Ma's Meat Pie (My Version) [Recipes]

2007 Mar 11
OK, if it's my version it's not really ma's, but it's based on hers. She uses lipton soup mix. I use mostly fresh herbs but one half-decent boulion cube. I'll post anther version in a moment with just fresh herbs. This makes enough filling for 2 pies. You can also use this as a base for a very nice shepherd's pie if you just put it into a casserole dish and do you standard mashed-potato cover.

Sorry, no photos but I'll try to remember the next time I make it.

I like this vs a Tourtiere because it's filled with big chunks of veggies, too. You can use any kind of meat you want - ground, chunked, stewing. Any animal works, or any combination of both factors. You can use 50% more or less of just about any ingredient including the meat. It does depend on at least a few starchy foods though, to help thicken it.

# 1 good boullion cube (e.g. McCormick's)
# 600g-700g ground meat (chicken, lamb, beef, extra-lean)
# 2 medium carrots
# 1 medium parsnip
# 1 good slice rutabaga (large turnip)
# 1 stalk celery (optional)
# 1 portobello mushroom, or 5-6 brown mushrooms
# 1 large spud
# 1 cup canned or frozen peas
# 2 bunches green onion
# 1 small cooking onion
# 3 large cloves garlic (or more to taste)
# 3-4 good sprigs Rosemary
# 5-6 good sprigs Thyme
# 2-3 good sprigs Oregeno
# generous salt and pepper to taste

Cook onions, garlic and herbs in some olive oil in a deep pan or pot for 5 minutes, then add the meat and brown. Cube the spud in 1 cm cubes and put into a microwave safe dish and not quite cover with water. Nuke on high 6-7 minutes. Drain the liquid into the cooking meat, then rinse the spuds in cold water to halt the cooking of them, then set aside.

Dissolve the boillion cube in 500ml water. Chop the veggies and add them (minus the peas) and the boillion to the cooking mixture. Cook and thicken, adding a bit of corn starch if required. Add the chopped spuds and peas and cook a few more minutes.

Fill your pie shells, use a top shell, and bake at 400F for 45 minutes.

2007 Mar 11
I made it this way New Year's Eve past. This one was enough for 4 pies, and I used my own broth and turkey drippings saved from the boxing-day bird. I think the difference in the 2 shows how versatile this recipe is. Works well the stove.

OK, here is what I did. It turned out great - exactly what I've been going for lately with the spicing to bring out the natural flavours of the other ingredients, not to overpower them.

1.3 kg leftover turkey, chopped
2 large potatoes (1 quart/litre cubed)
1.5 cups chopped carrots
1.5 cups chopped portobello mushroom (or any other you like)
1.5 cups chopped turnip or rutabaga
1.5 cups chopped onion
1.5 cups frozen peas
3-5 tablespoons chopped garlic
3-5 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons dried oregeno
1.5 tablespoons dried thyme
1.5 tablespoons dried parsley
1/3 tsp freshly ground pepper
1/3 tsp salt
500ml turkey drippings
500ml turkey broth (from boiling the carcass)
2-3 tablespoons flavoured vinegar (I used dill vinegar I made back in 1998 - it keeps forever)
1-2 tablespoons corn starch

Pretty much all of the non-microwave cooking below is on just under 3 on our electric range.

Put the spuds into a MW safe bowl (8 litre pyrex measuring cup in my case) and not quite cover with the turkey broth. Nuke on high 7 minutes then drain (and SAVE) the chicken brother, and immediately run cold water over the spuds to stop them from cooking. Put the spuds back into their bowl and dust them well with 1-2 tablespoons corn starch, mixing well to cover evenly. Put the broth and spuds aside.

Dried herbs must be 'rubbed' either with the fingertips or between the palms of the hands. This brings out their flavour an aroma before using them. Rub them well into a bowl with the fresh pepper and salt, and add just enough flavoured vinegar to soak them well without leaving vinegar in the bottom of the bowl. Stir well and add vinegar slowly, adding as much as you can without leaving residue ( a few tablespoons maybe, I did not measure).

Heat oil in pan, add onions and garlic and cook 2-3 minutes, then add the spices and vinegar mixture. Cook for 4-5 minutes stirring regularly, then add the chopped meat and the 500ml of turkey broth. Bring back to the boil (3-5 minutes) and add the turnip/rutabaga, carrots and mushrooms. Stir well and bring back to the boil, then cook another 10 minutes, stirring every 2 or 3 minutes. When the carrots are el-dente (sp?), add the spuds and the broth used for cooking them earlier.

Bring to the boil again, and cook another 5-10 minutes depending on how long it takes to thicken. Stir every minute. When you think it's done, add the frozen peas, stir well in, and cook another minute or 2, stirring 2 or 3 times.

It turned out extremely well. The flavours of the veggies really come through but it's far from bland.

2007 Sep 29
I've been making meat pie for I guess about 2 decades now - learned how from my dear mom. But today is the first time I tried canning up the filling in mason jars instead of either making pies, or freezing it as I often do when I make a big batch. The below is basically a rendition of "Meat Pie #2" above :

Ingredients

1.5 litres of cubed potato
2.5 cups chopped carrot
2.5 cups chopped red pepper
2.5 cups cubed rutabaga or turnip
2 cups frozen peas
2 cups chopped red onion
1500g ground beef
2 x 750ml jars home-canned beef stock


Spices

3 tbsp oregeno
1 tbsp summer savory
2 tbsp thyme
1 tsp Rosemary
vinegar


All of the ingredients were from within a few 100 km of where I live. The potatoes, peppers and onions are from down on the way to Montreal, the beef is non-certified organic from down past Kemptville on the way to the US border, and the carrots and turnips are from my Organic CSA. Oh wait, that leaves the peas - I know they are organic but I'll have to check the package on where they are from.

Rub the spices into a bowl to bring out their aroma, and add a few tablespoons of your favorite vinegar just enough to soak the spices without leaving and liquid in the bottom of the bowl.

The beef stock I used was simply 2 x 3/4 US quart jars (from those spaghetti sauces that come in mason jars) of stock I canned up when I got my beef order this spring from a local farmer. I get soup bones from him and boil them down in a pressure cooker and can up the liquid and beef that comes off. In the 2 jars used today one had no beef at all and the other had maybe 1/3 beef and the rest stock. When you open the jars, skim off any fat since it will have come to the top when this was originally canned. I skimmed off about 3 tablespoons from the two jars then strained the beef out through a colander and saved both the beef to go into the mixture with the ground beef, and the broth to go into the pot and the gravy. For the latter, I just added about an equal amount of butter when making the rou (or however it's spelled when you mix up fat and flour into a ball before slowly adding liquid). And for the liquid added to the gravy it was the beef broth.

If you are using fatty ground beef then fry it and drain the fat (perhaps using some for the gravy instead of butter). The ground beef from our beef order is extra, extra lean so sometimes we actually have to add fat when frying it or whatever. Fry the onions and garlic for 3 or 4 minutes, then add the beef and fry it all til the beef is cooked. Add the carrots, peppers and turnip/rutabaga and enough stock (maybe 1/3 the total) to keep things from getting too sticky in there. Bring the main pot to a low boil while you make the gravy in the other pot with the fat/butter, a few tablespoons of flour, and the rest of the 2/3 of the broth.

Continue to cook the main pot and when that much comes to the boil, let boil 1-2 minutes then add the potatoes, and keep adding the thin gravy from the small pot until you figure it's about right. Slowly bring it all up the the boil again and boil it slowly for about 3 or 4 minutes. Then fill your mason jars, cap and load into the canner. Remember that if canning up the mixture you want it a bit wetter than you otherwise might want, just for the canning process to complete safely and reliably.

Right now my big All American 930 pressure canner is hissing away atop the stove with 5 x 1L jars of the concoction inside. This is the first time I've canned the stuff so I'm not really sure, but I think each jar will make about 1 good sized pie. Woo-hoo! The wife is now going to turn a jar of it into pie :-)

Oh, one final note on spicing - I like my meat pie to have the natural flavour of the ingredients come through, especially the local grass-fed beef, and organic vegetables. Anyone opening one of the jars can,

2007 Sep 29
OK, we're just splitting a jar of it now between the wife, son and me, and it makes a very good stew without making a pie out of it I must say! It's currently a bit watery for a pie but I think boiling with a bit of corn starch should fix that right up and make for a very nice pie filling!

2007 Oct 9
Here's a picture of the latest incarnation that I made this weekend from leftover turkey. This time around I pressure-canned the filling and got 4 x 1 litre jars. Each jar makes one pie.

2008 Jan 17
Mmmm, meat pie. Opened another jar of the beef one tonight for supper and had it with some home made mustard pickles! Because you can't have meat pie without mustard pickles!

2008 Jan 17
Yum, meat pie. Love it. I know it's not meat pie, but I made a modified chicken fricasee tonight that really hit the spot... ahh comfort foods! I've got to say, I've never tried mustard pickle with a meat pie, will try!

2008 Oct 20
Opened up a jar of the turkey version for supper tonight - pictured immediately above from the last one we opened. Served of course with home made mustard pickles. Does life get any better?

2009 Apr 6

OK, both parts of the video finally ready

Part 1 :

Part 2 :

2013 Dec 11
Dammit this was hard to find by searching "meat pie"

What's up with that?

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2013 Dec 11
Yay! First hit now!

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2013 Dec 11
Meat and veggie pie? "pot pie"? I prefer meat pie to be all meat (combo of various meat)

2019 Dec 23
So glad I've posted so many recipes here - always good to come back to. Especially all the variations above of me ol' mum's meat pie :-)