Beef And Bacon Guinness Pie

Beef and Bacon Guinness Pie
Gamer rating: Anywhere! Put it in a bowl for maximum portability.
Prep-time: About 10 minutes for the crust, some chill time, then about 40 minutes or so for filling and assembly. Can be frozen and reheated in about 10 minutes.

Who doesn't love bacon? Not me! This pie recipe evolved from a basic pie crust I found on the internet. The filling is delicious, meaty and heavy, and it was originally made to feed me while I worked outside in the dead of a Canadian winter. Good thing it works just as well during raiding!

For Filling:

• About 2 pounds of ground beef
• 1/2 package smoked bacon
• either 1/2 cup beef broth or 1/3 cup water plus 1 teaspoon beef concentrate
• 1 can Guinness beer
  
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch
• salt and pepper to taste
• Optional: 1 small onion, diced
• Optional: Cumin to taste

For Crust:

• 2 1/2 cups flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup butter, cut into cubes and chilled hard
• 1/2 cup cold water
  

1. First, combine flour and salt for crust in a large mixing bowl. Then cut in the butter until it looks like large crumbs.
2. Stir in the water about a teaspoon at a time until the mixture forms a ball with light pressure. Cover the dough ball with plastic wrap, refrigerate, and let sit for at least 4 hours.
3. When crust is ready to be worked, begin frying the bacon until very crisp. This filling will get to be pretty bulky, so use either a large pan with high sides or a wok. Remove from heat when done and set to cool on some paper towels. When they're cool enough to handle, chop the bacon into small pieces.
4. Fry the onion (if used) in the bacon fat until translucent, then add the ground beef to brown. Season with salt and pepper to taste, and add cumin (if used).
5. Once the beef is nice and brown, remove it from the pan or wok. Keep the fat in the pan. Add cornstarch to the drippings, and let cook until it bubbles up and changes colour.
   
6. Now, very slowly, add the beef broth, stirring constantly. Keep stirring this mixture until it gets very thick. Then, add the Guinness the same way, stirring constantly again. When this process is over, you should have a pan (or wok) full of very dark brown gravy.
7. Add the beef and onion mixture back into the gravy and let it simmer while the crusts get cut out. At this point, turn on the oven t0 350 degrees fahrenheit.
   
8. Pull the chilled dough ball out of your fridge. To make individual pies, I use a "Texas size" muffin tin, or small tinfoil dishes from the dollar store. This can be made into a large pie-size pie and eaten in common but it's VERY messy that way. Either way, cut smaller pieces of dough from your ball to fit your baking vessel of choice, roll it out, and drape it over the container. Push the crust into the corners of the container, then poke it with a fork all around the bottom. leave any extra crust hanging over the edge, to wrap up into a closed pie after filling.
9. Spoon filling into the pie, filling to just below the edge of the baking container. Wrap the crust edges over the top, leaving a steam hole but sealing the crust edges as much as possible.
10. Bake pies in the oven for about 20 minutes, or until the crust on top is a golden brown.
    
11. These pies can be frozen, once cooled, and reheated in a microwave or toaster oven in about 5-10 minutes. If baked in the tinfoil containers, They can simply be eaten directly from the containers. If baked in a muffin tin, it's best to put them in a bowl.
    

Other info: requires a stove, a baking container of choice, a large pan with high sides or a wok, a rolling pin, and a fridge. This recipe is best made ahead of time.

Credit to Forresst!