You have heard me sing the virtues of Rib Eye Roast before and call it a poor man’s filet mignon. I recently purchased a fine 3 LB specimen for about $13 and ended up with three meals! First I roasted the beef and added baked potato and spinach for a very nice Saturday dinner. I always slice the entire roast as thinly as I possibly can about 20 minutes after bringing it out from the oven, so it was child’s play to make sandwiches on long rolls, with mayo and horseradish sauce, for my fishing trip to LI Sound on Sunday.
We hit Bridgeport harbor at half past pretty early and launched my 13 foot Whaler from a public ramp at the end of a street in the closed up industrial area. April 1 was opening day for Winter Flounder and Blackfish (Tautog) in Connecticut, and there were reports of Bunker in the harbor which means Strippers. It turned out very cold, windy, and cloudy, and as the day passed, it got colder, windier, and cloudier. Short report is no bunker, no flounder, no blackfish, one starfish inside an oyster shell, and it started raining hard just as we recovered the boat, oh well.
Today’s recipe uses the beef still leftover on Monday to make a nice pot pie that tastes good on a cool early Spring evening and is a one dish meal, as well as presents leftovers in a new light!
Ingredients
• 2-3 Cups leftover beef cut in 1 ½ inch strips
• 3 Carrots
• 4 small white potatoes
• 1 bunch scallions (green onions) white part only
• ½ Cup Chopped Celery
• ¾ Cup Chopped Sweet Onion
• ¼ Cup Frozen Peas
• 10 to 15 Oz. Beef Stock (Unsalted)
• ½ Cup or so Wondra flour
• 1 Ready to use pie crust from refrigerated section in market
• EVO, salt, pepper, garlic, etc. ….
Directions (also see the pictures below)
• Cut the leftover beef into strips, think large bite size.
• Peel and chop the carrots and potatoes. Potatoes should be chopped to a large bite size plus a little.
• Cut white part from scallions, discard green, and chop white part finely.
• Combine vegetables in frying pan with EVO and sauté. Add some broth as needed.
• When potatoes cut easily with a spoon add the beef and more broth, cover and cook on low for 15 minutes.
• At this point I realized I forgot to add the celery, but I chopped it into my measuring cup, added ½ cup water, and microwaved it for 7 minutes. This is a good trick to know.
• Now slowly add Wondra to the pan, stir, and add stock or flour as needed to result in a gooey, stew like mixture.
• Meanwhile, carefully unroll the pie crust on a sheet of wax paper dusted with Wondra.
• Turn your pie dish upside down and trace the edge with a butter knife cutting off excess dough.
• Fill the pie pan with the beef mixture, overfilling is fine.
• Pick up the wax paper and turn over the pie crust on top of the pan. The crust should just lip the rim.
• Place a cookie sheet under the pie pan and bake in a 350 F oven for about one hour, until the mix bubbles out and the crust gently browns.
