NOTE: I made the curry and the duck fat pastry as directed by the recipes in the links … ok, I used water instead of vodka in the pastry cause I didn’t want to waste the vodka. The filling for the pot pies started with the recipe on Allrecipes but I made some changes as briefly noted below.
I made the mistake of freezing an entire tray (2.6 lbs) of stewing beef when I brought it home so I wanted to get creative when I cooked it.
I recently saw an intriguing recipe for Punjabi Beef and Spinach curry which I wanted to make. It’s not a pretty dish when done, but the combination of herbs and spices sounded like they’d make a flavourful dish. I browned all the beef and set aside 1 pound for the second dish, a pot pie.
Beef pot pies are a great way of stretching your meat to serve more people and getting some veggies into your diet at the same time. I chose to do individual pies so I could freeze away the extras for future meals without worrying about the filling oozing out and making a mess or drying out.
Inside the pot pie … I think I need to make a bit more gravy but just adding some more broth which would make the gravy thinner should solve the issue.
I used a beef pot pie recipe that I found on Allrecipes though I made some adjustments to the technique including making a roux based gravy, with the liquid used to simmer the beef (~1/2 cup), to which I added a rounded tablespoon of dried French onion soup mix and about a cup of chicken stock.
And, instead of a frozen pie crust, I made a flavourful pastry with some duck fat instead of using all butter.
Cooking is Fun ... Really!! 
The individual pot pies look wonderful, and the curries sound delicious. The duck fat pastry sounds decadent and awesome, it must just melt in your mouth.
The pastry is quite tender. I don’t know that I’d like it with a sweet pie filling but it’s great with the savoury one.
I love the look of those pot pies. You got them just right.
Thank you.
The curry sounds so delicious! And the duck fat pasty in very interesting. Would like to try this. Thanks for the share Boleyn
It’s a very mild curry dish for people who are afraid that curry means ‘hot’. And it’s not very pretty when done … so I look forward to seeing your plating. 🙂
Me too can’t have hot curry’s. If it mild, then only you could really enjoy it!! OK will do Boleyn😊
Your pie reminds me of the British beef and ale pie I love (I had it twice in London). I love the way they put the lid but no pastry underneath: it’s crisp and so much lighter than if both top and bottom were covered in pastry.
Indian curries (especially those including spinach) rarely look good, but looks delicious to me.
I use vodka in Polish doughnuts and another deep-fried kind of pastry. It’s supposed to make the pastry absorb less fat when deep-fried… I wonder what other tricks vodka does when added to dough.
I do like the lighter version of just using the top crust but went with the double crust so I could freeze, turn out and wrap the pies while reusing the pie tins.
I researched the use of vodka in pie crust and didn’t think it was worth using up my expensive vodka. 🙂
http://www.seriouseats.com/2015/03/science-of-pie-7-myths-that-need-to-go-away.html
I may use it in making my angel wings pastry … if and when I ever get around to making them. Like dobos torte, it’s something on my bucket list of recipes to make.
You are so creative with the meals you prepare, your curry and pot pies sound great.
Thank you.
They’re gorgeous! Little masterpieces!
Thank you. I think the pot pies turned out well.