Beef Pot Pies with pepper sauce

Ingredients

• 1 lb (450g) good quality beef steak (cubed)
• 1 medium onion (finely chopped) (approximately 1 cup)
• 10 large white mushrooms (chopped) (approximately 1 cup)
• 1 large potato (grated) (approximately 2 cups)
• 1 medium carrot (grated) (approximately 1/2 cup)
• 1 cup (1/2 pint) beef stock (you can use 1 stock cube disolved in 1 cup boiling water)
• 1 packet powdered pepper sauce
• 1/2 cup single cream
• 1 Tablespoons sunflower oil (or any other neutral-flavoured oil
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1 packet frozen puff pastry (defrosted)

Instructions

1. 1

   Preheat oven to 220°C / 450°F

2. 2

   Cut the steak into approximately 2cm pieces

3. 3

   Grate the potato and carrot

4. 4

   Chop the onion and mushrooms into fine dice (approximately 1 cm)

5. 5

   Heat the oill in a frying pan and fry the onions gently on a low heat until translucent.

6. 6

   Turn up the heat and add the steak. Stir fry the steak with the onions until the steak is nicely browned.

7. 7

   Reduce the heat. Add the mushrooms and continue to stirfry for about 2 minutes until the mushrooms start to brown.

8. 8

   Remove from the heat and stir in the salt, pepper and the pepper sauce powder

9. 9

   Stir in the grated potatoes and carrots

10. 10

    Add the beef stock

11. 11

    Return to the heat, and allow to simmer on a very low heat, for at least one hour, until the meat is tender and the potatoes and onions have disintegrated. If it starts to dry out, top up with more beef stock.

12. 12

    Remove from the heat and stir in the cream

13. 13

    Test for taste and season with more salt and pepper if necessary.

14. 14

    If the sauce is too runny, thicken with a little cornflour dissolved in 1 tablespoon milk. This will allow the sauce to thicken as the pies cook in the oven.

15. 15

    Spoon into 4 individual ramekins

16. 16

    Roll out the puff pastry and cut into 1cm strips (about ¼" thick) then cut each strip in half. Lay the strips across each of the ramekins to form a lattice work on top of each ramekin.

17. 17

    Brush with beaten egg.

18. 18

    Bake in a pre-heated oven for 15 - 20 minutes until the pastry is well risen and golden.

19. 19

    To serve, place each ramekin on a plate with a mound of mashed potatoes and your favourite vegetables.