A Calzone By Another Name.

Now growing up in an Italian neighborhood, in Brooklyn, New York, I certainly know my Italian food items, especially when it comes from a pizzeria.  Therefore, I know what a Calzone is and what it normally consists of; anything else is simply another name.  Just because you take some dough, wrap it around a bunch of ingredients; doesn't make it an authentic calzone.  Take, for example, the Croatia dish, Burek, which consists mainly of meats and some vegetables; this is a meat pie, not a calzone.

Now in town we have two "pizzerias"; remember, I'm a pizza snob, so that is why I've put pizzeria in quotes for them.  Wagon Wheel Pizza has a menu item called a "turnover" made with pizza dough, consisting of meats, vegetables or a combination and very little cheese. Thankfully they have the sense not to call it a calzone. The other place, Thatzza Pizza has a menu item called a calzone which I have not personally tried. However, I know people who have and they have said in certainty that what Thatzza Pizza calls a calzone is, in reality, simply a meat pie.

The recipe I'm posting today is called "Italian Flag Meat Pie".  The "Italian Flag" part of the name refers to the ingredients being of the colors of the Italian Flag: green, white and red.  Roast beef is the meat ingredient and the cheeses used are Goat and Provolone.  Since I'm not using the traditional pizzeria combination of Ricotta, Mozzarella and Provolone, well there you go, it's not a calzone, it's a meat pie.  One other change, not using pizza dough, but pie crust; flakier, crispier and sweeter dough than pizza style.

Italian Flag Meat Pies

Ingredients:

2 Tbsp olive oil

1 cup each of diced onions, red bell peppers and mushrooms
1 cup each of diced tomatoes and steamed asparagus
1 Tbsp minced garlic
1 Tbsp Italian herbal mix
1 tsp salt
1 lb. cooked meat or poultry (diced steak, ground beef, shredded chicken, diced pork, etc)
4 oz crumbled goat cheese
flour
4 ready-made pie crusts, room temperature and cut in half
8 slices provolone cheese
water
2 eggs
2 Tbsp water

Preparation:

 

 

 

 

 

Heat oil, on medium-high heat, in large skillet; sauté onions, peppers and mushrooms for 5 minutes.  Add tomatoes, asparagus, garlic, herbal mix and salt; cook another 2 minutes.  Add meat and goat cheese; mix thoroughly and turn off heat.

  

 

 

Preheat oven to 450F; spray baking sheet with nonstick baking spray.

 

 

Sprinkle flour on board, place half of a pie crust on top; place one slice of provolone cheese in center of one side of crust. Center a half to 3/4 cup of mixture from skillet on top of cheese.  Dab water along edges of crust, fold one side over filling and press edges together.  Roll dough up along edges to further seal; cut a small slit in center of each pie; place on baking sheet.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Beat eggs with 2 tablespoons water and brush all over pies; bake for 15 - 20 minutes; until pies are golden brown.

 

Makes 8 pies.

Mary Cokenour

Shepherd's Pie Goes Wild Game.

Having ground venison(deer) in the freezer, I wanted to do more than just make burgers, meatloaf or a meat sauce for pasta; but what? I had not made Shepherd's or Cottage Pie in a long while and the thought of mashed potatoes with meat was too tempting.

Normally, a
traditional Shepherd's Pie is made with ground lamb; if it's made with ground beef, that is called Cottage Pie. Now why would I call this dish with venison Shepherd's Pie; simply it's based on taste. Lamb has a strong, gamey flavor even though it is an animal basically raised for its wool and meat. Venison, on the other hand, is a creature hunted in the wild; with a strong, gamey flavor. Yes, it's convoluted thinking, but I know for a fact the solution is a great tasting meal.

One thing I knew for sure, to smooth out the flavor of the venison, I needed to marinade it overnight. I placed one pound of the ground meat in a plastic container and added two tablespoons of red wine vinegar, 1/4 teaspoon each of salt and ground black pepper and mixed it thoroughly. Sealing up the container, I placed it in the refrigerator until I would use it the next day.

In a large skillet, I began browning the meat over medium-high heat. After a couple of minutes, I added in one tablespoon of Worcester sauce and 1/2 teaspoon of onion powder; mixed thoroughly and let it cook until no more redness in color showed.

Now in a large mixing bowl, there was already waiting 1 and 1/2 cups of a pea and diced carrot mixture, a 1/2 cup of sliced mushrooms and 1/2 cup of beef broth. Of course I already had the mashed potato topping waiting for its grand entrance. Here's how to make that just in case you haven't followed the link to Shepherd's Pie:

The topping:

6 large potatoes, peeled and cut up
4Tbsp butter
1/2 cup milk
6 Tbsp grated parmesan cheese
1/2 tsp ground black pepper

Boil the potatoes in salted water until tender. Drain and mash the potatoes, add butter, milk, grated cheese and pepper to the potatoes.

Preheating the oven to 375F, I sprayed a 2 quart casserole dish with nonstick spray. First I spooned in the venison filling, then spread the mashed potatoes over the filling; finishing with the sprinkling of paprika over the topping. 40 minutes later it was ready to eat.

The ground venison had the taste of fine steak with the underlying flavor of red wine; the vegetables were tender, not mushy; the mashed potatoes were smooth with a buttery, cheesy flavor. The scent however was heady with a mixture of meat, potato, cheese and wine; you knew what you were in for and you wanted it.

Don't be afraid to try out wild game such as venison. Begin with a simple recipe, such as one of the many recipes I've posted on this blog concerning venison and elk. You will be surprised how easy and flavorful it is.

Mary Cokenour

The Enclosed Sandwich.

Now while the Earl of Sandwich gets the credit for giving this one handed meal of bread, cheese and/or meat its official name; the concept was around for centuries before his birth. What's Cooking America.net gives a history going back to the 1st century, and the Earl certainly wasn't a spark in anybody's eye at that time.

While the sandwich is an "open ended" meal, there are many cultures which have the "enclosed" sandwich, or meat pie. The Italian Calzone, the Cornish Pasty, the Mexican Empanada, Chinese Roast Pork Buns, and dare I say it...the American "Hot Pocket" are just a few.  A crusty pocket of dough containing a filling of meat and perhaps cheese and vegetables, depending on the culture's tastes. A one handed meal, like the sandwich, but very unlikely the filling will fall, or be squashed, out from between the bread. The versatility of the meat pie is that it can be made with any type of dough, including pie or phyllo doughs which make a flakier pastry shell.

In my family's culture, Croatian, there is a meat pie called Burek containing beef, lamb, vegetables and seasonings. Sold in bakeries, this is their version of "fast food"; an on-the-go meal that can be eaten with one hand and quickly. I like to make mine with phyllo dough which I can find in the frozen food section of most supermarkets; otherwise I use pie dough, as I enjoy the flakier crust more.

Recently, via Facebook, I found relatives in Croatia that I never knew about, but we're all finally getting to know each other. So, I'm dedicating this blog post to them, and hope I've got the recipe correct and am doing them proud.

Burek(Won Second Place for Better Homes and Magazines Recipe Contest – Appeared in January 1998 issue.)

Ingredients:
1 lb lean ground beef
1 lb ground lamb
1 cup chopped onion
½ cup chopped pickled beets
1 Tbsp snipped fresh parsley
1 tsp paprika
¼ tsp black pepper
1/8 tsp ground red pepper
1 egg, beaten
¼ cup butter
¼ cup flour
1 ½ cups beef broth
9 sheets frozen phyllo dough, thawed
½ cup butter, melted

Preparation:
In a large skillet, cook beef, lamb and onion over medium-high heat until meat is browned and onion is tender. Drain excess grease; stir in beets, parsley, paprika, black and red pepper, and egg; set aside in large bowl.

In small saucepan, melt the ¼ cup of butter, stir in the flour to make a paste; gradually add in the beef broth, stirring constantly; mixture will thicken. Add this to the meat mixture, stir, cover and refrigerate for 1-2 hours, or until completely cooled.

Preheat oven to 400F; spray a 15” x 10” x 1” jelly roll pan with nonstick cooking spray.

To assemble: stack 3 of the phyllo sheets, brushing each one with the melted butter; cut stack in half, crosswise Repeat with remaining phyllo sheets to get 6 large rectangular stacks. Spread ¾ cup of meat mixture at one end, leaving a one inch margin; begin rolling the phyllo towards the other end, tuck in the ends to seal and place seam side down on the pan. Bake 20-25 minutes, or until internal temperature reaches 180F.

Makes 6 servings.

Mary Cokenour
August 1997