Savory Irish Stout Pies

Ingredients

For the Filling
• 1 lb ground hamburger
• 1/2 cup diced onion
• 1/4 cup chopped celery
• 1/4 cup diced carrot
• Use whatever vegetables you have one hand if you prefer in addition to the ones above
• 2 Tbsp Worcestershire
• 1 Tbsp dried thyme
• 1 Tbsp dried garlic or 1 bulb fresh garlic, minced
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 (12 oz) bottle Guinness
• 
  
For the Pastry Dough
• 1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/3 cup shortening
• 4-5 Tbsp cold water
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• INSTRUCTIONS
  • Brown hamburger, drain off fat.
  • Add onion, celery and carrot, along with spices. Cook for 5 minutes, stirring regularly until veggies have started to soften.
  • Pour in bottle of Guinness and cook over medium until most of the liquid is gone.
  • Take off heat and let cool slightly before placing in pastry.
  • This recipe will make more than you need.
  • We made about 8 hand pies and had a lot left over.
  • In a medium bowl stir together flour and salt. Using a pastry blender, cut in shortening until pieces are pea-sized.
  • Sprinkle 1 Tbsp water over part of the mixture; gently toss with a fork. Push moistened dough to the side of the bowl. Repeat, using 1 Tbsp at a time, until all the dough is moistened. Form dough into a ball.
  • Onto a lightly floured surface, use your hands to slightly flatten dough. Roll from center to edge. However big you want this is fine, it just needs to make 16 circles total.
  • We used a 5 inch round glass and cut around to form the circles. Make 16 for tops and bottoms of the hand pies.
  • Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
  • Place about 1/3 a cup of the beef mixture on a pastry circle.
  • Dab some milk on the bottom edges with a pastry brush. Top with another pastry circle.
  • Press the 2 together and seal with a fork. Make it as pretty as you want!
  • Continue with all of them until you are finished.
  • Place on a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
  • For browning, you can brush tops with a mixture of 1 egg yolk and a tablespoon of water.
  • Bake 15-20 minutes until golden brown.