Scottish Beef Shin Pie with a Puff Lid

Ingredients

• 2 lb Beef Shin, in 1½-inch cubes
• 2 Onions, sliced
• 2 Carrots, in chunks
• 3 tbsp beef dripping or butter
• 3 tbsp all-purpose flour
• 2½ cups beef broth
• 2 tbsp tomato paste
• 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
• 1 sheet all-butter puff pastry
• 1 egg, beaten
• 2 bay leaves
• Salt and black pepper

Method

1. Dry and season the Beef Shin, then brown it hard in the dripping in batches. Every crowded batch you rush costs you flavor you cannot get back later.
2. Cook the Onions in the same pot until golden, 8 minutes, then stir in the flour and tomato paste and cook 2 minutes.
3. Return the meat, add the broth, Worcestershire, and bay, and simmer covered — or braise at 325°F (165°C) — for 90 minutes. Add the Carrots for the last 30.
4. When the meat shreds under a fork, uncover and reduce until the gravy is thick enough to mound on a spoon. Cool at least 20 minutes; hot filling melts pastry into soup.
5. Tip into a pie dish, lay the puff pastry over, trim, crimp the edges to the rim, and cut two steam vents. Brush with beaten egg.
6. Bake at 400°F (205°C) for 30 minutes, until the lid is puffed, dark gold, and crisp underneath. Rest 5 minutes before cutting in.