Australia Day Meat Pie

For those that have known me for a long time know I spent a summer in Australia as a foreign exchange student.  My experience living there, even today as an adult, are still some the most memorable I have ever had.  One in particular experience was eating a meat pie.  These were readily available in the north east coast region of Australia almost like we see hot dog stands in downtown DC.  The flavor is so unique but makes you come back for more and more for the buttery, savoury flavor.  In honor of Australia Day, I surfed the web to find a truly authentic recipe.  It's printed in raw form below, but I made some substitutions to ingredients found in US.

From eatocracy.cnn.com:

Australian Meat Pies


1 tablespoon olive oil
1 large brown onion, finely chopped
500 grams lean beef mince (ground beef) (1.1 lbs)
1 tablespoon corn flour (corn starch)
3/4 cup beef stock
3/4 cup tomato sauce
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon barbecue sauce
1 teaspoon Vegemite (soy sauce or beef bouillon)
2 sheets frozen, ready-rolled shortcrust pastry, thawed
2 sheets frozen puff pastry, thawed
1 egg, beaten

1. Heat oil in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Add onion. Cook for 3 minutes or until soft. Add ground beef. Cook for 4 minutes, stirring with a wooden spoon, or until browned.

2. Mix corn flour and 1 tablespoon of stock to form a paste. Add remaining stock. Add stock, sauces and Vegemite to mince. Bring to the boil. Reduce heat to medium-low. Simmer for 8 minutes or until thick. Cool.

3. Preheat oven to 425°F. Place a baking tray into oven. Grease 4 x 8 cm base measurement pie pans.
Cut 4 x 15 cm circles from shortcrust pastry. Use to line bases and sides of pans. Fill with the ground beef. Brush rims with water. Cut 4 x 15 cm circles from puff pastry. Place over meat. Press to seal. Trim. Brush with egg. Season.

4. Place pies onto hot tray. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until golden. Serve

Family Factor: Enjoyed, but thought they tasted similar to sloppy joes
Time Factor: Save for a weekend
Stomach Factor: mild, for everyone

I didn't have the proper pans for these to cook in, but the ramekins works just fine.

Cajun Pizza

I know, I'm behind on my posts.  I have been cooking over the holidays, just enjoying time with friends and family too much to sit down and write.

I bought Sean a cookbook for Christmas (don't laugh!).  He wanted a very specific Cajun cookbook to rehash some of the flavors he grew up with.  Well, of course, I had to borrow it!  My mother-in-law and I made this recipe over the holidays and loved it!

From Real Cajun:

Tomato and Bacon Pie (aka Cajun Pizza)

12oz bacon, chopped
2 ripe tomatoes, cut into 1/4 inch slices (if you have heirloom, use them!)
1 pre-baked pie crust (see note below)
salt and pepper
1/2 small onion, thinly sliced
5oz Cheddar or pepper jack cheese, grated

1. Cook the bacon in a skillet until crisp and set aside to cool.
2. Preheat oven to 375.
3. Place a layer of tomato slices on the bottom of the crust and season with salt and pepper. 
4. Top layer with onion slices and cheese.
5. Repeat the process two more times until you have 3 layers.
6. Crumble the cooked bacon and some extra cheese on top.
7. Bake for 25 minutes or until the cheese melts.
8. Place it on a wire rack to cool completely.

Family Factor: two liked it, one didn't
Stomach Factor: pretty mild, could be spiced up a bit
Time Factor: very quick, surprisingly

This does not make good leftovers so eat up or feed to a crowd!

Note about the pre-cooked pie crust.  The cookbook had a recipe for a home-made pie crust, but I didn't use it.  Instead, my mother-in-law had one that was so easy to make that I may never buy a crust again!

From Our Family Secrets:

Oil Pie Crust

2 C flour
1 1/2 t sugar
1 t salt
1/2 C oil
5 T milk

1. Sift dry ingredients together into a 9" pie pan.
2. Beat oil and milk together and add to dry ingredients.
3. Press into pie pan.
4. Bake 12-15 minutes in 425 oven.