Pickles, Pigs & WhiskeyRecipes from My Three Favorite Food Groups and Then Some

 

Spicy Hill Country Meat Pies with Sriracha Mayonnaise

Makes enough for 8 large pies or 16 smaller pies

 

During the 18 months or so after Katrina, while working on rebuilding Willie Mae’s Scotch House, I made friends with one of the funniest, most thoughtful, and most talented people I have ever known, Joe York. Joe shoots almost all of the documentary footage for the Southern Foodways Alliance and chronicled that rebuilding project. He and I spent a tremendous amount of time together down in New Orleans in those months, much of which involved late nights medicating the pain that came along with seeing my hometown crippled and flailing.

 

Some of my favorite memories involved “second dinner” at or around 2 A.M. at Cooter Brown’s, sharing a plate of bite-size meat pies. It occurred to me that meat pies actually had their origin in Natchitoches, Louisiana, and that due to its geography, some would make the argument that the meat pie is as much Arkansas or Mississippi as it is Louisiana. I am certain that there is an entire population of that fair city that would love to string me up for saying that, but my point is that due to its terroir, the meat pie is subject to interpretation. So the idea of fusing the meat pie with the traditional Indian samosa seemed obvious and easy with a few ingredients plentiful in north Mississippi. Besides the mayo, these are also great with a touch of Yellow Mustard (page 93).

 

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 pound ground pork (about 80% lean)

1½ teaspoons salt

1½ teaspoons freshly ground black pepper

½ cup small-dice yellow onions

1⁄3 cup minced red bell peppers

1⁄3 cup minced green bell peppers

¼ cup minced celery

1 tablespoon finely minced garlic

½ tablespoon Creole Seasoning (page xxvi)

½ cup small-dice sweet potatoes, blanched in salted water for 1 minute

½ cup cooked crowder or field peas

1 tablespoon all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon cane syrup

2 tablespoons bourbon

¼ cup Ham Stock (page 33)

¼ cup thinly sliced green onions

 

To make the filling:

 

Warm the olive oil over medium heat in a large cast-iron skillet.

 

Crumble in the pork and sprinkle with the salt and pepper. Brown the pork, stirring constantly, until cooked through, about 5 minutes. Transfer with a slotted spoon to a small bowl.

 

Add the onions, red and green bell peppers, celery, and garlic to the skillet. Sauté over medium heat until they begin to wilt. Blend in the Creole seasoning, sweet potatoes, and peas and warm through. Add the ground pork and combine thoroughly. While stirring, sprinkle the flour over the mixture and combine well. Stir in the cane syrup, bourbon, and stock and bring to a simmer, stirring constantly. As soon as the liquid thickens, remove from the heat and stir in the green onions. Set aside to cool.

 

Sriracha Mayonnaise

 

Makes 1¼ cups

 

1 cup Homemade “Duke’s” Mayonnaise (page 93)

2 tablespoons sriracha hot sauce

2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar

½ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon sugar

 

Blend the mayonnaise, hot sauce, vinegar, salt, and sugar together well in a stainless-steel bowl. Transfer the mayonnaise to a glass or plastic container, cover, and refrigerate until needed. It will keep for up to 3 weeks.

 

Pie Dough

 

4 tablespoons cold unsalted butter

4 tablespoons cold lard (see page 136)

2½ cups all-purpose flour, plus ½ cup for rolling

½ teaspoon baking powder

1½ teaspoons salt

4 teaspoons fresh thyme leaves

5 tablespoons whole milk

1 whole egg

 

Dice the butter and place on a saucer with the lard in the freezer for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, combine the flour, baking powder, salt, and thyme in a food processor and pulse together. Scatter the frozen butter into the flour, and break the lard into 3 or 4 pieces (it does not freeze hard) and add it to the flour. Pulse the mixture until it resembles a coarse meal.

 

Blend the milk and egg together and set aside. Dump the flour mix into a stainless-steel bowl and, with a fork, slowly blend in the milk and egg mix until the dough just barely begins to come together. Flour your hands and the dough slightly and gather the dough together in the bowl, kneading lightly until all of the dough just comes together. Turn the dough out onto a floured work surface and knead with the palms of your hands, folding the dough over several times, until it just begins to look homogenous. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate to let relax for 30 minutes.

 

Return the dough to the floured work surface and roll it out to just over ⅛ inch thick. Cut it into 4-inch circles (2½-inch circles for smaller pies).

 

Frying and Serving

 

1¼ cups peanut oil

1¼ cups lard (see page 136)

1 large egg, lightly beaten

Sriracha Mayonnaise

 

In a medium cast-iron skillet over medium heat, warm the oil and lard to 375°F. Lower the heat to hold the fat at that temperature. Alternatively, the pies can just as easily be baked at 350°F for 12 to 15 minutes, until golden.

 

Place 2½ to 3 tablespoons of filling on one half of a large pie dough circle. (For smaller pies, place about 1½ tablespoons filling on one half of each circle.) Brush the edges of the pie dough with the beaten egg and fold the dough over, crimping with the tines of a fork to seal. Brush the top of the pie with the egg. Repeat this with all the dough circles.

 

Gently place the meat pies in the hot oil, 5 or 6 at a time, turning them over occasionally until they become golden brown on both sides, 3 to 5 minutes (a bit shorter for smaller pies). Transfer with a slotted spoon to paper towels to drain. Serve immediately with the Sriracha Mayonnaise.

 

From Pickles, Pigs, & Whiskey by John Currence/Andrews McMeel Publishing, LLC