Beef Curry Pies - Hand Pies

 
Cold weather finally!  Easy comfort food is on the menu.  I don't know about you but the easiest organic meat to find is ground beef yet, recipes for ground meat seem to be chili, hamburger, meatballs - not again my kids scream! Although, their favorite dish is my sweet and sour meatballs . 
Epicurious to the rescue with this hand pies.  These would be great for a Super Bowl Party too.
FYI Costco has the best price on organic ground beef.

I cut potatoes too big.

Cupcake pans make it easy.

Choice - make more pies or make a covered top?  I choose more pies so I cut excesses into strips. 

Hand full of fun and tasty



Beef and Curry Pie 

from Epicurious

Adapted

3/4 pound organic ground beef

2 tablespoon soy sauce
½ teaspoon sugar
¼ teaspoon kosher salt

¼ teaspoon pepper

½ teaspoon garlic

1 teaspoon vegetable oil
1 medium onion, chopped (1 cup)
1 tablespoon curry powder (preferably Madras)
1 large organic russet (baking) potato, ¼ inch pieces (1 cup)
10 tablespoons water
¼ cup frozen peas, thawed
2 (17 ¼ ounce) packages frozen puff pastry sheets, thawed
 

1. Mix together beef, soy sauce, sugar, salt, pepper and garlic with your hands until combined well
2. Heat oil in a 10-inch nonstick skillet over moderately high heat, then add beef and cook, stirring occasionally and breaking up beef into small pieces, until just browned, about 4 minutes
3. Drain beef in a colander set over a bowl (reserve skillet) and return beef drippings to uncleaned skillet
4. Heat drippings over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking, then add onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, 3 to 5 minutes.
5. Add curry powder and potatoes and cook, stirring occasionally, until potatoes are translucent, 3 to 5 minutes more
6. Add water and cook, stirring and scraping up any brown bits from bottom of skillet, until liquid is absorbed and potatoes are tender, about 1 minute
7. Return beef to skillet and stir in peas, then cool filling, stirring occasionally, about 30 minutes
8. Put oven racks in upper and lower thirds of oven and preheat oven to 400°F
9. Roll out one sheet of dough into a 12-inch square on a lightly floured surface with a lightly floured rolling pin and cut out 4 (5-inch) rounds with cutter.
10.  Spray cupcake pan with light oil
11.  Place round of pastry in each cupcake cup
12.  Mound filling onto each
13.  Cut excessive pasty and cover tops
14.  Bake until pies are deep golden brown and puffed, 25 to 30 minutes
15.  Cool pies to warm, about 10 minutes, or room temperature

Notes:
Reheat on a baking sheet in middle of a 350°F oven until filling is hot, about 15 minutes.

Original Recipe Beef and Curry Pie

 

Lemongrass Bars with Coconut Shortbread Crust

Lemons sweet and sour, we can't get enough!  Unfortunate, our neighbor’s trees ripen in November, so we move on to our lemon grass.

Our lemon grass...growing like a weed and I am happy.  

Easy lemon grass growing guide:

   

o       buy some lemon grass from the market

o       stick it in about 2 inches of water

o       watch and wait for roots to form

o       plant in your garden

o       share with your friends because it grows fast

The plant pictured above was just one shoot and now look at it now

and I removed four shoots already.

Lemongrass Bars with Coconut Shortbread Crust

from Bon Appétit | March 2011

Ivy Manning

adapted 

Crust:

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup sweetened shredded coconut (about 3 ounces)

1/2 cup powdered sugar

1/2 cup plus 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature

Filling:

1 1/4 cups sugar

3 lemongrass stalks, bottom 4 inches only, tough outer layer removed, finely chopped (scant 1/2 cup)

5 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

3 large eggs

1/4 cup all purpose flour

Powdered sugar

lemon zest

For crust:

~ preheat oven to 350°F

~ butter 13 x 9 x 2- inch metal baking pan

~ using electric mixer, beat flour, coconut, powdered sugar, and 1/2 teaspoon salt in large bowl until well blended, 30 seconds

~ add butter; beat on low speed until moist clumps form

 ~ press dough onto bottom and 1/2 inch up sides of pan

 ~ bake crust until golden (edges will be darker), about 25 minutes

 

For filling:

~  meanwhile, place sugar and lemongrass in processor; pulse until lemongrass is finely ground, about 1 minute

~  add lemon juice; process until well blended, about 30 seconds

~  add eggs; process to blend, 10 to 15 seconds

~  add flour and pinch of salt; pulse until smooth

~ reduce oven temperature to 325°F

~ pour filling over hot crust; bake until filling is firm, 22 to 23 minutes

~ cool in pan on rack

~ cut lemongrass bars lengthwise into 4 strips, then crosswise into 6 pieces

~ dust bars with powdered sugar and lemon zest

from our garden: lemon grass