Ultimate Riverhold beef pasty
The Gourmet once called pasties the most boring food in all of Tamriel, and to be honest, it’s hard to argue with. That is, until I visited the city of Riverhold, in the Anequina region of northern Elsweyr. Khajiiti cuisine is some of my favourite, and their surprising twists on traditional dishes are always a delight to share with the rest of Tamriel! A fluffy pastry filled with tasty Eidar cheese and hearty chunks of beef stewed in the best Argonian Ale make for the perfect filling meal on the go, and is anything but boring- if anything, it will make The Gourmet eat his hat!
550g beef fillet steaks, chopped into generous 1" chunks
100g Stilton or other hard blue cheese, crumbled
350g pie dough, thawed (or make your own)
2 tsp freshly cracked black pepper
100ml dark ale of your choice
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1 beef bouillon cube, dissolved in 50ml hot water
½ small onion, diced finely
Preheat oven to 200C/392F. Grease a baking tray well with butter.
In a mixing bowl, combine the beef, ale, herbs, ale, onions and garlic, and Worcestershire sauce. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and toss until combined.
Pour in the water containing the beef bouillon. Crumble in the Stilton, stirring the mixture all the while to ensure it is evenly distributed. Set aside.
Roll out the pie dough to 1/2cm thickness. Use a 12" round pastry cutter to cut out the dough, and scoop about 3-4 tablespoons of the meat filling onto each dough round. Fold the dough over in half, and pinch the edges together tightly to seal the filling in (you should have nice crescent-shaped pastry pockets, with about 1cm edge to pinch together). Repeat until all the dough rounds are filled.
Use a fork to make light indentations along the edge of the pasties. Brush both sides of the pasties with egg to glaze, and set them widely apart on a greased baking tray so they have room to expand.
Bake for 30 minutes, until a deep golden brown. Remove from the oven to cool, wait 20 minutes before consuming. The filling will be very hot so take care when enjoying!