The Pie Iron Meat Pie

The Pie Iron Meat Pie

Long before burgers, fries and fried chicken, individual meat pies were the fast food of preference In Australia and England. Vendors often served them from small trucks at construction job sites during lunch breaks. The complete meal was usually a pie with a heaped tablespoon of well mashed peas. In Australia these pies were initially popular in the 1930s and the popularity continues. The basic pie had the same pastry and meat contents as the Cornish pasty. In this recipe we take these same pastry and pie contents and give them another portable form using the U.S. Pie Iron or the Australian form, the Jaffle Iron.

The Pie Iron and the Jaffle iron are made of cast iron and come in round or square forms. The Jaffle Iron often had a shorter handle than the long handled Pie Iron shown above. The Jaffle Iron could be used in the home kitchen on a stove burner and outside on the camp fire. The long handled Pie Iron is difficult and somewhat dangerous to use in the house. Typically these irons make great grilled sandwiches over the camp fire. The Web has references to cook books specifically for the Pie Iron. I adapted two of my Pie Irons for use in the kitchen oven as well as the camp fire. I removed the wooden handles and shortened the handles to 10 inches.

Using the basic cornish Pasty or rissole meat mixture and pie pastry, the Pie Iron form of the meat pie can be made as follows.

Clean the insides of the pie iron well. Brush the insides with olive oil or cooking oil of your choice. A well cleaned and well oiled iron is important to make sure the cooked pie comes out easily without sticking to the iron.
Add the meat mixture to one of the irons. Heap it well to fill both sides when closed. Unlike a grilled sandwich which is not that juicy, these pies will generate juice while cooking. Cooking on a kitchen stove burner will be very messy and is not recommended.  Cooking over a camp fire is great. Cook until the pastry is brown. Remember the meat mixture should be well cooked before placing in the pie iron. When I cook in an oven, I place pans under the pie irons to catch the juices before the juices mess up the oven. Cooking will take about 40 minutes in a 400 degree oven.

One of the challenges of camp fire cooking is getting the very red hot coals needed to get the appetizing brown pastry. An appetizing appearance has been a goal of cooks through the centuries. Mrs. Lee stated, with authority, in 1832, "A good cook is as anxiously attentive of the appearance and color of her roasts, as the young beauty is to her complexion at a birthday ball."


For more information on the pie iron see: http://www.pieiron.com/what.htm . This site gives a source of history and provides on-line purchase for a large range of pie irons and related equipment for the camper. Many stores specializing in family camping equipment will carry pie irons.

Sausage Gumbo

Sausage Gumbo

In the 1980's I spent a lot of time in New Orleans and enjoyed the food, the music and the history. The dishes of New Orleans reflect the varied and interesting cultures that form the history of the last three centuries. Of these dishes gumbo may be the most popular. Typically, a gumbo features seafood, chicken or sausage. The dark color of a gumbo comes from the "roux," the liquid base made from heating the cooking oil to a burning temperature and adding flour while stirring vigorously. This can be a dangerous and noisy venture, particularly if you have fire alarm sensors in the building, or in nearby buildings. I always set off all fire alarms in the house. I now achieve the same dark coloring by using the darkest oatmeal stout beer as the liquid base. Using dark beer instead of the authentic "roux" liquid would be a very Australian solution.

  The following is a non-authentic sausage gumbo recipe.

1 16-oz. can of red beans with 3 teaspoons of chili powder. If you can get the Taylor's Gourmet Chili package that includes a can of red beans and a small can of chili, get it.

3 12-oz. bottles of stout beer or 2 16 oz. cans of chicken broth.

1 8-oz. packet of New Orleans style red beans and rice - Zatarians and Uncle Ben make these.

1 16-oz. can of diced Italian style tomatoes.

1 can of Campbell's condensed soup. I prefer green peas and bacon.

1lb. of polish sausage - your preference - beef, pork or turkey.

6 slices of peppered bacon.

1/2 cup olive oil.

1 diced onion.

1 diced green pepper.

2 cups of diced celery.

1 teaspoon of creole seasoning, Zatarian's is great.

1 tablespoon of Worcestershire Sauce.

1 teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon pepper, and 1 teaspoon garlic powder.

Brown the peppered bacon in 1-inch pieces in the olive oil. Then lightly brown the sausage cut into 1/2- inch slices. Saute the onions.

Combine all the ingredients in a dutch oven and slow cook for at least two hours. Add more dark stout beer to keep a thick soup consistency. Serve in a soup bowl with a tablespoon of sour cream sprinkled with diced green onions. Adding a cup of diced green onions to the basic ingredients is a good addition.


The following is a history summary from a Gwynedd-Mercy College web site.

The Cajun and Creole foods of the city and south Louisiana are living examples of people adapting to their new surroundings and neighbors. Creole literally means “the first born in a new colony”. Therefore, the first-born children of the French, Spanish, German, and others who settled the area were considered Creole. However, most who consider themselves Creole today are descendants of  those exiled from Haiti and Santa Domingue following the Haitian slave revolt of 1804. Over ten thousand French, Free People of Color, and slaves came to New Orleans in 1809, doubling its population and adding another layer of culture that changed its food to a more Caribbean and French cuisine that included beans, rice, richer soups and sauces made with roux, the tomato, and slower cooking methods. This was combined with sausages from the Germans, spices and rice from the Spanish, and desserts and pastries from the Italians. 




If you want to feel close to the history of New Orleans, spend some time in the above-ground cemetery in the French Quarter. In my time in New Orleans I also became very aware of another reality, once you start exploring outside traditional tourist areas - the crime. In the 1980s I was serious but not necessarily good at marathon running. As I was about to head out late for a run one afternoon, a local friend gave me a lecture about the crime and his opinion that some of the police were a part of the crime problem. During the rest of the week I did a lot of miles in the confines of the roof top of the New Orleans Hilton.

Guam Spam Delight

Guam Spam Delight

No matter where I went in the world I found the equivalent of Spam canned "mystery meat." In Australia growing up, the meat was marketed as "Camp Pie" or "Luncheon Meat." Cans of Spam were in most homes on Guam along with canned vegetables. Given the high frequency of earthquakes and typhoons, such food reserves were a necessity. The following is a basic Chamorro family recipe. This tasty and economical recipe is not reserved for emergencies. It is served often as a basic quick meal.

        
        1     can Spam cut into half inch pieces
        1     can diced  tomatoes. I use a can of Italian spiced tomatoes  

        1     drained can cut green beans 

        1     cup diced onions
        1     8 oz. can of button or sliced mushrooms

        1     cup of diced green peppers
        1/4  cup barbecue sauce

        1     half teaspoon salt

        1     half teaspoon pepper

        1     teaspoon garlic powder

First brown the Spam with olive oil. Then add onions and green peppers to the pan. Add barbecue sauce and stir well. Add diced tomatoes and green beans. Add seasonings. Cook on low heat for five minutes. This dish is often served with rice. 

As might be expected, Spam dishes have a range of options. One option is to make a sandwich with the first part of the recipe. When the Spam has browned, the onions have sauteed, add green peppers, mushrooms and a 1/4 cup of Barbecue Sauce ( I use Outback Al's Sauce) and simmer for a few minutes while stirring. Take a hot dog bun or "deli" roll, the bigger the better, and add several tablespoons of the mixture and serve. It makes quite a meal. One popular meal uses a toasted deli roll served "open face" with available vegetables. In this picture the meal includes: the open toasted roll with butter or mayonnaise with two heaped tablespoons of the Spam mixture, a heaped tablespoon of mashed Australian pumpkin (sweet "blue" winter squash in the USA) and a tablespoon of mint flavored peas. Mashed potato is not that common in tropical climates. Mashed yams, sweet potato, or "Australian pumpkin" are more common. Typically, the yams are steamed (or microwaved) until soft, then the pulp is scooped out. Butter and or olive oil is added, then mashed and seasoned with salt and pepper. Some add other spices, including Italian spices. Mint peas involve adding a half cup of mint sauce before cooking a can of peas undrained. Mint sauce is available in most places and is often served with lamb, but it is great with other foods. In some places mint grows so well it is considered a pest. To make mint sauce, take three cups of washed, finely chopped mint leaves with stems removed, add a cup of wine vinegar or malt vinegar and a tablespoon of sugar. Some add a little olive oil and a tablespoon of lemon or lime juice. Bring mixture to a boil for a few seconds and bottle. Let sit for a week before using.

The following is a comment from Martha Stewart describing what Australians call the pumpkin:                                                                                                                                                     "Queensland Blue" is an Australian squash with jade-green skin and smooth deep-orange flesh, whose high sugar content makes it perfect for pumpkin pie. Packed with vitamin A, winter squash is versatile and nutritious."               

              A very tasty and portable meal can be made by wrapping two tablespoons of the cooked Spam mixture with a tortilla and then wrapping the tortilla in foil. The sandwich made with a "deli" bun does not travel well and becomes quite mushy after a few hours.

           There are Spanish influences in the Chamorro foods and language, which is to be expected, given that Guam and other Mariana islands were claimed by the Spanish Crown in 1565. The Chamorro people were believed to have arrived from Southeast Asia as early as 2,000 B.C. Spanish galleons can be found under the clear waters of Guam. Historical reports state that in the Spanish occupation the Chamorro population of 200,000 was reduced to 5,000 by fighting and disease. The survivors were mostly women and children. Guam was sold by Spain to the United States for 20 million dollars in 1899.

ANZAC Biscuits (Cookies)

ANZAC Biscuits

Most Australians use the word "biscuit" where Americans use the word "cookie." ANZAC biscuits have a long and valued history going back to World War 1. These are such a family favorite that I always double the following recipe ingredients.

3/4 cup of sugar

1 teaspoon treacle or molasses

1/4 lb. butter

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 cup of flaked (grated) sweetened coconut

1 cup of oatmeal

3/4 cup of plain flour

2 tablespoons boiling water

Place all ingredients except the oatmeal and flour in a saucepan and stir slowly while bringing to a gentle boil. Remove from the stove, add flour and oatmeal and stir well until there are no flakes of white coconut visible. Place large heaped tablespoons of dough 3-4 inches apart on the greased pan. Bake at 275 degrees for 25 minutes. Remove from oven and let sit for at least 20 minutes before removing from the pan.

These Anzac Biscuits are very versatile. Mix equal parts of fresh or drained canned fruit, vanilla yogurt, and the crumbled ANZAC Biscuits. Place a bowl of each and allow individuals to prepare their own in a desert dish or in a glass.

 Initially these biscuits were sent to ANZAC (Australian and New Zealand Army Corps) troops who landed at Gallipoli, Turkey, on April 25th, 1915. This military campaign was a terrible defeat with massive loss of life on both sides. The fallen Australian soldiers of all wars are commemorated on ANZAC Day, April 25th every year.

One historical report stated:

In April, 1915 a landing on the Gallipoli Penninsula attempted to secure the shores and silence the Turkish guns. Trouble brewed from the beginning. Amphibious operations were a new and unperfected form of warfare leading to poor communications, troop deployment and supply. The Turks entrenched themselves on the high ground, pouring artillery and machine gun fire down upon the hapless Australian, New Zealand, Irish, French and British troops below. The battleground soon resembled that of the Western Front - both sides peering at each other from fortified trenches, forced to spill their precious blood in futile frontal attacks on well defended positions. Casualties were high - approximately 252,000 or 52% for the British/French while the Ottoman Turks suffered about 300,000 casualties or a rate of 60%. The failed campaign gained little and badly tarnished british commander Winston Churchill's reputation.

Chicken Keleguen

Chicken Keleguen

Chicken Keleguen can be a main dish, often served with rice. It is always served cold and is the creation of the Chamorro people of the Northern Mariana Islands in the Western Pacific. Originally the dish mixed diced, cooked chicken, fresh shredded coconut, lemon juice and finely diced very hot red peppers. The following recipe is one of several and my favorite. It is  based on a family recipe from Guam.

2 lbs. or four cups of diced chicken. The chicken can be fresh or leftover BBQ or roasted chicken.

2 TBS of Soy sauce

2 TBS of rice vinegar

2 bundles of green onions - well washed and finely chopped.

1 cup of thick unsweetened coconut milk - shake can well

4 level teaspoons of ground ginger paste

1/2 cup of lemon or lime juice

1 teaspoon pepper and 2 teaspoons of salt

1 cup of fresh mild salsa - any prefer the hot salsa

 A. Left-over cooked and seasoned chicken.

If chicken you are using leftover chicken already seasoned and cooked, dice into small half inch pieces.

 B. Uncooked and unseasoned chicken.

When using uncooked chicken breasts cut the chicken into 1 inch squares and marinate for at least an hour; 24 hours would be better. I use Outback Al's Sauce as the marinade. A marinade of even parts of Soy, rice vinegar, and lemon juice is common. Dice the chicken into one inch pieces, brown in a frying pan with four tablespoons of olive oil.

Allow the chicken to cool and dice the chicken into smaller half inch pieces.

When the chicken is cooked and diced, mix all ingredients together. Mix well until the coconut milk,  and other ingredients are well blended. Place the mixture in the refrigerator for at least an hour or preferably overnight. Mix the dish well again before serving cold.

Over the years I spent time on most of the Northern Mariana Islands, including a year on Guam. On these beautiful tropical islands, things were rarely dull. Earthquakes and typhoons are expected. In recent years earthquakes have been common with magnitudes from 5.0 to 8.7. In 1975 I experienced a modest 6.2 earthquake as I tried to keep my balance on the shaking ground with a child under each arm  while dodging the coconuts. I came to appreciate the resilience of the Guam people when Super Typhoon June hit Guam in June 1975 with sustained winds of 185 mph. At that time this was the lowest barometric pressure ever recorded.

Chicken Keleguen and a companion dish, Red Rice, was present at all christening and funeral celebrations. Civic and business communication are decisions were often carried out at these celebrations. Two of my appointments with the governor were set up to take place at christenings. The funerals were far too common particularly among middle age males. One recent scientific report states:

       Guam's indigenous Chamorro people historically had a high incidence of a neurological disease with similarities to Lou Gehrig's, Parkinson's and Alzheimer's diseases. Called ALS-PDC (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis-Parkinsonian dementia complex), the disease's symptoms range from muscle weakness and paralysis to dementia. The rate of ALS-PDC has been as much as 100 times higher in Guam's Chamorro people than in the continental U.S. 

In the years I worked on Guam, the Island was, in many ways, a matriarchal society. With the loss of so many middle age men, the women quietly and effectively provided leadership in family, social, and business arenas. In one long term planning meeting for the island school system, I was one of three males  on the 25 person committee.

I was offered on-campus university housing, but chose to live in a small Chamorro family compound with four houses with a shared garden, chickens and several pigs. The patriarch of the family did die of ALS-PDC while I was there.

Cornish Pasty

Cornish Pasties

The Cornish Pasty (Pastie) is often linked to the lunch dish of Cornish miners. It was a complete meal of meat and vegetables wrapped and cooked in pastry. Each Pasty weighed about two pounds. The Cornish Pasties sold in the bakeries of Cornwall, Australia, USA, and South Africa weigh less.

2 lbs. finely chopped beef stew meat. Some mix beef and pork left-over meats
1 16oz. can peas, undrained
2 cups of chopped celery
2 cups of chopped carrots
2 cups of thin gravy. Heavy dark stout beer is my preferred alternative
2 well chopped medium onions
1-2 cups of dried potato flakes to thicken mixture after cooking. Some will include 2 cups of diced potatoes and then thicken with flour or cornstarch at the end of cooking.
3 tablespoons of Worcestershire Sauce.
Salt and pepper.

Bring the mixture to a boil in a cooking pot while stirring and then cover the pot and slow cook in the oven at 250 degrees for at least two hours. Remove and thicken with potato flakes and let cool. The mixture is thick enough when a dessert spoon stands upright in the mixture.

If you wish to make the traditional pasty, use 9-inch pie crusts, available in most supermarkets, and prepare a pasty as shown above. Over time I have moved to a less traditional approach that still gives portability to use in the lunch pail. I cook in heavy-duty non-stick 9X5 baking loaf pans. The pastry is made thick by using two 9-inch pie crusts and rolling them to stick them together and making them a little wider.

The pastry in then put in a pan rubbed with olive oil,  2 cups of the mixture, sealed with pastry on top  and given some breathing holes with a fork.

The sealed pasty loaf is then cooked in a preheated 400 degree oven for 50 minutes.

For the lunch pail, cut a pasty loaf in half and wrap in foil. As the center dish for the family meal serve one or two loaves and cut into individual servings. Often eaten cold, the pasty can be reheated. Some miners from previous centuries did reheat and placed their helmet candles under a shovel and heated the pasties on the shovel.

The pasty, as a portable complete meal, has a long and history. We know Shakespeare made reference to the pasty. With the demise of Cornwall mining in the middle of the 19th century, the miners took themselves, their mining skills, and their pasties worldwide. I grew up with pasties in Outback Queensland. The Cornish miners took the pasties to the upper Michigan Peninsula more than a century ago. May 24th is known, officially, as Michigan Pasty Day.

My first experience with the real Cornish Pasty was in the early Seventies when I spent a week backpacking along the Cornwall Coast Path alone. After taking a train as far west as I could, I found the Path as the sun was setting and set off hiking for a few hours with the aid of a flashlight. About 10 P.M. I left the Path away from the cliffs and crashing surf, and rolled out my sleeping bag beside a small pile of soil. I woke up at dawn, looked over pile of soil and saw a deserted mine shaft disappear down hundreds of feet. I stayed on the Path for the rest of the week.

Colcannon

Colcannon.

This recipe is Celtic in origin. The dish was brought to the United States by Irish immigrants escaping poverty and starvation. Colcannon is a low cost dish often served as a vegetable side dish.  The dish was often the complete meal for the lucky ones in the potato famine days in the 1800's in Ireland.

3 lbs. potatoes with skins on cut into eighths. Some prefer the potatoes mashed.

I small head of cabbage, cored and thinly sliced

2 chopped onions

1 cup of milk

1 cup finely chopped parsley or green onions

1/2 cup of olive oil or 2 tablespoons of butter

1 cup of bacon or ham bits or add three cups of ham in one inch pieces and make it a single dish meal

Salt and pepper to taste

2 TBS of Worcestershire sauce or 3 TBS Outback Al's Sauce

Place ingredients in covered casserole dish or Dutch Oven and bake for 40 minutes at 350. Serve with grated cheese of your choosing.

A traditional Irish song "Colcannon" has the following lyrics.

Lyrics for "Colcannon" also known as "The Skillet Pot."

Did you ever eat Colcannon, made from lovely pickled cream?


With the greens and scallions mingled like a picture in a dream.


Did you ever make a hole on top to hold the melting flake


Of the creamy, flavored butter that your mother used to make?

Chorus:

Yes you did, so you did, so did he and so did I,

and the more I think about it sure the nearer I'm to cry.

Oh, wasn't it the happy days when troubles we had not,


and our mothers made Colcannon in the little skillet pot

See the following web site for more lyrics and music: http://sniff.numachi.com/pages/tiCOLCANON;ttCOLCANON.html


A common theme through much of the family cooking across time and cultures was the cast iron cooking pot and lid. In America they are  known as "Dutch Ovens" and were used by Lewis and Clark in the Northwest in 1804-1806. In Ireland they were "Skillet Pots" and in Australia they are "Camp Ovens." The picture above is a "Skillet Pot."

Australian Outback Rissoles

                Australian Outback Rissoles.

Very low cost and very tasty . Served with eggs for breakfast and with vegetables for lunch and dinner. Great served cold as left-overs or on sandwiches.

1 and 1/2 lbs. of ground beef.

I large onion or 2 medium onions finely chopped.

2 cups of bread crumbs

 4 TBS of Worcestershire sauce

1 cup finely chopped parsley

1 cup of well beaten eggs with salt and pepper mixed in.

Optional:  1 cup of shredded cheese. 1 cup of shredded cabbage. 1 cup of chopped tomatoes. 1 cup of rice. 1 cup of left-over mashed potatoes, vegetables, finely chopped, such as carrots or beans. Use more than one of these options and you will not have a main meat dish.

Mix very well in a bowl. Make into six (6) very large patties or meat balls  using a cup of ingredients for each or make 12 smaller patties using a 1/2 cup for each. For some the large rissoles would be “mini meat loaves.” Typically each patty is rolled into a ball and then rolled in flour or bread crumbs and pressed flat to about 1 inch of thickness. They are not cooked or served thin as in hamburger patties. The smaller ones can be used as meatballs with pasta and a tomato sauce.

Cook in a frying pan or cast iron skillet with some olive oil and turn over until well browned on both sides. Cooking typically takes about 25 minutes. Cooking is done when the inside juices  start coming out. These are great on a grill brushed with barbecue sauce as they cook. Using the large size rissoles and cutting them in half as individual servings, keeps them moist for reheating as left-overs. The six large rissoles in the photo below were oven-baked for 40 minutes at 350 degrees.

 I watched my grandmother cook rissoles many times. To call this dish “economical” would be an understatement. Only the cheapest meat was used. This was shin beef or “the shank.” This meat is tough because of the connective tissue and was the cheapest cut of meat available. When the meat came home I would be assigned to the hand meat grinder on the kitchen table next to the wood stove. The onion would be mixed with the meat as it went through the grinder. This did away with the need to finely chop the onion. Other leftovers such as old cheese, cabbage or tomatoes were also fed though the meat grinder. Most of the ingredients came from the home garden or from grandmother’s chickens. The bread crumbs were from old bread that was heated dry in the oven and made into crumbs with a rolling pin.  A tablespoon of lard from the pot on the wood stove was placed in the cast iron frying pan before cooking the patties. A relatively modest amount of very cheap meat generated a large amount of tasty food.

 "How do you pronounce  rissole?"

The Oxford Dictionary notes:

                                                                                      Pronunciation: rissole (ris-sole) noun

• a compressed mixture of meat and spices, coated in breadcrumbs and fried.

Folks who asked the question used an Italian approach "ri-sol- i" with the emphasis on the final "i."

One of the first USA references to rissoles is the 1832 Boston cookbook "The Cook's Own Book." This book used the Oxford pronunciation and a recipe very similar to the one above. The rissole recipe has changed little over time and geography. The 1832 "receipt" for for beef rissoles states:
"Chop finely a pound of lean beef and a quarter of a pound of beef suet; pond them in a marble mortar; mix with it a quarter of pound of grated bread, a little onion and a head of garlic bruised; season with salt and pepper; bind it with three eggs well beaten; make it into small cakes, fry them to a light brown, and stew them in gravy for fifteen or twenty minutes." page 16.

If you need more information, the website Answers.com is very helpful and includes:

Variations by country

In Portugal, rissoles are known as rissóis (singular "rissol") and are a very popular snack that can be found in many cafes and in barbecues and house parties. Rissóis are a breaded pastry shaped as half-moon usually filled with fish or shrimp in béchamel sauce and then deep fried. Very frequently minced meat is used too. 

In Brazil they are often filled with sweetcorn, cheese or chicken.

The Australian rissole is generally made from minced meat without a pastry covering, but sometimes with breadcrumbs.

The New Zealand rissole is much the same as the Australian rissole but may contain diced yellow onion and cooked on a barbecue as a healthier option during summer.

Rissoles are a snack food in Indonesia, where they are called risoles (pronounced 'riss-o-lez'). They are commonly filled with vermicelli noodles and eaten with Indonesian soy sauce (kecap), chilli sauce or chilli padi.

Fried rissoles are common in southern Ireland, especially in the county of Wexford, where potato is boiled, mashed, mixed with herbs and spices, battered or bread crumbed, and served with chips (French-fries), and/or chicken or battered sausages.

Rissoles are sold in chip shops in south Wales and north-east England. Rissole and chips is a common choice of meal. These rissole are meat (typically corned beef) mashed up with potato, herbs and sometimes onion. They are coated in breadcrumbs or less frequently battered and deep fried.

In France, rissoles are served as a dessert cooked in the Savoy region. They are made of pears in batter and are baked, not fried.

Pioneer Family


I was the decedent of pioneer stock. George Hofmeister settled in the Springsure Area. George Married Caroline of the Stackelroth family who came from Germany via London on the sailing ship Coromandel that landed in South Australia 12-01-1837.