As James Huston explains in Humble Pie, the original dish dates back to 16th Century England and was called “umbles pie” — a meat pie made from deer umbles (the heart, liver, and miscellaneous innards).
These less desirable meats would be taken home by the huntsman who killed a deer for a nobleman, while the nobleman would get the venison. The umbles would be baked into a pie to create a modest dish suitable for a poor man.
To eat umble pie meant that you acknowledged your place in the social pecking order. A few centuries changed “umble” into “humble” and also brought about a significant change in meaning.
Today, “to eat humble pie” refers to a change in one’s circumstance, usually involving an admission of error and-or the making of an apology.
Chances are your family doesn’t relish deer innards. This “modernized” humble pie uses steak instead.
Ingredients
- Round steak — 2 pounds, cut into bite-sized pieces
- Onion — one large onion, peeled and chopped
- Carrots — two carrots, peeled and sliced
- Parsnip — one parsnip, peeled and sliced
- Bell Pepper — one red or yellow pepper, minced
- Beef stock — 1 cup
- Tomato juice — 1 cups
- Minced garlic — 3 teaspoons
- Cornstarch — 3 tablespoons
- Spices — paprika (2 tsps), black pepper (1 tsp), salt (1 tsp), bay leaf (1)
- Pie pastry — one package prepared pie pastry
- Egg — one, beaten (to glaze pie crust)
Preparation
Season the pieces of steak with pepper, then brown the meat in a large skillet using a small amount of vegetable oil. Set the browned meat aside. Place the vegetables and garlic in the skillet and cook until softened. Return the browned meat to the skillet, add the beef stock, bay leaf, salt, remaining pepper, and tomato juice, and stir until hot. Season with salt and pepper. Cover the skillet with aluminum foil if it doesn’t have its own cover. Place in a 350-degree oven for 1 – 1¼ hours or until the meat is tender.
Mix the cornstarch with ¼ cup cold water and stir into the meat mixture to thicken the sauce.
Allow the meat mixture to cool well. (Note: pastry placed atop hot meat will have a soggy bottom layer when cooked.)
Put the cool meat mixture into a pie dish. (Janet uses disposable aluminum foil pie dishes, but any pie dish will work.) Cover with a “lid” of rolled pastry. Brush the surface with beaten egg or milk. Bake at 375 degrees for about 30 minutes, or until the pastry is crisp and golden.