The recipe I was using was Our Best Bites Natchitoches Meat Pies but with my own spin (generally because I couldn’t get the ingredients they called for). This is a follow up to my previous blog – I will definitely give props to Our Best Bites for making this recipe look very Doable. I DO NOT Bake (that has been established) but this recipe looked delicious enough to try it (and I know that my Heart loves Meat pies). In fact, the recipe for both the meat pies and the pie crust look easy enough that I might actually Try making my Own pie crust next time… we’ll see.
I probably doubled their recipe – I have leftover insides which I’m going to use for mini meat pies on Christmas Day for mid-day snacks. The only thing I could not find was the Tony Chachere’s Creole Seasoning they called for (I’m still looking for it) but I used the McCormick cajun seasoning and it seemed fine (not that I actually know what it is supposed to taste like). Also, instead of Tabasco I used sriracha, partially because it’s what I had on hand and partially because I like the taste. Otherwise I followed the recipe (smile). One thing… definitely 1 can of beef broth and then show some patience and let it reduce. It makes the dish very rich and a lovely color.
Yes, I used refrigerated pie crust – so shoot me (re-read that I Don’t Bake thing at the top). Also… I DON’T BAKE which means this is a huge step but I don’t think I did too bad a job… and only a few holes here and there. I even took the scraps and sorta mushed them together and re-rolled them out to make a couple more pies.
The final product may not be beautiful but they were pretty damned tasty, if I do say so myself. The recipe was definitely right… the inside seemed a bit salty but once they were cooked up, they were perfect. Just a lovely combination of spicy, etc. My Heart gave his approval. I’m looking forward to fiddling with this concept to see what other “meat pies” I can come up with. I’ll let you know.