Hot lousiana meat pies - james mcnair

10 Servings

Ingredients

Quantity Ingredient
2 tablespoons Vegetable shortening OR lard
¼ cup All-purpose flour
1½ pounds Ground round
½ pounds Lean ground pork
2 cups Yellow onion; chopped
6 Scallions; finely chopped
¾ cup Celery; finely chopped
½ cup Red bell pepper; finely chopped
½ cup Italian parsley; chopped
2 tablespoons Garlic; minced
1 tablespoon Red pepper flakes; crushed
1½ teaspoon Cayenne
Salt and pepper
8 cups All-purpose flour
4 teaspoons Baking powder
1 cup Vegetable shortening OR lard
4 Eggs
1 cup Milk
1 Egg; beaten
Cayenne; for dusting

Directions

FILLING

PASTRY

GLAZE

To make the filling, melt the shortening (or lard) in a saucepan over medium- high heat. With a wire whisk or wooden spoon, blend in the flour and cook, stirring, until lightly browned, about 5 minutes. Add the ground beef, pork, yellow and green onions, red pepper, parsley, garlic, crushed red pepper, and cayenne and saute until the meat is browned. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Set aside to cool.

To make the pastry, sift flour and baking powder together into a mixing bowl. Add the melted shortening, eggs, and just enough milk to make a stiff dough. Turn onto a lightly floured work surface and knead, adding flour a little at a time if necessary, until no longer sticky, about 5 minutes.

With a heavy rolling pin, roll dough out as thin as for pie crust, about ⅛-inch thick. Using a 5-½-inch saucer as a guide, cut out about 20 circles with a sharp knife. Roll out each circle as thinly as possible with a few more strokes.

Preheat oven to 400°.

Spoon about 3 T. of the filling onto one half of each dough round, moisten the edges of the dough with cold water, fold the other half over the filling, and press edges together. Crimp the edges together with the tines of a fork or a fluted pastry sealer. Arrange the pies on a lightly greased pastry sheet; brush with beaten egg and dust with cayenne pepper. Bake until golden brown, about 15 to 20 minutes. Serve hot or at room temperature.

Makes about 20 pies; serves 10. NOTES : "Although the pies are traditionally deep-fat fried for a few minutes until golden brown, baking reduces the calories and fat. If you're watching cholesterol, choose vegetable shortening instead of the lard called for in the recipe. Be generous with the red pepper; the pies should be fiery."

Recipe by: Beef - James McNair

Posted to MC-Recipe Digest V1 #1009 by KSBAUM <KSBAUM@...> on Jan 14, 1998

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