Easter Feasting

Written by Juliet Kennedy. Mother, entrepreneur and owner of Greenspoon.

Anyone who reads this column regularly will know that feasting should be my middle name. And family… well, that’s just a given. I have a family for washing up (Saskia & Bertie), family for tasting (them again, and anyone who cares to turn up at the right time), and family for critique (you know who you are).

If you have the good fortune to be put in charge of food for a big family feast during Easter, my top tip is to get organised; Do. Not. Be. Stressed. When your family comes over, you want to max out the time you’ve got together, not be rushing, the hair on fire, between kitchen and bar, making sure everyone else is happy all the while wishing you could run and hide in the bathroom under an ice-cold shower. No. This is not the way to do family feasting.

So rule number one: prepare in advance. I usually try to go for a starter and pudding that I can make a few days before, and ideally, put together a few hours before. An easy win with most family members is a platter of crudités with some delicious dips or your best wooden board piled with different cuts of salami and cheese, olives, crackers and pickles. If you’d rather have everyone sitting down around a table, think light salads with some pre-cooked grains thrown in; smoked trout on blinis which hail to the 1970s but are always a winner, or a soup you can make a few days earlier and gently warm through for five minutes before serving. At the end of the meal, keep it simple. You could make a tart or cheesecake in advance, a passion fruit mousse or keep it simple with five different bars of chocolate – make it fun by splitting them into origin so that you can have a guessing game on where the chocolate comes from. Or, buy Delia’s ice-cream, and offer some sprinkles or chocolate chips as toppings. Whatever you do, keep it simple and tasty. This is a time in the family feast when you really want to be able to relax and soak up all the family banter.

Photography by Patrick Gitau

That just leaves the main event. Today, I’ve put together a good old-fashioned pie using traditional hot water crust pastry. It was fairly effortless – and therefore perfect for Easter or whichever family feast you have coming up. I cooked the beef and mushroom filling in advance, and made the pastry in about five minutes. I’ll serve it with loads of greens and some roasted butternut squash which can languish in the oven for five minutes give or take, whilst I get everything else ready. I don’t think pie needs a massive helping of starch, but if you lean in that direction, I’d recommend a mustardy mash.

Beef & Mushroom Pie

INGREDIENTS

• 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

• 2 small white onions, peeled and halved

• 450g mushrooms halved

• 35g plain flour

• 1kg beef steak strips or beef dice

• Salt & pepper

• 2 tbsp miso paste or tomato paste

• 250ml red wine

• 750ml beef bone broth

• 1 beaten egg

• Tomato chutney

For the hot water crust pastry: • 475g white flour

• 5g salt

• 125g water

• 175g butter, or beef fat

METHOD

1. Preheat oven to 180°C. Heat half of the oil in a large heavy-based ovenproof saucepan over high heat. Add the onion and mushroom and cook for 3–4 minutes or until golden. Remove from the pan and set aside. Place the flour, beef, salt and pepper in a medium bowl and toss to coat.

2. Heat the remaining oil in the pan. Cook the beef, in batches, for 6 minutes or until golden. Return the mushroom mixture to the pan, add the miso or tomato paste, wine and stock and bring to the boil. Cover with a lid and cook in the oven for 1 hour 30 minutes or until beef is tender.

3. Mix the flour in a bowl with the salt. Bring the water to the boil in a pan and melt the butter or dripping in it, then pour the hot liquid into the bowl of flour and combine it with a spatula or palette knife.

4. As soon as the dough is cool enough to handle, work it together with your fingers then form it into a ball. Leave to cool and rest for a few minutes before rolling it out. Brush the edges of the pie dish with egg and top with the pastry lids. Press the edges with a fork and trim. Cut crosses in the tops and brush with egg.

5. Cook for 20–25 minutes or until golden.