Guinness Pie

This in a very involved recipe and a whole lot more work than I am usually willing to put into a meal. However, I wanted to try out something new for St. Patricks Day dinner because I am not a fan of corned beef and I found this intriguing. From start to finish it took me about 4 hours, however you can mix up the crust and make the filling a day in advance and then assemble it right before you want to cook it. Just bring it up to room temperature before assembling and baking. It was a lot of work, but TOTALLY worth it! OMG it turned out amaze-balls! Our new SPD tradition for sure!

Ingredients

Crust:
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
3/4 tsp salt
1 stick (8 TBSP) cold, unsalted butter
1 cup shredded aged Irish Cheddar cheese
1/4 - 1/2 cup ice water

Filling:
6 strips thick cup bacon - cut crosswise into 1 inch pieces
2 TBSP olive oil or safflower oil + more if needed
3 pounds beef chuck - trimmed of hard fat and cut into bite sized pieces
salt & pepper
3 cups low sodium chicken broth
1 medium yellow onion - chopped
4 large garlic cloves - thinly sliced
1 pound (about 4 cups) mushrooms - washed, stems trimmed and cut in half or quarters if they are large
1/4 cup all purpose flour
1 TBSP Dijon mustard
2 cups dark stout beer - I used Guinness extra stout (this will be just over 1 bottle of beer)
7 stems fresh Thyme
1 dried bay leaf
8 ounces frozen pearl onions - thawed and drained
1 pound (about 3 cups)  fingerling or new potatoes - cut into 3/4 inch pieces
2 TBSP chopped fresh dill
2 TBSP finely grated fresh horse radish (I could not find fresh anywhere so I just used jarred extra hot - not creamed)
1 TBSP distilled white vinegar
1 egg - beaten

CRUST:
In a food processor, combine flour and salt. Add butter and cheese and pulse until the mixture turns into a coarse meal.

With the machine running, drizzle water in slowly through the top. Pulse until the dough holds together without being wet and sticky. DO NOT process more than 30 seconds. Test the dough by squeezing a small amount together, if its crumbly add more water 1 TBSP at a time.

Roll dough into a ball and flatten into a disc. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate at least 1 hour.

FILLING:
Heat oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add bacon and cook until crisp and brown. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towels. Save the fat to a bowl.

Wipe out pot and add 2 TBSP reserved bacon fat back to pot and heat over medium-high heat until hot.

Season beef with salt & pepper. Working in 3 batches, cook beef until browed on all sides, about 4 minutes per batch. Remove with a slotted spoon to a bowl.

Pour off fat from pot into bowl of reserved fat. Add 1 cup of broth to the pot and cook for 1 minute, scraping the bottom of the pot if needed. Pour over bowl of meat.

Heat 2 TBSP reserved fat in pot over medium-high heat. Add onions and garlic and cook until onions soften, about 2-3 minutes. Stir in mushrooms and cook 3 minutes. Sprinkle flour over vegetables, add mustard, and cook stirring constantly for 1 minute.

Return beef and broth to pot. Add remaining broth, stout, thyme and bay leaf. Bring to a boil, scraping flour mixture from bottom and sides of pot. Reduce heat to simmer, partially covered for 1 hour and 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Add potatoes, cover and simmer until potatoes are tender but NOT MUSHY, about 20 minutes. Remove and discard bay leaf and thyme stems. Stir in bacon, pearl onions, dill, horse radish and vinegar. Season with salt and pepper and transfer to a 2 1/2 quart baking dish and place on a rimmed baking sheet (incase it bubbles over).

Preheat oven to 400. Roll out dough on a floured work surface to about 2 inches bigger than the baking dish. Center dough over filling; trim the edges to about 1 inch overhang. Brush egg wash over bottom of edges and press onto baking dish to seal. Brush remaining egg wash over the top of the pie. Cut vents in center. Bake until crust is golden and the filling bubbles, 35 - 45 minutes. Let cool 20 minutes before serving.