Two Homemade Meat Pies

This can be made two ways: one for those allergic to nightshade foods and one for those who are not allergic. Nightshade foods include peppers, tomatoes and potatoes. It is difficult to find a meat pie recipe which does not include tomatoes; therefore I have included instructions for this alternate method.

This recipe, as written, is very time consuming. However, if you substitute leftover meat for the Korean ribs, and use purchased non-rising dough instead of making your own, you can save a considerable amount of time.

I think it would be nice to add a layer of vegetables at the top, such as mushrooms and spinach. This could also easily be made vegetarian if you used soy bits instead of ground beef and upped the flavourings.

Important: This recipe makes two meat pies. This gives you the option of making one of each kind or two of the same kind.

Ingredients:

Flour, a litte more than 4 cups: white flour, wheat flour, rye flour. I was using up what I had, so the recipe reflects that, but of course you can use your own judgement and what you have on hand.

Vegetables: shredded carrot (fair amount, about 3 large carrots), whatever leftover vegetables you want to use (I picked 5 or so string beans off the vine, diced them and called it good).

2 eggs.

Baking powder.

2lbs+ hamburger meat

1 minced onion

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 package Korean style beef ribs (you can substitute any leftover beef or pork), amounting to about 1 cup meat when cooked.

Small amount shredded Cheddar cheese

Salt and pepper to taste

Canola oil

Fresh beef broth (if you wish to make it from the rib bones)

Beef bouillon cube

Herb or vegetable bouillon cube

Shortening or lard.

One bottle of pale beer.

For the nightshade version you will also need 1 diced jalapeno pepper and about 1 cup spaghetti sauce per meat pie. As this recipe makes two pies, you will need 2 jalapenos and 2 cups of spaghetti sauce if you are making two of those pies.

If you're making the non-nightshade version, you will need a small jar of your favourite white sauce instead of the spaghetti sauce and jalapenos. You may also want sour cream to thicken this sauce.

1) Prepare rib meat and beef broth.

If you are using the beef ribs (not using up leftover beef instead) then bake them until done. Drain off excess fat. Set meat aside. Remove bones and put them into a small saucepan with water: simmer very gently for a half hour to several hours. It is a good idea to simmer the bones while preparing the dough, because both things take time. The longer you simmer the bones, the better your broth will be.

You may also prepare beef ribs the day before and use leftovers for this recipe, using extra beef bouillon and water instead of making broth from the ribs. If using leftover ribs, and planning to make the non-nightshade pies, take care not to use ribs previously prepared with a tomato or pepper-based sauce!

2) Make the dough.

You can cheat and just buy some non-rising prepared dough at the supermarket if you wish to skip this step, but I think it won't be as good. If you have a savory pie crust dough which you prefer to pierogi dough, you may use that.

How to make pierogi dough for the pie crust:

In a large bowl mix together the 4 cups flour, scant tsp salt, and 1/4 tsp baking powder. (I used 3 cups white flour and 1 cup whole wheat flour, because that's what I had. You can use whatever kind suits you.)

In another bowl mix together the 2 tsps canola oil, 1 cup warm water, and 1 large egg. Pour into the dry ingredients. Knead dough for 8 to 10 minutes. The dough will be a bit tacky in texture. That's OK.

Cover dough and let rest for at least 2 hours. This dough does not contain yeast, so it does not need to be set in an especially warm place, but it should not be refrigerated.

You MUST knead the dough for 10 minutes by hand, and you MUST leave it for 2 or more hours to settle, therefore make the dough well ahead, at least in the morning if you plan to make this pie for supper.

Remember to turn off the simmering bones and broth and set it aside at some point while the dough is settling.

3) Prepare the filling:

In large nonstick stock pot, brown 2 or more lbs ground beef. If you have more, use a bit more.

Drain off most of the juices. If meat appears dry, put in a small dollop of olive oil to evenly coat the meat. Add 2 tbsp rye flour or other flour, then mix meat well so there is a slight coating on meat.

Use a slatted spoon to remove rib bones from their liquid. Discard bones. Add that liquid, plus the following to the large pot: reserved rib meat, shredded carrot, onions, garlic, beef bouillon cube, HALF an herb bouillon cube, one beer. Have enough liquid in there to cover hamburger meat.

Simmer contents on very low heat for about one hour uncovered until most of the liquid is gone.

If you are making both versions of the pie, you now need to separate half the filling into a bowl and set it aside. if you are making both pies the same way, you need not do this.

For the nightshade version:

After separating out half the filling for the white sauce version (if necessary) add the jalapeno pepper(s) and enough spaghetti sauce to flavour. Don't make it runny and "saucy". You want it fairly firm. Simmer a few more minutes to blend flavours.

White sauce version:

Instead of using spaghetti sauce and jalapenos, add enough white sauce to coat. Add sour cream if desired for thickness. Again, you don't want this to be saucy/runny, just nicely coated.

Remove the stockpot full of pie filling from the heat and set it aside.

4) Now preheat the oven to 375F.

5) Roll out your dough:

Get out the dough ball. Separate it into 4 equal-ish parts. 2 a bit bigger and 2 a bit smaller are ok. Use the bigger ones for the bottoms and the smaller ones for the tops if you want.

I used 2 loaf pans for my pies. This seemed to work well, so keep the shape of a loaf pan in mind here. Have your shortening ready.

Get out your rolling pin, and on a flour-coated surface, roll out one piece of dough. Pierogi dough is pliable and not flaky. You can roll it rather thinly. Roll out 2 of your pieces so that you have a piece for each pan that will fit the bottom and sides, like a bowl.

Grease two loaf pans with shortening. It doesn't matter if they are non-stick pans or not: do it. This is necessary so that the edges of the dough will brown while cooking.

Carefully fit the rolled out pieces into the bottoms of the loaf pans. Fit the excess to the sides of the loaf pans so that you've made a bowl inside them.

6) Assemble the pies.

After the dough has been fitted inside the pans, fill each about 2/3rds full of the meat mixture. Add shredded cheddar, just a bit on top. Add dollops of sour cream if desired.

Roll out remaining 2 pieces of dough to fit tops of pans. Pinch together edges so that it's all sealed. It does not have to be pretty. Beat an egg. Brush beaten egg along edges of pies to seal. Brush remaining egg across tops of pies. Poke holes in tops of pies. Cover each pie with foil.

7) Bake in oven at 375F for 40 minutes.

Remove foil, bake an additional 5 to 10 minutes, then take pies out of the oven to cool.

You're done. Make someone else do the dishes.