Meat Pie (with Flaky Crust)

As a young child I ate ‘meat pie’ a lot.  My Mother was from Nova Scotia (where it was a much more common dish).  It was a hearty meal, made of simple ingredients and assembled with any available meat (rabbit, venison and beef were common) and it was steamed.
Yes, you read that right, it was steamed!  Acadian meat pie is made of a biscuit-like dough which is cooked in the oven before being steamed (often after freezing) which heats and moistens the dish.  It’s a delightful treat and one that we frequently eat on Christmas morning.  One of these years I’ll wrestle the prized recipe from my Father (who managed to get it from my Grandmother) and I’ll share it here.
Today’s post is not steamed but it’s definitely inspired by the meat pie of my youth.  Meat, broth and a few winter vegetables make a simple pie that cuts through the cold of winter.  The pie is even better the next day (and freezes well if you have extra)!

Meat Pie With Flaky Crust – Ingredients

• 1 homemade pie crust (we use our ‘possibly the best pie dough‘ recipe which makes enough for the top and bottom of a pie)
• 1.5 pounds of chuck (beef), cut into smallish, bite-sized pieces.
• Small bit of oil to sear meat
• 2 medium-large onions, cut across middle and into large slices (bit enough to eat easily while still fitting on our fork).
• 4 carrots
• 2 pounds potatoes, chopped into bite-sized pieces (I keep the peels on)
• 1 quart (liter) stock
• 2-3 cloves of garlic, chopped fine
• 1-1.5 inch ginger, chopped fine
• Salt and pepper to taste

Meat Pie With Flaky Crust – Instructions

I use 4 pots to make this dish (it’s easy as long as you clean as you go):

• A cast iron pan to sear the meat
• a large pot to cook the potatoes and veggies
• a pie plate to make the pie
• 1 small pot to make 1 cup of mashed potatoes (this will thicken your sauce in the filling)

Here’s how to make the pie:

1. Rather than re-typing our pie-dough recipe, head to that post to make the crust (unless you have one handy!)  If you’ve never made pie dough before, don’t be intimidated – it’s really easy and rather quick!  I make it first so that I can let it rest while I make the filling.
2. Place meat in a bowl, season with salt and pepper.
3. Preheat a heavy frying pan (we use cast iron) with a bit of oil on high heat.
4. While your waiting for the frying pan to get hot, add 1 cup of chopped potatoes to the small pot, add salt and cover with water.  Cook these on high heat until soft.
5. Sear the meat in 3-4 small batches (this will ensure it browns).  Place seared meat in the pot (turned off) to make room for the next round of meat.
6. As the meat
7. When all meat is seared, add a small bit of oil to the frying pan and heat until near smoking.
8. Add onions, garlic and ginger.  Stir until onions are semi-translucent (about 2-4 minutes).
9. Add remaining vegetables, toss for a few minutes before adding them to the pot with the veggies.
10. Toss a small amount of stock into the frying pan (this will deglaze the pan/ remove the sticky bits) and add this to the veggies for added flavor.
11. Add all remaining stock and bring to a simmer (you may need to add a small amount of water to cover all of the potatoes).  Simmer until the potatoes reach desired texture (I like them to have a bit of texture).
12. Remember the small pot of potatoes you cooked separately?  Drain and mash them and add them, in small bits, to thicken the sauce in your filling.
13. Scoop filling into pie crust, cover with dough and cut small slits in the top.  Bake in a 400 degree item until brown (35-40 minutes, depending on your stove)

http://wellpreserved.ca/meat-pie-flaky-crust/