Nic Kearney’s Beef and Mushroom Pie

1 kg oxtail or beef cheeks 400 g salt

4 L water

600 g beef stock

2 shallots (diced)

2 cloves garlic (grated)

250g white button mushrooms (brunoise)

250g swiss brown mushrooms (brunoise)

60ml cab sav balsamic vinegar 10g chopped thyme

1 brown onion (diced)

2 cloves garlic (grated)

250 g white button mushrooms 250 g swiss brown mushrooms 60 ml malt vinegar

20 g mushroom powder

2 Tbsp soy sauce

2 Tbsp worcestershire sauce

1⁄2 tsp nutmeg

1 handful thyme

Beef: Make a 10% salt brine by boiling salt and water chill overnight. Add oxtail, and leave for 12 hours. Remove from brine and air dry in the fridge for at least 1 hour. Heat pan on mediumhigh and sear all sides of the oxtail, take your time to make sure all the flavour is sealed in. Cook in the crockpot for 810 hours or overnight. Remove all excess stock and reduce in a pan by 50% until it becomes a glaze. Pull meat off the oxtail and discard any bones. You can substitute oxtail for beef cheeks, just remember to trim the fat and sinew off, and cook the beef cheek accordingly. Pull your meat apart and mix with some off the stock reduction.

Mushroom duxelle: Sweat down shallots and garlic for 10 minutes on low, until they are translucent. Add chopped mushrooms and cook until the water has evaporated, deglaze with balsamic. Season heavily and cook until the pan becomes dry, drain excess oil and chill to stop the cooking process. Set aside to mix with the beef mix later.

Mushroom ketchup: Sweat down onions and garlic for 10 minutes on a low heat until they are translucent. Add chopped mushrooms and cook until all the moisture has almost evaporated, deglaze with malt vinegar. Add the rest of your ingredients and cook out for a further 15 mins. Take off the heat and put a lid on to keep all the flavour in. Blitz until a puree texture is achieved. If it needs any more liquid while blitzing, you can add some more soy/vinegar/olive oil to taste. Don’t forget to check the seasoning.

Pastry: For the pastry I recommend using your favourite storebought pastry for this and blind bake the pastry until cooked through.

To Serve: Heat up your pastry. Mix together the oxtail, mushroom duxelle and some of the reduced cooking stock. Build your pie by smearing your mushroom ketchup along the base and adding the beef mix, and more ketchup on top. Slice some raw white button mushrooms to spread on top, sprinkle some fresh thyme leaves over top and add a light drizzle of olive oil over the raw mushrooms. Enjoy this over a cold winter's night.