadcrumbs. Dry crumbs take up the first liquid that meets the base.

The frozen assembled pie then goes into a hot oven on the lowest shelf. The butter in the pastry is still solid, so its water turns to steam and lifts the layers. The base gets direct heat before the filling warms enough to give off steam.

220 °C 15 min with beans · 190 °C 5 min without · egg white 2 min at 190 °C · 200 °C lowest shelf 15 min · 180 °C middle shelf 40 → 50 min

Reduce the merlot before the meat goes in

Reducing the wine by half in the open pot boils off most of the alcohol and concentrates its acid, sugar and tannin. In the closed braise the alcohol cannot leave, and a raw wine taste stays in the gravy.

Wine tannins bind to protein. Against the fat and gelatin of the filling they read as structure, not as bitterness.