Smoked Beef Short Rib, Guinness & Bone Marrow Pie
A show stopping smoked beef short rib & Guinness pie with a roasted bone marrow poking through the pie lid! The filling is incredibly rich & the pastry is crisp & flaky, what's not to love?!
Servings: 6 People
Equipment
- Smoker/Barbecue
- Baking Tray
- Spray Bottle
- Large Ovenproof Saucepan
- Mixing Bowls
- 9" Pie Dish
Ingredients
- 4 Beef Short Ribs (See Notes)
Rub/Seasoning
- 20 g Fine Sea Salt
- 20 g Demerara Sugar
- 10 g Coarse Black Pepper
- 1 tsp Smoked Paprika
- 1 tsp Garlic Granules
- 1 tsp Onion Granules
- French's Mustard (To Slather)
- 100 ml Apple Cider Vinegar (For Spritz)
Braising/Pie Filling
- 2 tbsp Vegetable Oil
- 2 White Onions (Peeled & Finely Diced)
- 3 Carrots (Peeled & Cut Into A ½ cm Dice)
- 2 Sticks Of Celery (Washed & Cut Into A ½ cm Dice)
- 4 Garlic Cloves (Peeled & Grated)
- 1 tbsp Tomato Paste
- 500 ml Guinness
- 500 ml Beef Stock (See Notes)
- 6 Sprigs Fresh Rosemary
- 6 Sprigs Fresh Thyme
- 3 Bay Leaves
- 2 tsp Worcestershire Sauce
- 3 tbsp Cornflour
- 3 tbsp Cold Water
Hot Water Crust Pastry
- 300 g Plain Flour
- ¼ tsp Table Salt
- 45 g Unsalted Butter
- 45 g Lard
- 100 g Water
- 1 Egg Yolk
To Assemble
- 1 Centre Cut Bone Marrow (Roughly 12 cm Long - See Notes)
- 320 g Ready Rolled Puff Pastry (1 Pack)
- 1 Egg
- 1 tsp Milk
Instructions
Seasoning The Short Ribs
- Add all of the ingredients for the rub into a bowl & stir to combine.
- Next, coat with a light coating of French's mustard then sprinkle the rub all over. Let the ribs sit at room temperature whilst you preheat your smoker.The ribs should be completely coated in the rub!
Smoking The Ribs
- Light your smoker/barbecue & leave to preheat to 250°f/120°c. Make sure that your barbecue is set up for indirect cooking. I'd recommend letting your barbecue saturate with heat for at least 15 minutes once up to temperature.I used a mixed hardwood charcoal & a chunk of birch wood.
- Once the smoker is up to temperature, add in the beef ribs so that they're facing meat side up then let them cook undisturbed for 3 hours.
- In the meantime, add the apple cider vinegar & 100ml of cold water into a spray bottle then set aside. We'll be using this to spritz the ribs.
- After 3 hours have passed, continue cooking until the ribs have developed a deep bark, spritzing them with the vinegar every 30 minutes. This will take another 1½-2 hours of smoking.
Braising
- Preheat an oven to 150°c/130°c fan (302°f/266°f).
- Start making the braising liquid when the ribs have almost finished smoking. To do this, set a large heatproof saucepan over a medium heat, add in the vegetable oil then leave to heat up for a minute or so.The braising liquid will take around 30 minutes to make, including prepping the veg.
- Next, add the onions, carrots & celery into the pan, along with a pinch of salt then cook, stirring frequently until the veg has started to soften & has browned lightly. This will take around 10 minutes.
- Whilst the veg is frying, use a piece of butcher's twine to tie the rosemary & thyme sprigs together then set to one side. This will make it easier to take the herbs out of the sauce later on.
- Once the veg is cooked, add in the grated garlic then fry for another 30 seconds. Then stir in the tomato paste, cook for another 30 seconds then add in the Guinness, stirring to deglaze the pan.
- Next, add in the beef stock, the bundle of herbs & the bay leaves then bring the stock to a simmer. Take the pan off the heat, add in the beef ribs then cover the pan with foil (or a heatproof lid).
- Place the pan into the preheated oven then cook the ribs until the meat is tender & the bones slide out easily. This will roughly take 2-3 hours.You'll be able to tell when the ribs are done, when the meat is falling off the bones!
- Once the ribs are done, carefully lift them out of the stock then place them onto a tray & set to one side. Take the bundle of herbs & bay leaves out of the sauce & discard.
- Set the pan of stock over a medium heat & bring to the boil. Then in the meantime, add the cornflour & cold water into a small mixing bowl and stir to make a smooth paste.
- Once the stock is boiling, stir in the Worcestershire sauce followed by the cornflour paste then cook out for 2-3 minutes, until thick. Take the pan off the heat.
- Next, use your hands to pull the short rib meat, keeping it fairly chunky then add into the sauce. Make sure to discard any bones & sinew.A pair of food safe gloves come in handy here! You could use the bones to make a beef stock.
- To finish, stir the meat into the sauce then season to taste with salt & pepper. Then transfer the pie filling to a shallow dish, leave to cool then chill in the fridge overnight.Chilling the pie filling overnight will improve the flavour & also ensures that it will be completely cold when we assemble the pie. The short rib rub is fairly peppery so you probably won't need to add much extra to the sauce.
Hot Water Crust Pastry
- Add the flour & salt into a large mixing bowl then whisk to combine. Set this to one side. Add the egg yolk into a separate small mixing bowl then beat lightly.
- Next, add the butter, lard & water into a saucepan then set over a medium heat. Cook, stirring regularly until the fats have melted then bring to the boil.
- As soon as the water & fats are boiling, pour them into the flour, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon as you do.
- Once the fats have been mixed in, add in the egg yolk then knead gently for a couple of minutes, until a smooth dough forms then cover the bowl & leave to rest for 20 minutes.The pastry will still be warm when you knead it. A pair of food safe gloves comes in handy here! The pastry should still be slightly warm when we roll it out.
Assembly
- Grease a 9" pie dish with butter or lard then set to one side. Add the egg & milk into a small bowl, whisk together to make an egg wash then set aside as well.
- Roll the hot water crust pastry out on a lightly floured surface so that it's roughly 4mm thick.
- Carefully roll the pastry around your rolling pin, unroll into a 9" pie dish then gently press the pastry into the tin. The pastry should be overhanging the edge by a couple of centimetres.
- Take the bone marrow & stand it up on its' end in the middle of the pie dish. Spoon the cold pie filling around the bone marrow, to fill the pie dish & hold the bone in place. Set this to one side.
- Next, unroll the puff pastry, fold it in half then roll it out on a lightly floured surface so that it's big enough to cover the top of the pie. Cut an "x" in the middle of the pastry, that's big enough for the bone marrow to fit through.
- Brush a light layer of egg wash around the edge of the pie dish then carefully place the puff pastry on top, pushing the bone marrow through the "x" that you cut in the pastry. Mould the pastry around the bone marrow to seal it in.
- Lightly press along the edge of the pie dish to seal the edge then crimp all around the edge with a fork. Trim the excess pastry flush with the edge of the pie dish then chill in the fridge for at least an hour before baking.When crimping, dipping the fork in flour stops it from sticking to the pastry.
Baking
- Preheat an oven to 210°c/190°c fan (410°f/374°f). Place a baking tray in the oven at the same time. Make sure to give the oven & tray plenty of time to heat up.
- Brush the pie with a light coating of egg wash then leave to chill in the fridge for 20 minutes or so, whilst your oven heats up.
- Once your oven is up to temperature, brush the pie with another light coating of egg wash then place the dish onto the tray in the oven. Bake for 55 minutes - 1 hour, until the pastry is a deep, golden brown and the filling is piping hot.
- Once baked, let the pie sit for 30 minutes - 1 hour then carefully remove the bone marrow, cut the pie into portions & serve. Scoop out the bone marrow with the end of a spoon then serve with the pie!Letting the pie sit after baking helps the it hold its' shape when you cut it!
Notes
1. To Cook In An Aga - Use the boiling plate to make the braising liquid then cook in the simmering oven until the ribs are tender. This will take a bit longer; closer to 6-8 hours! Use the boiling plate to melt the fats for the pastry then bake the pie in the roasting oven, on a baking tray placed on the floor.
2. Short Ribs - You'll need 4 individual beef short ribs for the pie filling. Using individual ribs means that we'll get more bark & the ribs will cook quicker.
3. Bone Marrow - You'll need a centre cut piece of bone marrow, that's around 12 cm long (don't worry too much if it's a different length though!). I like to soak the bone marrow in cold, lightly salted water overnight as this gets rid of the impurities. This is optional though. You can also make this pie without the bone marrow if you'd prefer. If soaking the bone marrow, make sure to change the water every 4-6 hours.
4. Guinness - You could use a different stout for braising the beef or swap it out for red wine instead. To make the filling without alcohol, swap the Guinness out for extra beef stock.
5. Pastry - Feel free to just use hot water crust pastry (make double the amount) or use shortcrust pastry instead. However, I like the contrasting textures that you get when using puff pastry for the lid. And hot water crust works best for the base, as it is robust & strong enough to hold the filling.
6. Beef Stock - I used a beef stock pot dissolved in hot water but a homemade/shop bought beef stock will work as well!
7. Smoker – Any type of charcoal or wood smoker/barbecue will work for this recipe as long as you can cook on it indirectly. Using a good quality charcoal/wood makes all the difference. It's best to treat the smoke as an ingredient!
8. Spritz – Spraying the meat helps with bark formation but you don’t have to use apple cider vinegar. Apple juice or beer would be some other good options.
9. Oven Cooking Short Ribs - If you don't have a smoker, the short ribs can be cooked in the oven! To do this, sear the short ribs in a pan, instead of smoking them then take them out of the pan & make the braising liquid. Add the ribs into stock then braise in the oven until tender. This will take around 4-6 hours.
10. Leftovers - Leftover pie should be stored in the fridge & is best eaten within a couple of days.