Best pies in Sheffield? Family friendly

Take a run out to dobbies garden centre or arrow farm shop! And pick up some meadow fresh pies! Best pies I've ever tasted

They also do them at the arrow farm shop near worksop. I agree so so so nice!

Best pork pie I have found here :- https://shop.lawnsfarm.com/

I bought a steak in ale pie yesterday from Funks on Hillsborough I was impressed, very nice the meat was tender and the crust was tasty.

Banner Crust, at Banner Cross, sell very good quality pies. They make them themselves. They do small, large and party sizes. Went to a party a while ago and the hostess had been and bought several of their steak pies - one pie serves about 10 people - and just heated them up. Went down a treat - everyone thought they were home made too.

Try the Pie Parlour at the Hillsborough Park tram stop.

Depends what sort of pies you're looking for, I guess. The best pork pie I've tried so far has been from Beres' - and I also like the the pork pies from Waterall's in the new(ish) Castle Market. However the Beres' and Waterall's pork pies taste so very similar and are so similarly nice, that I suspect that they may both "buy them in" from the same manufacturer!

 

When it comes to steak and kidney, chunky steak... or chicken and mushroom pies, I think Morrison's "in-store" bakery's versions are pretty good - nice light, crisp, shortcrust pastry, plenty of moist, tasty filling.

 

The very best pies are the home-made ones though....if you can be arsed with all the time-consuming faffing about involved!!

That's true about home made pies. I do make my own occasionally, if I can get Ox kidney (it has to be Ox, not pig or lamb) I do a mean steak and kidney pie. I'm no so keen on kidney's to be truthful, I think it's something to do with their physiological function, but it does make for a tasty gravy. (There's a short cut in there somewhere perhaps?)

My favourite though is meat and potato. It is a lot of faffing about as you put it. At least, it is the way I do it!

I wouldn't say it's my mother's recipe because she never wrote anything down so I've no idea what that may be exactly, but it's similar. I make it with Ox tail and stewing beef.

The Ox tails are not so common a sight in butcher's thesedays but a good butcher will usually be able to get them. There's only one tail per cow apparently, I think that's part of the problem! Plus, they kind of went out of fashion a bit some years ago when we had all that "mad cow disease" furore. Risk of brain disease or something! Well, I've been eating Ox tail for years and I can honestly say that...errm, what was I saying?

Ah yes! Making a meat and potato pie with Ox tail...

Back in the day we had a Yorkshire range oven and it used to go in there before we went to bed and stay in there all night - the oven would stay hot even as the fire went out and next day the meat would be falling off the bone.

In these more modern times I usually put it in a slow cooker for about 6 or 7 hours on low. But it works equally well if you put it in a large casserole pot and leave it to cook on a very low light in the oven. I don't usually add the stewing meat until the last couple of hours, otherwise the stewing meat gets overcooked and becomes dry and stringy.

The next bit is the big faff for me. Removing the Ox tail bones from the stew. If the meat is cooked enough it should fall away from the bones quite easily and the bones can be thrown away. The whole thing then is left to cool down and then goes in the fridge for several hours. The reason why I put it in the fridge is all the fat freezes over on top of the stew and it can be skimmed off easily and some of it used to make the pastry.

Then it's a case of removing the meat and heating the gravy up to reduce it down till you have a thick, very tasty, gravy.

I usually cook some diced potatoes separately and add them, along with the meat to the gravy. Then it's all ready for going in a pie dish. And topping with pastry. Shortcut or Suet Crust is my favourite.

The whole thing takes hours, in fact, I usually start it one day and finish it the next, but it's really worth it. At least I think so. I usually make enough casserole to make several pies from it and freeze them to save me having to do all this again anytime soon.

Alternatively, I think sod it - and go and buy a good one from a shop. I've already given a recommendation on the best place I know for this. It's good, but not as good as home-made.