Meat Pies and Onion Gravy

When I think of the old King Arthur or any medieval movie, it seems they talk a lot about eating meat pies. For years I thought these babies sounded so good!  I love the idea of having a cute little pie in your hand to eat like a snack.  A savory pie is more appealing to me than a sweet pie.  I did not grow up eating pie.

While living in Utah we received a ton of snow.I mean a ton!  Some days we would get 1-2 feet in a 24 hour period.  The first few years we loved shoveling, hey, it was a workout.  But then it got old and we hired this service out!  LOL

With the winters being so cold and long I had a lot of time in the home to cook and sew.  I watched another old movie and once again meat pies were discussed.  It was so snowy and cold outside it seemed to me to be the perfect dinner to tackle.  I like a challenge and knew these would take some time to make, but, after all,  where do you go when it's a blizzard outside...NO WHERE!

The first time I made them, I clearly did not understand the "we need more" factor that was at stake. My family devoured them in a very short time.  I have to say they were a hit!  The only problem I had with them is they needed a sauce.  I am a dipper at heart and will always want my food to be dipped into something.

One month later I made them again for a family event.  We had lots of cousins, aunts, and uncles over for a party.  I knew this would be a hit and the kids could easily take a meat pie and go back to playing.  I decided to make a quick gravy.  I will say that the adults loved this too.  The kids were in too big of a hurry to dip or dunk anything...LOL  Although, when I make this for my family like I did last night, the kids enjoyed the gravy.

Are they time consuming?  A little bit.  Are they worth the effort?  ABSOLUTELY!   ENOY

Recipe:  Meat Pies and Onion Gravy

Creamy Sauce: (This will make enough gravy for 30-35 meat pies.  Last night, I made half and it was perfect for the 16 meat pies I made.)

1 cup butter

1 can chicken broth

½ cup flour ( to make GF, I substituted a GF baking flour blend)

pepper

1 packet of Lipton Onion mix

2 cups of heavy cream

Melt butter in a pan. Stir in flour. Cook for 3 minutes and continue to stir. Add broth, cream and onion packet. Bring to a boil.  Set aside and serve warm.

Will burn easily if not stirred frequently and watched.

Meat Pie Filling: (This will make 14-18 meat pies, depending on how much filling you add to your pies.)

1 tsp oil

1 pound ground burger

1 ½ cup chopped fresh mushrooms

2-3 cloves minced garlic

4 stalks of celery, diced

1 cup of shredded carrots

1 medium onion, diced

salt to taste

lots of black pepper….I put about ½-1 tsp in.

1 T. flour.

Heat oil.  Add all of the vegetables, salt, pepper, and garlic; cook for about 5 minutes, until onion is soft and clear. Add the hamburger and cook until meat is not pink.  Add flour and brown for a few more minutes.  Combine veggies and meat together and set aside.

Meat Pie Crust: (This will make enough dough for 30-35 meat pies.  I used a 5 1/2 inch salad plate to cut my circles.) This is not gluten-free.  You will need to use your favorite GF pie crust.

4 cups  flour

2 tsp. salt

1 tsp. baking powder

2 eggs

½ cup shortening+2 Tablespoons.

¾ milk or more depends on dough

Sift dry ingredients. Cut in shortening. Beat egg and add to milk.  Combine the two and mix until it forms a proper consistency of rolling without sticking to the rolling pin.  Take the ball and break into smaller pieces.  

Use a rolling pin and flour, roll into a thin circle. Take a salad plate and use it as a guide, with a knife cut around the plate. 

Put meat mixture into the center.  Fold in half.  Use a fork to seal the edges and cut slits on the top (for the hot air to release). 

Put on a baking sheet and bake for 20 minutes at 400 or until golden brown.

Serve hot with creamy sauce or you can use plain beef broth to dip them into.

Written by Sherron Watson

Skirt Steak and Bell Peppers

Recipe: Beef and Bell Peppers

1 lb of the skirt or flank steak, cut very thin

2 large bell peppers washed and cut into strips

2 tsp sugar

2 T red wine

2 T corn starch or arrowroot starch

4 T soy sauce (make sure it's gluten-free if this is an issue for you)

salt and pepper to taste

2 T cooking oil. ( I find that I need to add a little bit of oil each time..you may need more than this)

If you can find a butcher that will cut your meat thin for you, this is the way to go.  It will save you time.  I cannot always find this, so I cut my own.  I take my skirt steak of flank steak and cut it about a 1/8th of an inch thick across the grain.  I will also find the meat at Asian markets already sliced and ready to go.  It's oftentimes the meat used for Sukiyaki or Korean BBQ.  

1. Mix sugar, wine, corn starch, soy sauce, and seasonings.  Marinade meat for 15 minutes.

2.  Heat 1 T oil in a heavy skillet, brown meat quickly (1 min each side)

3.  Mix peppers with other 1 T oil and dash of salt; add to meat; stir well and heat through but do not wilt peppers.

4.  Serve piping hot over rice.

We love this meal.  It's quick and so yummy!  

Written by Sherron Watson

Beef Stew

When I think of back to school and all of the running around, late nights, carpooling and daily errands, it makes me overwhelmed on some days to also think about making a meal with lots of steps, instructions, and prep work.

Sometimes I need an easy meal.  A meal that tastes good.  I also love to have leftovers.  This stew recipe is perfect for all of those desires. 

The thing I like about making a stew, are the combinations are endless.  For us, it is based on what we have in the fridge.  What meat I have thawed for the day.  I have called this beef stew, but you could easily change out the beef for chicken or pork.  In fact, you could add no meat or beef broth and use vegetable broth and still have a yummy meal.

Fall is one of my favorite holidays.  I love the leaves and their changing colors, the cooler weather and the holidays (Halloween and Thanksgiving..YES, I am a kid at heart).  Although we eat soup all year long, we don't really eat this type of stew until the weather starts changing.  This happened this week.  I was told that the east coast is pretty "by the calendar" with their season's.  I was impressed when spring hit with rain and warmer weather in March and here we are with September a week away and the change is in the air again.  I welcome Fall/Autumn with open arms and a big hug.  LOVE IT!

Beef Stew

1 package of stew meat  (a pound in a half works well).

3 T. flour (Gluten Free-use brown rice flour)

2 T. oil (for browning the meat)

1 whole onion, diced or sliced

3 stalks of celery, chopped

2 carrots, peeled and diced

2 potatoes, diced

3 garlic cloves, minced

1/4 cup of fresh herbs ( I used Thyme, Basil and Oregano...it's in my garden)

1/2 bottle of beer (optional)  I would choose a strong flavor, it adds a wonderful undertone to the stew.

5 cups of beef broth

1 tsp. of salt

pepper to taste

* NOTE:  To make this Gluten-Free, you must use Gluten-Free Beer or omit this step.

1.  In a large bowl add flour and meat.  Toss until well coated.  Heat oil in a large skillet and add floured meat.  Brown each side.

2.  Prepare vegetables.

3.  Plug your crockpot in and add all of the ingredients: meat, veggies, beer, broth, herbs, and spices.  

4.  You can cook on high for 4 hours or on low for 8-10 hours.  

5.  Before you serve the stew, check the flavor and adjust the salt and pepper.

You can used dried herbs too.  We just love fresh and this is what I have on hand.

This gives you an idea of what the stew will look like right before it starts to cook.

Written by Sherron Watson

Flank Steak Marinade

I dabble with the idea of becoming a vegetarian, and then we have this, and I am so torn.  We love our flank steak and this marinade is so delicious.   I think this is our favorite BBQ meat dish.  It's a wonderful way to start a camping trip too.  

Before we bought our trailer, we did a lot of tent camping.  It's always so much work that first day to set up camp that I dread making dinner.  The flank steak makes my day so much easier because I get it started in the morning, double bag it, pop it into the cooler and once camp is ready to go...I turn the heat up and grill!  Very easy!

I usually buy our flank steak at Sam's or Costco.  I find the price to be much better.  Almost like your getting two for one.  My family of 5 will eat 2 flanks.  I try to fill them up with other side dishes, but they want their MEAT!  We never have leftovers.  ENJOY

I am going to provide two recipes: the original and a Gluten/MSG-free version.

Recipe: Flank Steak Marinade (THE ORIGINAL)

1.5 pounds of Flank Steak

1 can of Beef Broth

2 bunches of Green Onion

2 cloves of Garlic, minced

1/2 cup packed Brown Sugar

1/3 cup of Soy Sauce

You want to cut your meat across the grain into strips.  My strips are usually 1 inch thick and wide.

In a large storage bag or bowl, combine all ingredients.  Marinade in the refrigerator for at last 4 hours.

Remove the bag, grab some tongs and a bowl.  Make sure you spray your grill with oil so that the meat will not stick.  Grill the flank steaks for 2-3 minutes on each side.  We don't like ours well done.  There should be some pink in the middle.

Gluten/ MSG Free Marinade Recipe

I used this recipe to marinate 3 pounds of Flank Steak.  Adjust according to how much meat you have.


1/4 Liquid Amino Acids (this is a soy-based flavoring)
2 cups of water
3/4 cups of Tamari Soy Sauce (gluten-free)
1 T. onion powder or 2 bunches of green onion
2 tsp. garlic powder or 2 cloves of minced garlic
1 cup of brown sugar

Written by Sherron Watson

Easy Jerky Recipe

We don't eat much meat, maybe once or twice a month.  So, for Father's Day I wanted to surprise Cory with something really yummy and special.  He loves jerky and I have always wanted to try to make this.  It is so expensive to buy, I was hoping I could make it cheaper, and I did.  The recipe has a lot of different ingredients, but you can really put anything you want into the base recipe to create the flavor you want.

Basic Recipe:

I used a 2lb piece of London Broil with this recipe.

1 cup of soy sauce..I used GF Tamari and it works great

1/2 can of coke or beer...I used a Heineken Beer

1/4 cup of brown sugar...any sugar will do

1/2 tsp. garlic powder

1/2 tsp. onion powder

1/4 cup of water or beef broth...I used water because that is what I had

Addt'l ingredients to tailor our taste buds: (You can add anything you want)

2 tsp.  Sriracha Chili Sauce...we like a little bit of spice, you could also use hot pepper sauce

pinch of salt

1/4 tsp. pepper...we like a lot of pepper 

1 tsp. of ginger...I used the ginger in a tube...we like the flavor of ginger

The key to your meat "tasting" like anything will be based on how long you let it marinate and how you cut your meat.  I let this marinate for 24 hours, all of the meat was fully submerged in the sauce.  You want to cut across the grain.  If you have a strip and it doubles in size when you stretch it, then you have cut correctly.  This is what makes the jerky easier to chew, bite and marinate.

I bought a London Broil that was about 1 inch thick.  I tried to cut all of my strips into 1/4 by 1/4 squares.  I first cut a strip off of the steak, then cut this strip into three rows.  The London Broil cost me $7.00.  It worked out great.  I would suggest trying to buy the best meat that you can afford.  

The final step, after marinating, is to dehydrate your jerky.  I put a toothpick on the end of each strip and hung it in my oven.  The temperature was 200 degrees.  I tested the meat after 2 hours, and it was so good but not has dry as we wanted it, so I cooked it for another hour and it was perfect.  It will continue to dry a bit when it is removed from the oven as it cools.  

Seriously, this was so good.  Cory loved it and so did the rest of the family.  I will make this again because it was so much cheaper than buying it in a store, it tasted better and I knew exactly what I put into the marinade.

ENJOY!