MEAT PIE

FINELY MADE MEAT PIES

.......so, I finally pulled through yippie!!!

Hi guys, this is my fourth attempt to make meat pie in the last two months. I always love to try something new and so I set out to make my first meat pie in January this year. I searched YouTube and got recipe ideas from different YouTubers yet all trials failed woefully.  My meat pies were too soft and stuck to my baking
tray.
However, I set out to make another set of meat pies in the same month, this time, they came out very hard, burnt and dry. I tried again the third time in February, trying really hard to make it work, unfortunately, it came out with a funny shape, looking dry and hard as indicated in the picture below.

FAILED MEAT PIES

REASONS MY MEAT PIES FAILED
Feeling determined, I set out the fourth time to make another set of meat pies but not without trying to figure out the reasons I failed earlier;
1. I did not use any measuring scale. I tried to guess every measurement I used, this is a very wrong way to make pastries, you want to be sure that every measurement is correct, without this, you will get different negative results.
2. My first attempt was too soft because I used too much butter, the measurement of butter should be half the measurement of flour.
3. I failed all three times because my baking tray was not a 'non-stick' one. Get a non-stick baking tray so that your pastries don't stick to the tray. However, if you can not get a non-stick baking tray for any reason, add some quantity of oil to the tray and continue to do this by removing the tray occasionally from the oven to add some vegetable/sunflower/olive oil.
4. The meat pies got burnt because I relied on the amount of time I learnt from YouTube. No matter what you are told about the time to bake pastries, always keep an eye on them because ovens work differently. One need to figure out how the immediate oven works.
5. I got funny shapes many times because I never cared to roll properly, cut into a fine circle and cover up well. If you find it difficult to cover up your meat pie, get a dumpling mould dough.


WHAT YOU NEED TO MAKE MEAT PIE
1. Plain flour (1 kg)
2. Baking butter ( 500 grammes = 0.5 kg)
3. Salt (optional for dough but necessary for the minced meat)
4. Sunflower/vegetable/olive oil ( 10 - 15 mill)
5. Dumpling mould dough
6. Egg (1-2)
7. Minced meat (500 grammes)
8. Potatoes (2)
9. Carrots (2)
10. Thyme (half a teaspoon)
11. Seasoning cubes (4 cubes)
12. All purpose seasoning ( optional)
13. Nutmeg ( 1/2 teaspoon)
14. Baking powder ( 1/4 teaspoon)
15. Water (half a cup)
NOTE: Add onion, curry or any spice of choice to minced meat (this is a matter of choice). Also, one may choose to double the quantity upon discovering that 1kg of flour is too small. That is, make-up to 2kg of flour or possibly reduce the initial 1kg by half  - making 0.5 kg if 1kg is considered too much.

HOW I FINALLY MADE MY MEAT PIE
Below is a step-by-step approach to how I finally seem to have got it right:
Step 1: Weigh and set aside all needed ingredients on a scale
Step 2: Pour the right quantity of Flour, baking powder and nutmeg into a clean dry bowl and mix
Step 3: Add the right quantity of butter in bits and mix together until the mixture looks like breadcrumbs.
Step 4: Pour the right quantity of water in bits to the mixture and use preferably hand(s) to get the mixture into one big mould. If the mixture is too dry, add some more water but be careful not to add unnecessary quantity. 
Step 5: At the end of the mixture, the dough should not be sticky.
Step 6: Using a cling film, wrap the dough and leave in the fridge for about 30 minutes.
Step 7: Peel potatoes and Scrape the outer layer of carrots. Wash both carrot and potatoes and chop them into small cubes as shown in the pictures below.

CHOPPED CARROTS AND POTATOES

Step 8: Pour the right quantity of any oil listed above into a pot and preheat on medium heat.
Step 9: Add the minced meat and fry until it changes from pink to brown.
Step 10: Add the right quantity of thyme, seasoning cubes and salt. You may wish to add onions, curry, all purpose seasoning etc. Customise it by adding preferred spice and continue to stir on medium heat.
Step 11. Include chopped carrots and potatoes and continue to stir.
Step 12: Pour half a cup of flour into a clean bowl, add ordinary water and stir the mixture (this helps to thicken the minced meat mixture).
Step 13: Pour the flour and water mixture into the pot of minced meat, carrots, potatoes etc and leave to cook for a while. In total, spend 10-15 minutes on this.
Step 14: Pour the mixture into a clean flat plate and leave to cool. The mixture should look like the picture shown below.

BEEF MINCE, CARROTS AND POTATOES READY FOR THE DOUGH

Step 15: Bring out dough from the fridge, pour some flour on a clean table and get ready to roll.
Step 16: Using a rolling stick or a smooth empty bottle, roll dough on the dry flour spread on the table. It is necessary to spread some flour on the table so that the dough can be rolled properly without it sticking to the work platform. Also, spread some flour on the dough on the platform so that it does not stick to the rolling stick or bottle.
Step 17: Roll dough until it is quite thin and use a small round bowl to cut out some dough in a round shape as indicated below

CUTTING OUT SOME DOUGH WITH A ROUND SHAPED BOWL

Step 18: Place the rounded dough on the platform and put some minced meat mixture to the middle. If a dumpling mould is being used, put the round dough into it and add the minced meat mixture.
Step 19: Break an egg or two and whisk in a bowl.
Step 20. Using a brush, apply the egg mixture at the two ends of the meat pie while the minced meat mixture is in the middle.
Step 21: Cover the round dough with hand and seal securely after which a fork is used to create some horizontal lines at the end of the meat pie. If it's a dumpling mould, simply cover it, remove the excess dough and take it out of the dumpling mould carefully.

USING A DUMPLING MOULD

 HAND SEALED DOUGH

Step 22: Repeat the process in Steps 17, 18, 20 and 21.
Step 23: Get a non-stick baking tray or apply a good quantity of any of the listed oil above to the baking tray.
Step 24: Carefully place meat pies to the baking tray as each of it is made.

Step 23: Using a brush, apply some whisked egg to the surface of the meat pie. This is to give the surface a nice look when it is ready
Step 24: Finally insert a fork into the centre of each meat pie so that the steam can come out of it while in the oven.
Step 25: Preheat oven for five minutes and put the tray of meat pie into it.
Step 26: Leave meat pie to get quite brown on 175 degrees celsius for 30 - 40 minutes. It is advisable not to rely on this time, it is only a guide. Continuously check the meat pie so it doesn't get burnt. Also, bring the meat pie out occasionally to check that it doesn't stick to the tray at the bottom, if it does, add more oil and try to get the oil to go underneath the pies, the oil prevents the dough from sticking to the tray.
Step 27: Turn the pies facing downwards when it gets yellowish-brown so that the bottom can get ready too.
Step 28: Bring out the pies and leave to cool after which the meat pies can be enjoyed with a cup of hot chocolate at breakfast, a soft drink at lunch or just enjoyed with cold water. However it is preferred, Meat pies are tasty and quite easy to make.
After many failed attempts, I learnt from my mistakes and.........see pictures below

YUMMY YUMMY