Steak and Ale Pie

So I figure if I am going to live in this country for a few years, I should become familiar with foods and customs. We had such a delicious Pancake Day, I was excited to put my hand at the Steak and Ale pie for British Pie Week. The recipe came from the National Trust, so it was a fairly traditional and reliable source. http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/main/w-chl/w-countryside_environment/w-food_farming/w-food_recipe-videos/w-food_recipe-videos-steak-pie.htm How the British could not all have heart disease after eating a meal like this is beyond me. I am really glad we went to the gym BEFORE we ate the pie! The recipe starts with the filling. I found the recipe a bit unbalanced meat to veg, so I increased the amount of carrots and added some frozen peas to the mix as well.

Once the filling was finished, I started melting the LARD into the water to start the pastry. Once the lard melted, I added in the flour and then the EGG YOLKS... I had an enormous amount of pastry and ended up making the pie in a large casserole dish. The recipe says 4-6 people. I would say it is on the high side of that, unless it was the England Rugby Team coming for dinner, then maybe 1 pie per person!

In the end, it tasted very good. I might make a few minor changes in the future, but that was more my inexperience than flaws with the recipe. It fed us for 3 1/2 meals last week, a week we only made it to the gym once. Oh well, we will have plenty of time for the gym this week!