Ingredients
Method
1.Coat beef in flour; shake off excess. Heat butter and 2 tablespoons of the oil in medium saucepan; cook beef, in batches, until browned all over. Remove from pan.
2.Heat remaining oil in same pan; cook onion, garlic and carrot, stirring, until onion softens. Return beef to pan with stout, sugar, vinegar, thyme and bay leaf; bring to the boil. Reduce heat; simmer, covered, 1½ hours.
3.Uncover; simmer, stirring occasionally, about 1 hour or until beef is tender and sauce thickens. Discard herbs.
4.Preheat oven to 220°C/425°F.
5.Divide beef mixture among eight 1¼-cup (310ml) ovenproof dishes. Cut each pastry sheet into four squares; top each dish with one pastry square, trim edges. Brush pastry with combined milk and egg; place dishes on oven tray.
6.Bake pies about 15 minutes or until pastry is puffed and browned lightly.
Stout is a strong, dark beer that originated in Great Britain in the late 1700s. More redolent of hops than other beers, it is made with roasted barley, giving it its characteristic dark colour and bitter-sweet, almost coffee-like flavour.
Note
