Whole Wheat Mini Meat Pies…

Life in general is a huge learning curve. Have you ever suffered the loss of someone dear to you, a family member, someone you thought you could never give up or live without. A friend or family maybe? How did it feel? How did you move on from it? Even with death, I’m usually cold. Not that I’m a cold person, I just never really know how to deal with good byes; even when initiated by me. Generally, I may seem like I am emotional, but I’m not an overly emotional person. I show my emotion usually with people I’m close to. I wear my heart on my sleeve, I bear my soul. I speak my truth, I never hide anything, but the moment I perceive that I am being taken for granted, I gradually lock everything away. Because strength and vulnerability are friends. In leaving people be, I rather protect my innocence than have one who ought to nourish it rubbish it. It’s hard for me to accept being taken for a fool.

You may love someone deeply, someone who knows your Achilles heels and they may die a literal death or an imaginary one. Sometimes, you may have to make decisions that will help you deal as a person because sometimes, the people who mean the most to you could cost you the most; especially when you have expressed your concern and you’re not being listened to. I think I’m becoming a motivational speaker…I got jokes 🙂

I already have had a few of these moments of letting go and it’s only March. One with a family member…I tell people and I don’t know if this is a Taurus thing, but the same way I love, it’s the same way I dislike/hate…intensely. I don’t know, but it has to be that way. Once I shut out, I shut out…I give myself the closure I need and keep it moving.

I follow Jay Shetty on Instagram. Through my tough decisions, I found answers on his page. I had always thought myself a failure in relationships, work and some things in my life. But after listening to him and watching a video he posted of Will Smith talking about failure, I embraced my failures and all my pain. I looked at it as something positive. Sometimes, you have to fail or feel pain for good things to materialize in your life. You have to understand that sometimes, getting to a bigger goal requires leaving certain people behind( be it family or friends) and do the most unfathomable thing of walking away. Tenderness is not weakness…

I have bore my thoughts, now let’s talk about being unable to walk away from meat pies. Baked dough, filled with meat and vegetables.

 

I had whole wheat pies for the first time in 2016. I loved and loved it so much and now I’m wondering why I haven’t posted the recipe.

I remember when the fitfam craze kicked off a few years ago, I decided to join my mates and eat healthy. Not only will it make you lose weight, but it helps for a healthier lifestyle. And considering how much we eat meat pie, I had to make some. I had made some pies with whole wheat flour before, but I needed a little more help with the dough, so I went to 9jafoodie.com for a recipe. While I left the filling the same, the dough was a little different and I used white whole wheat flour so my meat pie didn’t taste like cardboard. The pies were so good that we couldn’t walk away from them; and I made them mini shaped too so we just kept eating until our stomachs were full. There is no life without meat pie; specifically Nigerian meatpie. Thankfully, there is whole wheat flour to keep us healthy.

There’s something about Nigerian meat pie made healthy that is so satisfying; especially when making the ooey gooey filling. You not only get to enjoy your favorite Nigerian snack, but you get to stay healthy with lower calories.

 

Without further ado…

5.0 from 1 reviews
Whole Wheat Mini Pies...Hollow Without These
 
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
 
Author:
Serves: 12
Ingredients
for dough:
  • 4½ cups White Whole-Wheat flour (576g)
  • 1 Table Spoon Baking powder
  • salt..a pinch
  • 1 teaspoon sugar (optional)
  • Cold baking Butter - 350g ( about 3 sticks or 1½ cups)
  • 1 egg (for batter)
  • 1 cup cold water(eye ball)
  • 1 egg (for finishing)
  • ⅛ tsp nut meg
for filling
  • lb ground beef (any ground or shredded meat of your choice)
  • one chopped red or green bell pepper
  • One chili pepper
  • 1 tsp Cameroon or powdered chili
  • Thyme
  • Curry
  • a handful of diced onions
  • 2 fingers of carrots(diced)
  • ⅓ cup of diced carrots
  • 2 large potatoes or 6 tiny ones.(dice and boil until aldente)
  • 3 tbsps of flour mixed with warm water
  • 1tbsp of cooking oil
  • 1cup meat stock or water
  • 1bouillon cube
Instructions
For the dough:
  1. For the crust:
  2. Sift flour and mix all your dry ingredients. Add butter until the butter has combined well with the flour and looks kind of grainy. Add the egg. The dry mix will also have a kind of an off white color. In little increments, pour in water and gently knead flour together until it forms a soft dough(Do not knead for too long and eye ball the liquids in order not to use too much). The dough should have a little stretchy feel once it has formed. Wrap it in a cling wrap or grocery bag and refrigerate for the dough to rest. (The longer your dough rests in the refrigerator, the better the crust)
for the filling
  1. Dice your peppers and onions. (Removing all the seeds from the peppers). In a sauce pan sauté the ground beef until it goes from pink to a light brown color. Drain off any excess oil and set aside. In 1tbsp of cooking oil, add the vegetables and powdered chili except the potatoes and sauté for about 2 minutes.(after the mean goes from pink to brown, you may skip the step of draining out the oil and just add your peppers, onion and veggies. This preserves the flavor). Pour the meat into the vegetable mix. Season with salt, curry, thyme. Check for seasonings and add your meat stock or water in little increments until the liquid is at the same level as the mix. Then add in your potatoes. Check for seasoning again and add some bouillon if needed. Cover and reduce heat and let cook for about 5-10 minutes. Check to make sure the potatoes have softened. Check once again for seasonings; stir in flour and water mix in little increments to get the mix to your desired thickness, set aside and work on your dough/crust. Break the eggs into a bowl, whisk and set aside. Then pre heat oven to 325 degrees
  2. Sprinkle some flour onto a clean and flat work top. Cut out some of the formed dough with your hands and roll with a rolling pin until flat. With a mini round pie cutter, cut out the shape you desire. With a brush or finger tips rub some water on the edge of the cut out dough that faces you. Then generously pile the filling onto the dough circle. Cover the dough carefully and score the edges carefully with a fork or your thumb; then place it onto a non stick baking sheet(if you don't have a nonstick baking sheet, use any baking sheet that has been slightly oiled or buttered. You may even use some foil wrappers to line your pan. Lightly rub the egg wash on each pie and bake for about 30-40minutes or until cooked through and golden brown (I sometimes use a lower temperature between 250 and 275 for about 40minutes or until cooked and golden brown) Once cooked, let the pies rest before serving. It can be used as a starter or a snack
  3. Notes: !Make sure you work with the cold dough as fast as you can, so that it is still fairly cold by the time you put the pies in the oven.
I also used butter for this recipe. If you cannot find a good pastry butter; then margarine works fine.
for sealing, use a mix of water and flour. This helps to seal the pie.

 

 

4 comments

  1. Ada says:

    I loved the intro before the recipe. It felt like someone was reading my thoughts and describing me till i got to the taurus part and i said well that explains it.

    Thanks for the recipe and keep doing you.

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