For Halloween (which seems like a lifetime ago now), I wanted to make something Vincent Price related. Over a beer a couple of days before, I ran through many potential dishes I could make and when I got to Steak and Kidney Pie, this is what happened to Mr Rathbone’s face.

Herbert Marshall is in The Fly with Vincent Price and this recipe is DEFINITELY going in the book I am working on with Peter Fuller of the Vincent Price Legacy UK. It’s a PEACH of a recipe.

I made this pie ages ago for Vic and Corinna but for some reason, the blog post got lost in the ether. I do remember thinking though that it was the best pie I had ever made, and that I’d have to make it for Mr R sometime.

Pastry bat and ghost for Halloweeny pie

Well, I did, and of course, Halloween is now a distant memory, but I’m hereby announcing that if you like Steak and Kidney Pie you must make this. It is DIVINE.

MMMM – steak and kidney mix

IMPORTANT NOTE! If you live in the UK, you might not be able to just waltz into a butcher and grab some lovely kidneys.

These days you might have to order them in advance. I’ve been caught out on this one before. BUT, as I have totally got over my fear of butchers now I can advise. It is easy to just give them a bell and tell them how many you want and when you will come and get them. They like it.

My photo of the whole meal doesn’t look very appetizing due to Halloween lighting but my goodness this was scrumptious!

Herbert Marshall’s Steak and Kidney Pie 
 
1½ lbs top round or veal steak
3 lamb kidneys
1 tablespoon oil
1½ sliced onions
2½ tablespoons butter (divided use)
1¼ tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
2 tablespoons flour 
1½ teaspoons salt
⅛ teaspoon pepper
 
Preheat oven to 450℉.
 
Wipe the steak, remove any fat and cut the lean meat into ¾-inch cubes. Soak the kidneys, then trim and pare into ¼-inch cubes. Heat the oil in a frying pan and add the sliced onions. Stir until they are nicely browned, then add 1 tablespoon butter, the beef and kidneys and stir until the surface of the meat is browned. Place the meat in a stewpan. To the remaining fat in the frying pan, add 1⅓ cups of boiling water, stir, then strain the liquid. Add Worcestershire sauce, salt and pepper to this, then pour over the meat. Cover tightly and let this simmer over low heat until the meat is tender. Strain off the liquid that remains in the pan and thicken with the remaining butter and flour mixed together. Place the meat and kidney mixture in a pie dish, pour over the sauce and allow to cool before covering with the pastry and baking.
 
Pie Crust
 
2 cups flour
½ teaspoon salt
¾ cup shortening
4 tablespoons water
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 egg yolk
 
Add salt to the flour, sift, then mix with the shortening, add the water, lemon juice and egg yolk. Knead the dough, roll out on a floured board and cover the pie.
 
Bake the pie for 15-20 minutes until the pastry is nicely browned.

** Soaking the kidneys removes a smell that lots of people don’t like when the kidneys are cooking. From memory I think I soaked the kidneys for about half an hour.

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