Brielle's Avalon

AKA meat pies. I grew up watching my mom make these for dinner. Only later did we find out we’re part Cornish, but many cultures have something similar. This is how we make them.

Scramble 1 lb of hamburger with 1 chopped onion. When the meat is brown add 1 large can of vegetable beef soup. Rinse the can with wine. Season with Worcestershire sauce, pepper, garlic, basil and whatever sounds good. Cook down into a nice thick stew consistency, then let it cool.

Grease a cookie sheet. Spray oil is easy if you have it. Open a large tube of biscuits. Flatten them 1 at a time.

Put a piece of cheese (or a pinch of grated cheese) in the center of the 1st flat biscuit.

Add a spoonful of stew.

Fold biscuit over and crimp closed with a fork.

Poke holes in the top to let out steam while cooking. Repeat til all 8 biscuits are filled.

Bake at 350 for 10-15 min, until golden brown. Make the next tray while the 1st one is baking. This makes 3 trays of pasties, with a bit left over to put over rice or bread for 1 dinner.

Serve hot or cold for dinner. They’re good plain or with mustard.

I put them 2-to-a-square sandwich tub and freeze for work lunches.

Originally I used this to use up the stew I made from a leftover roast. Mom made them this way when we didn’t have leftovers to get rid of.

You can vary the flavour with salsa, BBQ sauce, cream of mushroom soup or change the meat to ham, chicken, turkey or whatever’s left over from another meal.  Different cheeses change the character of the pies, too. I usually use mild cheddar or jack cheese, but Swiss, Gouda, provolone or any other would be an interesting change.

Let your imagination go with whatever leftovers you happen to have. If you want to leave out the meat you can, just use whatever vegetables are i season. Tofu makes a nice filler in place of meat. A filling of caramelized onions and mushrooms would be amazing! 

 

 I did a bit of ham with onions and cream of mushroom soup, folded in with Swiss cheese. It turned out fabulous! The finished pasty looks just like the others unless you decorate it in some way. Cut the vent differently, ass a bit of dough in a design, paint with butter, milk or egg wash, sprinkle with spices…use your imagination. 

Update!: I needed to make lunches today so stopped by the store to pick up biscuits. No biscuits. Of any kind, any brand. Just empty space on the shelves! What to do, what to do…well…they did have french bread and pizza crust. Thin pizza crust. Hmm…maybe I can make this work.

I sprayed a pan with oil, unrolled the pizza crust and spread it out. Then I cut it into 8 portions. After that it was just like any pasty, add cheese

Add filling, fold and crimp.

Then bake and freeze for lunches or serve for dinner or lunches. Turns out this is faster and easier than with biscuits! I’ll have to try regular rolls of pizza crust and maybe unrolling a French bread roll. I may do this more often now!

I just found out that the term “Cornish Pasties” Is protected. Cool! So I’m a bit Cornish and we’ve been making meat pies all my life but now we know it’s just like Champagne which is kind’a cool. We all know that what I have here isn’t traditional, it’s just plain everyday in-a-pinch family cooking but you can do the real thing if you want, just cut up some neeps and tatties with diced onions and skirt steak for filling and make a nice pie crust and you’re just about there. Of course parsley, thyme and pepper would be nice, too, but now we know and it’s yummy no matter what.