I love food. I don't think that there is a person alive who doesn't, but I have a particularly keen interest - as you can probably tell if you are a regular reader of this blog. I love exploring and experiencing different cuisines and flavours, and will nearly always try something once. I've never been a fussy eater, and there isn't much I don't like. However, I do have a problem that impends my culinary journey; I am absolutely terrible at cooking. I mean, really. It isn't for lack of trying - there have been many recipes attempted over the years, and whilst the results have always been edible, there's always been something to go wrong along the way. As such, when asked if I was interested in reviewing or following a recipe from The Street Food Cookbook*, I said that I would review. However, Martin was pretty keen on giving one of the recipes a go, and so that's what we did!





After flicking through the book and contemplating various options, we chose a recipe from Pie Eyed; the Beef Brisket, Black Sheep Ale and Chilli Chorizo Jam Pie. It's a very "us" dish; we both love pies, beef and obviously, beer! It was the perfect option for us. The cookbook itself is actually a northern edition, meaning that it celebrates the best northern street food, from Manchester to York and everywhere in between. Not only does it provide recipes for a wide variety of dishes, it also gives you a rundown of each street food vendor, detailing their story and how they came to be where they are today. It makes for an interesting read, especially when I was reading about some familiar faces. Their stories are inspirational, and make you want to get into the street food business yourself! For each vendor, the book features one or two recipes that they create and sell themselves - if you visit Pie Eyed's website, for example, you will see the pie we recreated right there on their menu. Hailing from Martin's favourite place, Sheffield, Pie Eyed is the brainchild of Jack Norman, who wanted to put the humble pie on the street food map. A proper pie is a true British delicacy, and Pie Eyed are proud to say that all their vegetables are locally sourced, their meat comes from a local butcher and their pastry is all-butter, and all homemade. I'm really hoping that one day we manage to come across Pie Eyed, so we can see how our creation compared to the real deal! I can only hope that we did them proud - we tried our best.




For our pie, we obviously needed to gather some ingredients together. A few items we already had ready to go, but the majority of it Martin managed to pick up for us. As the pastry was going to be homemade (no shop-bought here!), we had to factor that into our ingredients list, too. For the filling, we needed beef brisket, onions, garlic, carrots, sweet potatoes, mustard powder, chorizo jam, beef stock and of course, the beer. Martin did actually pick up a bottle of the Black Sheep Ale, but discovered this bottle of Blitzen (also from Black Sheep) hiding in a cupboard and we decided to use that instead. I was surprised that he found the chorizo jam, as we knew it existed but didn't know if it was still being sold! The recipe also specified that we used mushrooms and parsley, but Martin particularly dislikes mushrooms so we left those out - and there was no parsley to be found in the supermarket! We also ended up using garlic paste instead of garlic cloves, but I liked to think that it made little difference to the end result. After we had got everything that we needed, it was time to get cooking!





Me and Martin ended up making different parts of the pie (leaving the easiest part to me, of course). Martin diced up the beef brisket and coated it with a mixture of plain flour, mustard powder, salt and pepper. This was then browned in a frying pan and transferred to an ovenproof dish. Next came the vegetables, and these were chopped up into small pieces and cooked in the same frying pan for 2-3 minutes. This is where we went wrong the first time, as we added in the sweet potato when it should have been added in much later, but no harm was done in the end. As for me, I was in charge of making the pastry, which is surprisingly easy to make. To a large mixing bowl I added the flour, butter and a pinch of salt and mixed together until it formed a breadcrumb consistency. I then added some water, little by little until the mixture formed a neat ball of dough. This was then transferred to a floured surface and kneaded four to five times, before wrapping in cling film and refrigerated. It needs to be left in the fridge for thirty minutes minimum, but we left it in until we needed it some hours later.





The filling still had some more work to be done to it, so after I had made the pastry, I helped Martin with this. To the beef and vegetables we needed to add the beef stock and beer, as well as Henderson's Relish and tomato purée. I made the stock and measured out the beer; out of a 500ml bottle we only needed 200ml, so we had to drink the rest - what a shame! We also needed 200ml of the stock, and what we professionally measured out as a generous squirt of tomato puree, so in the dish they went. Once everything was added in, we transferred it to the oven to cook for three hours at 180°C. After this three hours was up, according to the recipe this was when we were meant to add the sweet potatoes, mushrooms and parsley. Even though we had nothing to add in, we still took it out and just gave it a stir to see how it was doing, and to make sure everything was getting cooked through evenly. It was starting to smell really, really good at this point, and I have to admit that I sneaked in a little taste! We dropped the oven temperature down to 160°C, and left it to cook for a further two hours.




After the long five hours was up, our pie filling was finally ready and it was time to prepare the pastry. Martin rolled it out as thin as he dared, but we quickly came to realise that there was going to be nowhere near enough. We had bought a large pie tin for the occasion, and in hindsight it was too big. So, we ended up making the same amount of pastry again! We greased the pie tin with some butter and lined it with the pastry, before putting in the cooled filling. This is the point where you add the chorizo jam, and what did we do? Forget it! By the time we realised it was too late, so we just had it on the side - which I think actually turned out better in the end. We then rolled the rest of the pastry over the top, where it promptly fell to pieces. Oops! We salvaged what we could, and patched the whole thing up with bits of pastry. It did not look pretty - as you can see from the pictures - but we got there in the end! The top was washed with egg, and it went back in the oven at 200°C for a final thirty minutes, allowing the pastry to golden. Finally, our pie was ready! I have to admit that I was unsure that it had worked, but despite our mistakes it worked out perfectly. The meat was tender and moist, the flavour of the beer really came through and the pastry was crumbly and buttery. The chorizo jam on the side gave it a unique twist and worked so well with the rest of the flavours, it was like they were destined to be together. I have no idea how we managed to pull it off, but it was absolutely delicious and we would definitely make it again. It got a thumbs up from Martin's family who all had a slice, and there was clean plates all around!

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