Looking to beat winter blues?January 26th marks Australia Day, so in honour of that we asked our friends over atMallee Rock Wine and Kanga Meat Piesfor a few tips on making the best Aussie Meat Pie.If you’ve never had one, think of a cross between a croissant and a regular meat pie. The crust is much flakier and buttery, with large chucks of meat and gravy.
Ifyou’re hosting your own Sunday Session like in Australia or just kicking back after a long day, these will be a great authentic taste of Australia! (You can also order pies from Kanga here)
1. Mallee Rock Beefy Meat Pies
“We wanted to introduce Canadians to authentic Aussie meat pies, so we left our corporate jobs to do just that! Aussie Meat Pies have a flakey pastry on top and lots of gravy inside. While we make our own pastry using real butter, you can get pretty close by using a nice store bought puff pastry.”– Kanga Aussie Meat Pies for Mallee Rock Wines
Ingredients
Pie filling
2 lbs beef chuck, cubed to 1″ pieces
3 tbsp flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
1 tbsp vegetable oil
2 slices bacon, diced
1 medium onion, roughly chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbsp tomato paste
375 ml Mallee Rock Shiraz Cabernet Sauvignon
500 ml beef broth (no salt added)
2 stalks celery, sliced
1 medium carrot, cut lengthwise, then sliced
1 package (227g) sliced white or cremini mushrooms
1 sprig fresh thyme, or 1 tsp dried
1 bay leaf, fresh or dried
Salt and pepper to taste
Pie shell
2 pkg prepared butter puff pastry
1 egg, beaten (for egg wash)
Method
1. In a medium sized bowl, toss beef chuck with flour, salt and pepper
2. Heat 1 tbsp oil in dutch oven (or heavy pot). Once the pot and oil are nice and hot (though not smoking), add floured beef chuck to brown.
3. Leave the temperature up nice and high to get some beautiful dark colour on the bits of beef, moving the beef only when necessary to avoid burning.
4. Once beef has a beautiful hue of dark brown, spoon it out and set aside.
5. Lowering the temperature to medium heat, add bacon and onion to the pot.
6. Cook for a few minutes, until the onions start to soften.
7. Add garlic and then 1-2 minutes later, the tomato paste.
8. Once the tomato paste has had a chance to heat through, you can add back the beef and any juices.
9. Immediately pour in half a bottle of Mallee Rock red wine (375 ml). Allow to reduce for 5-7 min.
10. Add remaining ingredients, except salt and pepper.
11. Top the pot with a lid and allow to simmer on low heat for about 1.5 hours, or until beef is tender. I highly recommend you sip on a glass of the Mallee Rock at this time.
12. Add salt and pepper to taste.
13. Allow to cool for 4-6 hours, or overnight.
To assemble the pies
1. Preheat the oven to 400°F.
2. Line 12 – 4″ pie tins (or 2 – 8″ family sized pie tins) with butter puff pastry. Spoon in filling so that the shell is full, but not overflowing. It should sit just below the edge of the pie tin – otherwise it will boil out while cooking!
3. Top each pie with a round of pastry. Trim any excess.
4. Pinch together the edges of the pie crust to seal it shut.
5. Brush each pie with egg wash, and pierce each pie with a steam vent in the centre.
6. Place pies on a parchment lined baking sheet and bake for 45-55 minutes for an individual sized (4″) pie, or 60 minutes for a family sized (8″-9″) pie.
Makes 12 individual sized pies, or 2 family sized pies.
2. Mallee Rock Mum’s Chicken Pies
“When we lived in Australia, we loved eating meat pies out of hand. When we got back home to Toronto, we wanted to share this national treasure with others. This chicken meat pie is creamy, rich and satisfying – perfect comfort food and pairs perfectly with Mallee Rock Pinot Grigio. The individual pies can be a fun, tasty addition to your own ‘session’.”– Kanga Aussie Meat Pies for Mallee Rock Wines
Ingredients
Pie filling
3 tbsp butter
1 medium onion, roughly chopped
3 tbsp flour
375 ml Mallee Rock Pinot Grigio
500 ml chicken broth (no salt added)
2 stalks celery, sliced
1 medium carrot, diced
2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken, cubed to 1″ pieces
1 sprig fresh thyme, or 1 tsp dried
1 tbsp fresh chopped marjoram, or • tsp dried
1 bay leaf, fresh or dried
1 cup baby peas, frozen or fresh
Salt and pepper to taste
Pie shell
2 pkg prepared butter puff pastry
1 egg, beaten (for egg wash)
Method
1. Heat butter over medium heat in dutch oven (or heavy pot) until melted.
2. Add chopped onion.
3. Once onion is softened, sprinkle in flour and immediately whisk together so there are no lumps
4. Whisk in Mallee Rock wine and allow to reduce for 3-5 minutes.
5. Constantly whisking, add chicken broth followed by all remaining ingredients except salt, pepper and baby peas.
6. Once mixture comes to a simmer, check a piece of chicken breast for doneness. There should be no pink in the center of the largest piece, or if you have a thermometer; the temperature should be at least 165°F.
7. Once the chicken is cooked, add the baby peas and salt and pepper to taste.
8. Allow to cool for 4-6 hours, or overnight.
To assemble the pies
1. Preheat the oven to 400°F.
2. Line 12 – 4″ individual pie tins (or 2 – 8″ family sized pie tin) with butter puff pastry. Spoon in filling so that the shell is full, but not overflowing. It should sit just below the edge of the pie tin – otherwise it will boil out while cooking!
3. Top each pie with a round of pastry. Trim any excess.
4. Pinch together the edges of the pie crust to seal it shut.
5. Brush each pie with egg wash, and pierce each pie with a steam vent in the centre.
6. Place pies on a parchment lined baking sheet and bake for 45-55 minutes for an individual sized (4″) pies, or 60 minutes for a family sized (8″-9″) pie.
Makes 12 individual sized pies, or 2 family sized pies.
3. Chico Rolls
“Chiko Rolls are a staple of an Australian diet; nothing satisfies the palate after a long Sunday session quite like a Chiko Roll. This is my version of a classic.”
– Chef Todd Bright for Mallee Rock Wines
Ingredients
10 sheets of egg roll pastry
200g ground beef or lamb 2 Tbsp. butter (30ml)
1 yellow onion, cut in half and finely diced ½ cup carrot, finely diced (25g)
2 cups green cabbage, finely sliced (200g) ½ cup green onions, diced (115g)
½ cup celery, finely diced (50g)
Salt and pepper
1 cup of cooked Couscous
2 tsp brown sugar
1 Tbsp. curry powder (5ml)
2 Tbsp. cornstarch (30ml)
1 egg, beaten
1.5 Litres canola oil, for frying
Method
1. Make sure that you have pulled the egg roll wrappers from the freezer a few hours before assembling the recipe.
2. In a non-stick skillet cook the lamb or beef in 1 tbsp of oil until browned and crumbly. Lamb adds more flavour to the roll but beef is a good substitute.
3. In another pan, melt the butter on a gentle heat and add the onion, carrot, cabbage, green onions and celery and cook until softened. Add salt and pepper to the mix until it tastes good. Add the beef, couscous, curry powder, brown sugar and cornstarch and cook for another 3 minutes.
4. Let the mixture cool.
5. Lay out 1 sheet of pastry. Place about 4 Tbsp. worth of mixture a quarter of the way into the wrapper forming a log shape. Cover extra wrappers and Chiko Rolls with a damp cloth to stop them from drying out and cracking.
6. Tuck the left and right side over the mixture, brush with egg and roll the Chiko Roll up from bottom to top keeping it quite tight.
7. Heat the canola oil in a pot on the stove until the temp is 300F. Blanch the rolls for about 7 minutes (at this point we don’t want any colour on the rolls) Let rest for a few minutes while the oil reaches a temp of 350F. Cook in this oil until golden brown. Or alternatively reheat in an oven at 400F for about 12 minutes until brown.
8. Serve fresh and hot with a healthy dose of Smoked tomato ketchup and a glass Mallee Rock Pinot Grigio!
Makes 10 Chiko Rolls
To accompany your pie, try this smoky tomato ketchup.
Ingredients
2 Tbsp. black tea leaves (28g)
1 medium yellow onion, sliced thinly
2 cloves garlic, crushed
Salt and pepper to taste
¼ cup orange juice (60ml)
2 Tbsp. lemon juice (30ml)
2 Tbsp. lime juice (30ml)
¼ cup rice wine vinegar (60ml)
½ cup brown sugar (118ml)
1 large can crushed tomatoes
1 Tbsp. Kalamata olives (pitted and finely diced) (14g)
Method
1. Place the dry tea leaves in a pot, put the sliced onions into a bamboo steamer or a double boiler, place the element on high and place the pot on the element. Once it starts to smoke place the double boiler on top, turn off the heat and let the onions smoke for 4 minutes.
2. Once the onions have finished smoking, heat some oil in a pot and sweat off the garlic and onions and season with salt and pepper. Add the citrus juices and vinegar and cook for 2 minutes. Add the sugar, tomatoes and olives and cook on a low heat for about an hour.
3. Let cool and place into a blender on high speed.
4. Place in jars and serve with fresh Chiko Rolls or Meat Pies
