My most popular recipe for Vietnamese Beef Stew cooked in a slow cooker and turned into pot pies. The perfect winter warmer.
I have a bone to pick with the universe. Specifically the time it takes earth to rotate on its axis. Hey earth, pick a more leisurely pace will ya? I would be happy with a 72 hour rotation. It might just give me enough time to catch up with all the millions of projects I am in the middle of, not to mention work, freelance work and just plain living as well. 24 hours is never enough time and stuff falls by the wayside. Like cleaning the house for example. Or dealing with the laundry – never mind folding it and putting it away (I must admit even 72 hour days would not be enough for that!).
I am going to be at Food Blogger Connect for three days as of tomorrow (YAY!!!) and as a result all my work and the blog is going to have to take a back seat while I drink lots of tequilastudiously take notes and catch up with many blogger friends. I didn’t want to just leave the poor blog without a new post though so I have decided to post this recipe forVietnamese Beef Pot Pies. I wasn’t planning to blog this as I really had no time to take good photos (damn the lack of light – who do I blame for that? It’s both the sun AND the earth isn’t it). But on the other hand these were so delicious that they deserve their spot on here.
Essentially these are a simplified version of my most popular recipe – One Pot Vietnamese Pot Stew. Never in a million years did I imagine that this recipe would become so hugely popular, but it has taken a life of its own on Pinterest and has garnered the most enthusiastic comments from readers around the world. This time I made the stew in the slow cooker overnight and made the pot pies the following day using store bought puff pastry. These pot pies are just the perfect comfort food – crisp pastry encasing the aromatic and warming stew, delicious beyond belief.
Lucy Parissi | Supergolden Bakes
My most popular recipe for Vietnamese Beef Stew cooked in a slow cooker and turned into pot pies.
Put the flour into a shallow plate and season with salt and pepper. Toss the beef in the flour to coat it. Set aside.
Add the shallots, garlic, carrots, squash, tomatoes and chilli in the container of your slow cooker.
Mix the stock with the tomato paste, soy sauce, sugar and all the spices. Pour over the vegetables.
Add the beef and stir briefly. Cook on high for 3 hours on until the squash is cooked through.
Stir in the cornflour and continue to cook for another 30 minutes or until the juices have thickened slightly. Cool the stew before using in the pot pies, otherwise the puff pastry will melt.
Preheat the oven to 200C | 400F.
Take 4 small ramekins – about 10cm (4in) wide and 5cm (2in) deep – and fill with the stew almost to the top.
Cut 4 rounds of puff pastry that are slightly larger than the size of your ramekins.
Brush the rims of the dishes with a little beaten egg, and cover with the puff pastry. Press the edges lightly to seal. Cut a small hole at the centre of each pot pie to allow steam to escape.
Brush the pastry with the beaten egg and place on a heavy baking tray.
Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until the pastry is golden. Cool for 5-10 minutes before serving with some steamed vegetables on the side.
Notes
Keep the pastry in the fridge until you need it and try using all butter puff pastry. If you want to make a homemade pastry topping, this recipe never fails me.
You don't have to blind bake your pie shell without the filling, but it does help give you a crispier crust. Another option is to place the pie on the lowest rack in the oven. The bottom will cook faster, the filling won't soak into the crust, and the top can bake more slowly so it doesn't burn.
It is similar to Shepherd's pie because it is lamb on the bottom and potatoes on the top, but in a slightly different cooking style. The lamb is chopped into cubes and mixed with onions and carrots whilst the potatoes on top are thinly sliced.
Blind-bake your base before adding a filling to help to firm the base and avoid liquid being absorbed into it. Prick the base with a fork to help steam escape, cover with foil or parchment, and weigh it down with ceramic baking beans, uncooked rice or white sugar.
If you have plenty of time, blind bake the bottom crust for 10–15 mins and then brush with egg white while still hot. Allow to cool 5 mins before filling and adding top crust. Put pie dish on a pre-heated baking sheet as above.
Very often flour or cornstarch is used, but in certain instances tapioca, arrowroot and potato starch can also help achieve the desired consistency. Tapioca starch is preferable for products that will be frozen because it will not break down when thawed. We like tapioca in blueberry, cherry or peach pies.
To make gravy, saute onion and garlic in butter.Add flour, stir to mix well.Remove from heat, add chicken broth, milk, salt and pepper. Return to medium-high heat, and bring to a boil for about 2 minutes.
It is fattening, especially store bought with a lot of salt, fats, and carbs. You easily substitute the ingredients for a healthier pie by making at home; reducing the cream sauce, using less butter for the crust, and not as much salt.
There are plenty of situations that require the thickening power of a pantry starch: your pie filling, soup, sauce, gravy. Cornstarch, tapioca starch (also known as tapioca flour), arrowroot, potato starch and plain old wheat flour are typical options.
Pot pies are typically high in carbohydrates and unhealthy fats, which can negatively impact blood sugar levels in diabetics. It's advisable for diabetics to limit their intake of such high-carb, high-fat foods and instead focus on meals that are rich in lean protein, healthy fats, and fiber.
We want thin slices of meat, since it's very important that these meats are able to cook quickly in our boiling hot pot. As long as these meats have been partially thawed, these steps are pretty easy.
Fat and marbling is key for hot pot meat. For beef, use sliced ribeye steak, brisket, or beef belly for that balance of lean and fat. Leaner cuts like sirloin or eye of round can also work, although diners should take extra care not to overcook them. For pork, use thinly sliced pork belly, shoulder, or loin.
The base soup, which already contains salt, is made more flavourful by adding slices of marinated pork, chicken, beef and organ meats such as liver, pork kidney, beef tripe. All of those are high in saturated fats.
Too many pumpkin pies have soggy crusts that never fully brown. To avoid this, recipes often call for blind baking your crust. That is, baking the empty crust before the filling is added. This gives the crust time to firm up and brown, time it typically doesn't get if the faster cooking filling is added first.
Blind-bake the pie base before adding filling to ensure it is well cooked and crisp. To do this, place a 30cm square of non-stick baking paper or foil over the pastry and top evenly with about 1 cup of dried beans or rice to stop the pastry from bubbling.
Blind Baked pie crusts: Blind baked pie crusts are a fully baked crust and are used for recipes which have a no-bake pie filling, such as a lemon meringue pie, chocolate cream pie, banoffee pie, or a french silk pie. You want to fully bake the crust, as it will not get another chance to crisp up.
A pie's place in the oven is on the bottom rack. The worst mistake you can make with your pie is under-baking the bottom crust—it makes for a soggy, doughy mess.
Introduction: My name is Dr. Pierre Goyette, I am a enchanting, powerful, jolly, rich, graceful, colorful, zany person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
We notice you're using an ad blocker
Without advertising income, we can't keep making this site awesome for you.
