Beef pie with herbed crust

“Give them great meals of beef and iron and steel, they will eat like wolves and fight like devils.”
William Shakespeare (1564-1616) King Henry V


I made this for Cameron's birthday dinner. Everyone loved it. My mom is a little obsessed. I have to admit, though, it turned out even better than I had expected. Here is the recipe. I had about 1/2 cup of leftover brown gravy in my fridge that I also threw in. I have no idea if that actually contributed to the taste or not, but I had to use it up.

Meat Pie Filling
1 lb. stew meat
¼ cup flour
Salt
Pepper
Garlic
1 carrot, cut
1 potato, peeled and cut
¼ cup frozen peas
½ onion
1 can beef broth
¼ cup ketchup

In a pan, seer the stew meat with 1 tbsp. oil and garlic. After a couple of minutes, add the flour and coat the meat thoroughly. Add the can of broth to deglaze. Cook for 1-2 minutes on medium heat, stirring often. Put this into a Crockpot along with veggies (except peas) and salt and pepper and ketchup . Add peas near the end of cooking, so they don’t get mushy. Cook until it’s done, for a few hours. After it’s done, use scissors to cut the stew meat into small pieces in the crockpot. Just snip right in the pot. Put into a pie crust and bake 400 degrees until it’s golden brown- 45-55 minutes.

Pate Brisee (Short Crust Pastry):
2 1/2 cups (350 grams) all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon (30 grams) granulated white sugar
1 cup (226 grams) unsalted butter, chilled, and cut into 1 inch (2.54 cm) pieces
1/4 to 1/2 cup (60 - 120 ml) ice water
1 Tbsp. Italian seasoning

In a food processor, place the flour, salt, seasoning, and sugar and process until combined. Add the butter and process until the mixture resembles coarse meal (about 15 seconds). Pour 1/4 cup (60 ml) water in a slow, steady stream, through the feed tube until the dough just holds together when pinched. If necessary, add more water. Do not process more than 30 seconds.
Turn the dough onto your work surface and gather into a ball. Divide the dough in half, flattening each half into a disk, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for about one hour before using. This will chill the butter and relax the gluten in the flour.
After the dough has chilled sufficiently, remove one portion of the dough from the fridge and place it on a lightly floured surface. Roll the pastry into a 12 inch (30 cm) circle. (To prevent the pastry from sticking to the counter and to ensure uniform thickness, keep lifting up and turning the pastry a quarter turn as you roll (always roll from the center of the pastry outwards).) Fold the dough in half and gently transfer to a 9 inch (23 cm) pie pan. Brush off any excess flour and trim the edges of the pastry to fit the pie pan. Cover with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator.
Then remove the second round of pastry and roll it into a 12 inch (30 cm) circle. Transfer to a parchment lined baking sheet, cover with plastic wrap, and place in the refrigerator.