food · recipes

Easy Peasy Pleasin’ Meat Pies

AKA homemade hot pockets or pasties

Frank & I love meat pies – hand pies, shepherd’s pie, pot pie… I’ve personally never met a pie I didn’t like, but I do especially love meat pies. Frank lived in Louisiana for ten years before meeting me & now spends a lot of time there for work, & Cajun hand pies are his favorite. I am more of an English pasty girl myself (thank you Harry Potter). When I saw this ground nilgai at our local butcher (The Flora Butcher in Flora, MS), I knew it would be perfect for my first meat pie attempt!

Nilgai

The nilgai is the largest Asian antelope & is now also found in south Texas. We find it to be similar to venison, which we LOVE. The texture seems somewhat grainier than beef (some say similar to veal) & the flavor is just.. GOOD. We are also sure to get the chops for grilling when they’re around & O M G melt-in-your-mouth. This recipe can be used with any ground or pulled meat, but I highly recommend the nilgai if you find some!

Here is the recipe I used, & I’m sorry but I am terrible about measuring my seasoning! It’s all just to taste anyway, substitute any of the ingredients except the meat & the biscuits.

You will need…

  • 1 can of big biscuits (I used Pillsbury Grands buttermilk flaky layers)
  • 1 lb. of ground meat (I used nilgai with wagyu fat added)
  • 2T melted butter OR make up an egg wash of 1 egg yolk & 2 T water
  • Diced potatoes
  • Shredded cheese (I used a cheddar blend)
  • Chopped onion (I used only half)
  • Garlic (I used garlic powder)
  • Cajun seasoning (I used Louisiana)
  • Black pepper (I used a freshly ground peppercorn medley)

Preheat oven to 400 – I used convection bake. First brown the meat, adding onions & potatoes with seasoning after the first few minutes of cooking.

Then roll out biscuit dough on a floured surface while the meat filling cools for a few minutes. (One Grands biscuit is one pie.) Stir in shredded cheese. Then scoop about 2T of meat filling into the center of the dough.

Using Frank’s grandmother’s rolling pin, so special!

Using a basting brush or small spoon, smear melted butter or egg wash around the edge of the dough. Fold the dough over & crimp edges with a fork to seal the pie. Then smear more melted butter or egg wash on the top with a sprinkle of Cajun seasoning.

Ready for the oven! Bake 10-12 minutes until the biscuits are golden brown.

Mmmm

Serve with ketchup, hot sauce (Frank’s choice) or gravy (my choice) + any green veggie or alone as you (or your kids) run out the door.

I used about half the meat filling for 8 pies which is one regular sized can of Pillsbury Grands biscuits. I will freeze the rest of the filling to make more pies next week!

Bon appétit!

Let me know what you think! What ingredients are you subbing? The options are endless!

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