Meat Pies: Australian for Food

A couple of years ago, I went to a Christmas party in New York City. It wasn't a dinner party, but more of a "stand around and chat while you swirl wine in a glass and look fancy" kind of deal. I prefer sitting, preferably with my legs up and a bowl of cheese doodles in my lap. I also have neither an Armani sport jacket, nor a sweater with a big reindeer crocheted on the front of it, so I rarely fit in very well outfit-wise.

After a quick roll through the living room to confirm my lack of interest in the conversations there ("So you went with the tan leather in your Beemer then? Excellent choice." "Where are you skiing this year?") , I headed into the dining

room to check out the food and drink spread. It was traditional

holiday fare: sugar cookies, eggnog in a punch bowl, a fruitcake

(haven't we endured enough of those yet?), along with some slightly

more upscale snacks like chocolate covered strawberries. And, at the

end of the table, a pie.

"What kind of pie is that?" I asked.

"Mincemeat - would you like a piece?" I told the server that I would,

she served me up a chunk, and I took a bite.  Which I considered

spitting back out. "There's no meat in this at all," I told her. "I

know. It's great though, isn't it?" No, not so much. Because as far as

I'm concerned, if you're going to get me all worked up by putting meat

in the name of the food, you'd better deliver some frigging meat when I

eat it. But, as it turns out, there's no meat in a mincemeat pie, no

damn meat at all.

Now the Aussies, the Aussies have it right. If

you go buy an Australian meat pie, it's filled with juicy meat, just

like it should be. So this week, a holiday present for everyone: three

variations on traditional Australian meat pies.

The Filling

It

all starts with a delicious meaty filling. Toss some butter in a pan

and soften a finely minced yellow onion. Add a pound or so of ground

beef and brown it well. Remove excess fat, then add

Pie Style

You

can do pies in two ways:  the big, round, majestic son of a bitch that

looks amazing on the table but needs cutting, and the small, compact

bastards that will disappear 38 seconds after they're brought out.

Personally I like the portability of the latter (plus, the

pastry-to-meat ratio is pretty sweet). For a big fella, grease a pie

plate and line with puff pastry, making sure that the dough comes up

over the edges of the plate to provide a good seal with the top. Help

the dough stand up to the meat onslaught to come by making sure the

meat mixture has cooled sufficiently, then spoon it into the pie plate.

Brush the edges with a beaten egg, then lay puff pastry on top to make

a cover, pressing the edges down with a fork to seal it to the base.

Trim excess dough and glaze the top and edges with more beaten egg.

Bake at 425 for 15 minutes, then reduce heat to 350 and continue baking

for 20-25 minutes, or until golden brown.

For the smaller pies,

use small pie pans or even cupcake pans and follow the same methodology

as for the large pie. Just make sure you get a good seal between the

top and bottom crusts, then bake at 425 for ten minutes, reduce heat to

350 and continue for 15-20 minutes or until you can't take watching any

longer. I just made this version for my family, and my daughter took a

bite of one and told me I was a god. So I've got that going for me.

Turnover Style

These

can be shoveled down quickly, and without a fork; always a good thing.

Instead of filling pie pans, place approximately four-inch squares of

puff pastry on a lightly greased cookie sheet. Spoon a portion of the

meat mixture into the center of each, then stretch and fold opposite

corners up and over the meat mixture, sealing them at the top and along

the seams.  Brush with beaten egg and bake at 425 for ten minutes, then

reduce heat to 350 and cook until browned. The puff pastry causes these

guys to open like meaty flowers while they cook, exposing the goodness

within and attracting meat eaters like bees to a gigantic, sexy plant.

So

now you've got three ways to keep from ruining the holidays for meat

eaters, all of which are great and go well with rugby or

Australian-rules football. They also go a long way towards making up

for that crappy fruitcake your aunt Edna insisted on putting in the

middle of the table, and almost make it worth listening to golfing

stories.