Steak, Mushroom and Kidney Pies

[Artful]

So my mom used to make it but I don't have her recipe - anyone make this combination as a Pastie?

[farmerjim]

Many years ago I tried steak and kidney pie in Manchester England. At the first bite in had trouble not throwing up all over the table. Just the thought of it sends me into the dry heaves to this day.

[trails4u]

Staines, on the outskirts of London, Summer 1991. Won't forget that day, ever.

Many years ago I tried steak and kidney pie in Manchester England. At the first bite in had trouble not throwing up all over the table. Just the thought of it sends me into the dry heaves to this day.

[UKShootist]

So my mom used to make it but I don't have her recipe - anyone make this combination as a Pastie?

As a pastie? Heresy Sir, of the worst kind. Steak and kidney pie is just below bacon on the food worship order. Steak and Kidney pudding OTOH it at the peak. Steak and kidney encased in a suet pudding mix. Pure ambrosia! Don't plan on going anywhere for a few hours after a steak and kidney pudding meal. It will sit like a most satisfying anvil in your stomach, making you beam with pleasure.

[UKShootist]

Many years ago I tried steak and kidney pie in Manchester England. At the first bite in had trouble not throwing up all over the table. Just the thought of it sends me into the dry heaves to this day.

'Tis true it is a manly meal not suited to a delicate disposition or a weak constitution. But a man's gotta chew what a man's gotta chew. Eating one cold, straight out of the fridge is the sign of a true master.

[MT Gianni]

A friends mother who would not say shucks if her life depended on it used to claim the only way to fix kidneys was to " boil the piss out of it".

[RGrosz]

A friends mother who would not say shucks if her life depended on it used to claim the only way to fix kidneys was to " boil the piss out of it".

I've always heard that.
Rob

[high standard 40]

I've heard that the best way to cook kidney is to boil the p*** out of it.

[UKShootist]

Two pigs kidneys, remove the core, cut into suitable sized limps. Chuck it in a frying pan with onions and chopped tinned tomatoes. Season to suit your tastes (curry for me) and off you go. Lovely!

[MaryB]

Steak and mushroom gravy? Yup! Kidney? NOPE!

[OeldeWolf]

I use beef kidneys. The trick is to get every last bit of the white cortex out of it. A properly cleaned kidney ends up as little chunks of a very rich meat. It tastes a bit richer than beef, rather like a more tender version of heart.

Cook the kidney and the beef by boiling or simmering till tender. Add your mushrooms, onions, and do not forget some ginger and Worcestershire sauce. Thicken the pan with some roux or corn starch, and put in a pie crust.

Properly done, it is actually very good. Leave any of the white cortex in, and it is hardly fit for dog food.

[Driver man]

Steak and kidney pies with mushroom and onion gravy is food of the gods and a staple, mind you we love meat pies of every type imaginable here . Apart from steak and kidney I enjoy potato topped , steak and cheese, steak and onion ,steak onion and tomato and bacon and egg pies. All with a flakey pastry .

[high standard 40]

My opinion only............God put enough meat on critters so that I don't feel that I need to eat entrails. But to each his own.
Carry on.

[jimlj]

I had some in Bradford England in the late '70s. It was good if you could get your mind past what you were eating.

[Thundarstick]

I guess for someone like myself, who enjoys a good souse, it would be no problem. I've never had one, but always wanted to.

[mzlldr]

When I was a young bloke , in the late forties/early fifties, lamb kidneys were commonly to be found at breakfast time . Never could take to chicken livers, but loved (and still do ) lamb liver fried with bacon and with onions and gravy . For those who haven't tried them , I suggest that you start with the lamb kidneys , they are much milder in flavour .
Mzzldr

[Artful]

Problem is sourcing Offal in America - I'm still looking for sweet breads - found the kidney at a mexican market (Food City) I'll keep a look out for lamb kidney & livers

[Reverend Al]

I would suspect that it would be a similar recipe to a Cornish Pastie and it would be just a variation on the ingredients and with the crust placed in a deep dish pie tin rather than baked on a sheet in the oven. (Been meaning to try my hand at making Cornish Pasties for years ...)

Cornish Pastie

For the Pastry (This is for Shortcrust)

• One and a half Cups Plain Flour
• Lard or vegetable fat
• Pinch of salt
• Water

For the pastie filling

• Chuck steak or skirt, sliced and sauteed
• Two Large potatoes, lightly boiled and diced
• Two large carrots, diced
• One large onion, diced
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Water

Cornwall Pastie Recipe Method

The Pastry

Place flour and salt in a bowl, and then rub in the fat until the mixture is so fine that it falls through the fingers. Tip mixture onto a lightly floured table top. With your index finger make a well in the centre of the mixture. Add water a little at a time until it forms a pliable, but stiff dough.

The Cornish Pastie Filling

Finely chop the steak. Dice the potato, carrots, and onion. (You may prefer to slice them.) Add seasoning. Mix all in a bowl or to be really authentic use your kitchen table top.
Using a floured table top, roll out half the dough to a circle the size of a plate. Make a mound of the filling in the centre of the dough. Dampen round the edge of the dough with either water, or milk. Fold over the dough, to make a half moon shape, crimping the edges. Make a slit to let out steam. Brush with beaten egg to glaze.

Cooking your Cornish Pastie

Place on lightly greased metal baking tray in the middle of a preheated oven, for around 40 minutes at 450 F. The pastie is cooked when their undersides turn brown and crisp.

Cornish Pastie History and Folklore - Cornwall

There is as much folklore around the Cornish Pastie as there are recipe variations. One such tale said it was bad luck for fishermen to take a pastie on board a boat, but then again I know a modern day skipper that 'loves his pasties'. A very famous photograph from the late Nineteenth Century shows a group of tin miners at 'Croust Time' (that is meal time to you and I) tucking into very large pasties. (Incidentally the mining boom was largely over by the 1860's) Such pasties would have meat at one end and a fruit filling at the other.

Whatever the truth, there is no doubt that the pasty formed an important part of many working Cornishman's diet, be they miners, farmers, or fishermen. With the decline of the mining industry in Cornwall many Cornishmen were forced to emigrate, as far afield as the USA, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa, where they took the Cornish pastie recipe with them.

[Blanket]

I love entrails. We even caught the blood to eat when we butchered. There was very little wasted.