Sunday, December 7, 2014

100 year old meat pie recipe,100 year old pie crust recipe, turkey pies, what to do with leftover turkey, Ida Bailey Allen

100 year old meat pie recipe.


Having great success  with  this years smoked turkey, figuring out what to do with the leftover turkey was even more important .  I think I have told you before that jimmy LOVES his meat pies. Any time I make a roast the leftovers are  made into individual meat pies and baked to perfection.  Meat pies were something I  couldn't deal with until I found Ida Bailey Allen's  rich pie crust recipe.  For years I never made pies of any kind because I just couldn't figure out how to make pie crust.  My pie crusts either fell apart or turned to leather.  And then came Ida.  Her first cookbook was published in 1917.  Before that she was a food columnist for a New York newspaper.  Her Radio cooking shows  skyrocketed her to food fame lasting well after WWII.  In her best cookbook of all '2500 recipes, cooking, menus and service' She  gives this very easy pie crust recipe.


100 year old pie crust recipe


2 1/2 cups pastry flour
1 cup  solid fat (butter/lard etc)
1/2 tsp salt
icewater


Ida says to cut the fat into the flour with a pastry cutter or fork.   Then add  'sufficient'  ice water  -up to 2/3 cup- and mix  until you get a firm ball of dough.


I use my kitchenaid (of course) to mix the whole thing.  I put my flour and salt in with the fat , put the  mixing paddle on low and let it go until  the  butter is  thoroughly mixed in with the flour.  Then I slowly add the ice water  as the kitchenaid is running.  Once it forms a dough ball, I'm done.  I know that this recipe goes against all  the conventional  pie crust wisdom that says  very little water and don't over mix. But, conventional never worked for me and this does.  Its the perfect pie crust for meat pies because  it doesn't fall apart.
The next step is to take small portions of the dough and roll out  to about the size of a large tortilla.  Put  a serving spoon full of your pie filling  on it, fold it over and seal the edges by mashing them together with a fork. (you can also cut squares and just fold the corners over the top and stick a tooth pick in it to hold it together)  Put your pies on a cookie  sheet and bake in a hot oven (425 degrees) for about 20 minutes or until golden brown.  One additional  step that is optional.... beat one egg in a cup of water and brush it on your pies for a lovely glaze  that makes your crust flakier.


And now for the filling.  This is a 'leftovers' recipe so you can put pretty much what you want inside.
For our smoked turkey leftovers I chopped up 2 cups of  turkey, added about  a cup each of cooked carrots and onions, 1 cup of leftover dressing and  mixed the whole thing with the leftover turkey gravy.  Since the original meal was already  seasoned  you don't need to worry about that end of it.
The gravy is important in meat pies so they are not too dry.
6 cups of filling makes 6 to 8 pies

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