Braised beef cheek, wild mushroom and caramelised onion pie, served with Kumara mash

I decided to create a new dish for this competition, inspired by the rule that it needs to feed 4 for under $20. This is a great example of how secondary cuts of meat can produce an amazing end result. This dish is all about texture and flavour, and could easily feed four adults. One could serve it as a rustic, deep dish pie, or present it as a more gourmet "deconstructed" version, as I have in the photo. Each and every item was costed, right down to the coriander seeds used, (even the 25g of flour) and everything came in under budget by 5 cents - a total of $19,95. One just needs to shop smartly. The biggest "win" in this dish, was without a doubt the 100g of dried mixed wild mushrooms bought at the Asian supermarket for $4,70. Wild mushrooms are hugely expensive, but these, when reconstituted, were simply fantastic in this dish. The end result was awesome, if I do say so myself, and will certainly be made again (for guests this time), in the near future.

Ingredients

800 g	Beef cheeks, cut into cubes (Main)
50 ml	Canola oil
2 cloves	Garlic cloves, finely chopped
2 sprigs	Fresh rosemary, chopped
1 tsp	Coriander seeds, crushed
30 g	Tomato paste
30 ml	Dark soy sauce
1 Tbsp	Worcestershire sauce
25 g	Flour
2 cubes	Beef stock cubes, disolved in 500ml hot water
100 g	Wild mushrooms, dried
2 large	Onions, sliced
1 large	Golden kumara, chopped
1 tsp	Salt
1 tsp	Pepper
1 block	Flaky puff pastry, rolled

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees.
2. Brown the beef cheeks well, in half the oil, in a heavy based pot (Or Dutch Oven).
3. Add the chopped garlic, chopped rosemary and coriander seeds and gently fry for about a minute.
4. Add the tomato paste and fry for another minute.
5. Add the soy sauce and Worcestershire sauce and stir to combine.
6. Sprinkle over the flour and stir through.
7. Slowly add the hot stock, stirring all the time. Ensure meat is fully covered with liquid, if not top up with hot water. Bring everything up to the boil stirring all the time. Cover with a tight fitting lid and place in the oven for 1.5 - 2 hours.
8. Whilst the beef is cooking, reconstitute the dried mushrooms in warm water for 30 minutes.
9. In a frying pan, gently fry the onions until golden, soft and slightly caramelised. Season with salt and pepper.
10. Chop the peeled kumara and boil in salted water until soft enough to mash.
11. After and 1.5 - 2 hours remove the meat, check for tenderness and season with salt and pepper if necessary.
12. Once nearly ready, add the mushrooms and onions to the pot and if needed, top up with some of the liquid used to soak the mushrooms in. Cook for a further 25 minutes. Remove from the oven and increase the temperature to 190 degrees.
13. Roll out the pastry and cut 4 large round individual pie lids (or ladle the beef mixture into a pie dish and cover with the pastry). Cook in the oven for 15 - 20 minutes until the pastry is golden brown
14. Mash the kumara and season well with salt and pepper.
15. Ladle the beef and mushrooms onto a plate, top with a pastry lid and serve with a side of kumara mash.