We made meat pies. If you live outside of Natchitoches, the only meatpies you’ve probably had are Mrs. Wheat’s Meat Pies. These used to be made in New Orleans, but not so sure anymore. So, when he asked for meat pies, he also sent me his own recipe. Emeril’s meat pie recipes, which looks pretty basic. Most importantly, it has green onions it it, which is an important flavor booster. Daddy loves green onions. He is still bummed out because Taco Bell no longer serves them.
This is the recipe we used, http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/emeril-lagasse/natchitoches-meat-pies-recipe2/index.html.
The only changes we made were that I used a whole pound of ground pork (intentional change), and, when Chris made the dough, he accidentally used self-rising flour instead of all-purpose, and still the baking powder called for. When fried up, the dough was a little “thick”, so Cayleigh had to roll the dough out thinner. If too, thin, we got holes. We only lost one meat pie in the fryer because it fell apart due to the dough being too thin. I really liked working with this dough. We had to use very little flour to keep it from sticking. It was very pliable, and the texture of the last meat pie was as good as the first.
To my Dad, I hope you have a great day!
PS – Apparently, Mrs. Wheat’s Pies are still in production. We used to serve them in the catering days. One of the few things we didn’t make. Pretty soon, they were being sold in gas stations everywhere; large ones and small ones, plus, now they make crawfish ones, too.
Chilled pie dough and chilled meat mixture.
Rolling out the pie dough.
Making the dough disks.
Here, you can also see how we set up our workplace: pastry scraper, egg ring (used to cut circles), egg wash, pastry brush, flour, and a lined tray to set the completed pies on.
Putting the wash on; the finger works better than the brush, because they are so small.
Sealing and crimping the edges.
Her first two pies!
Meat pie, in the flesh!
Made about 18-4 1/2″ pies.
Daddy liked the meat pies. As far as spiciness, we did not think that these were spicy at all. Probably because of that extra half pound of ground pork. A little pepper jelly or sriracha would have been perfect.
Also, I do know that these freeze well. Freeze them on the parchment lined cookie sheet. Once frozen, transfer to a flat freezer dish, separating the layers with either parchment paper or wax paper.
Buen provecho!
