Quick Beef Pot Pie (Meat Pie)

At the start of autumn, I always make one of my husband's top-ten favorite meals, beef pot pie.  (We call it meat pie here.)  I had planned to make it for dinner, but there was one little problem - my little sous chef came down with a cold and wasn't feeling well all day.  Thankfully, she had no school for the Jewish holiday, so she could rest.  However, I still had to work, which proved to be a little bit of a challenge.  One of the beautiful things about working out of home is that I can easily take frequent cuddle and playtime breaks throughout the day.  But when sickness strikes, the need for things like cuddling increases tenfold.  It ended up being a really busy, busy day for me.  Taking care of my little one, working, cleaning, trying not to stress out.  I look up at the clock.  *Gasp!*  It's already 4:45?!  Meat pie takes hours to make!  We've been looking forward to meat pie all day, so I decided to come up with a speedier version of it.  I gathered my ingredients and laid them all out on the table and got to work (while my daughter clung to my heels pleading for more couch cuddles).  The verdict?  Delicious!  It tastes like it's been cooking the entire day!  All said and done, including baking time, it was ready in under 1 hour.  Success!  It doesn't end there.  I stood up from the table after everyone paid me lovely compliments about dinner, and I thought about all that I had accomplished in one day.  I breathed a sigh of relief, turned away from the dinner table... and cleaned the kitchen.  Again.              

You might be interested in:  Crock Pot Beef Pot Pie

                                                 Stove-Top Beef Pot Pie

Ingredients:

• 1 lb beef sirloin, cubed 
• 2 tbsp flour 
• 1 tbsp butter
• 1 tbsp avocado oil 
• 1/2 c dry red wine 
• 1 c beef broth 
• 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce 
• 4 potatoes, peeled and cubed 
• 2 carrots, diced 
• 1/2 c frozen peas
• 1/2 c corn 
• 1 tsp dried parsley 
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1/4 tsp onion salt
• 1/4 tsp pepper, or to taste 
• Salt, to taste
• 1 bay leaf
• 2 tbsp flour + 2 tbsp water
• 2 pie crusts - Click here for my homemade recipe
• Optional:  Brown gravy, served on the side

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.

Make the beef filling.  Heat a large pot over medium-high heat.  Season the beef sirloin with salt and pepper and then coat with the flour.  Add the butter and oil to the hot pan.  Once the butter has melted, brown the meat on all sides.  Remove the beef with a slotted spoon, and set aside.  Deglaze the pan with the wine, scraping up the brown bits from the bottom.  Bring the wine to a boil and cook for 1 minute.  Pour in the beef broth and Worcestershire sauce.  Add the browned beef, potatoes, carrots, peas, and corn to the pot.  Season with parsley, sugar, garlic powder, onion salt, pepper and bay leaf.  Bring the mixture to a boil.  Turn the heat down to low.  Cover and cook for 20 minutes, or until the beef is cooked through and the vegetables are soft.  Remove the bay leaf.  Stir in the mixture of 2 tbsp of flour + 2 tbsp water.  

Assemble the pie.  Lightly grease the bottom and sides of a pie plate.  Press one of the pie crusts in the bottom of the pie plate.  Carefully pour the beef mixture into the pie crust.  Cover with the second pie crust.  Make slits in the top of the pie crust.

Bake in a preheated oven according to pie crust baking instructions, or until the pie crust is golden brown.  Cover the edges of the pie crust about 15 to 20 minutes after baking, so they don't burn.

There's no need to allow the pie to sit - you can slice it immediately.  Be careful - it's hot!  My husband likes to drizzle a little brown gravy on top of his.

Serve with a tall, cold glass of milk.  Enjoy!