Fun in the Cocina making Meat Pies!

Beef and Cabbage Meat Pies 

Sometimes you just have to take a step back in time to recreate a childhood memory of a special taste, smell and fun times!  That is what I did today by making these Beef and Cabbage filled Bread Pies.   Fun times of days gone by when as a young girl I always looked forward to going to my girlfriends home around the corner to help make these delicious rolls filled with a tasty ground beef and cabbage mixture.  And of course when we were done we would eat them! 

The Dough

• 1/4 cup sugar
• 2 1/2 tsp yeast
• 1/2 cup warm water
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 2 eggs, beaten lightly
• 4 cups flour

Whisk together the sugar, yeast and water in a mixing bowl.  Stir in the milk, oil, salt and eggs.  Add 3 cups of the flour and turn mixer on low to blend together.  Add the remaining cup of flour 1/4 cup at a time until it makes a nice ball.  Continue mixing for about 5 minutes.

Put some oil in the bottom of a bowl and turn the dough into that bowl turning it so that all sides are coated very lightly with oil. Cover the bowl with a clean kitchen towel and let rise until doubled, about an hour.  After the dough has doubled in size, punch it down and let it rest while you make the filling.

The Ground Beef and Cabbage Filling

• 1 tsp oil
• 1 medium diced onion
• 1 pound lean ground beef 
• 1 package Lipton onion soup mix
• 1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce 
• 2 cups thinly sliced cabbage
• salt and pepper to taste 

Saute the onion in the oil.  Add the ground beef, onion soup mix, Worcestershire sauce, cabbage and salt & pepper.  Simmer until cabbage is tender.  Cover a cutting board or counter with a light dusting of flour. Divide the dough in half and roll one half into a roughly 10 x 7 inch rectangle. Cut this into six squares and place about 1/4 cup of the meat and cabbage mix into the middle of each square.

Fold up the four corners and pinch the seams together and pin with a toothpick.
Repeat with the other half of the dough.
Preheat the oven to 375 while you cover with a towel again and let rise about 20 minutes.
Uncover and bake about 15 minutes or until the bread is nicely browned.

You can serve these up on a plate with a veggie or salad and eat them with a fork. . . But I just like to grab one and eat it like a sandwich and dip it in ketchup . . . or maybe some Lizano Salsa!  MMMM Good! 
You can also use frozen yeast bread dough from the freezer section in your grocery store to make these faster.  I have not been able to find that luxury item here so if you know of a source please let me know! 

Living here in Costa Rica you find meat pies called Empanadas readily available in the panadería, sodas and road side vendors.  They are filled with beef, pork, chicken, cheese and fruits and have more of a pastry shell.   They are delicioso and I think they are what made my taste buds wander back in time!
And that is my nostalgic walk down memory lane with a tried and true recipe that was just as good today as it was so many years ago....   

Bon appetit!