How to make your own Mama`s Pies

I’m sure many people can recall the smell of homemade pie coming from the kitchen. That wasn’t the case at my house growing up. While my mother is great cook, most of the pies we ate came from a box. It was convenient at the time, and from what I can remember, they didn’t taste to bad. In fact, I was a big fan of the pepper steak Mama’s Pies and could easily chow down two at a time.

Just the other day I had a craving for a good old Mama’s Pie, but instead of hitting the shop for the frozen version, I decided to make my own.

Step 1

Make a large batch of filling the day before.

The meaty filling keeps well in the freezer and are definitely an awesome thing to have when you need to make a quick dinner. I used steak for my pie, but you can use chicken or vegetables, it’s really up to you.

Ingredients for the Pepper Steak filling

  • 1kg diced beef chuck steak
  • 3 onions peeled and finely sliced
  • 1 tablespoon plain flour
  • 3 tablespoons olive oil
  • 50g butter
  • 3 cups low salt beef stock
  • 6 stems of fresh Thyme or 2 teaspoons dried thyme
  • 3 bay leaves
  • 1 teaspoon of salt
  • 2 tablespoons freshly ground black Pepper

Method

  1. In a large casserole dish, fry the chopped onions in butter and olive oil over low heat add the . Cook stirring occasionally for 8-10 minutes until the onions have softened and started to turn golden.
  2. Remove from the heat.
  3. Place the chuck steak in a freezer bag, add the flour and salt and toss till lightly dusted with flour.
  4. In a large frying or sauté pan on a medium high heat add the remaining olive oil and brown the beef all over. Place the browned meat in the casserole.
  5. Deglaze the frying pan with one cup of stock using a spoon to rub off all the flavor filled brown bits. Pour the pan juices and the remaining stock into the casserole and add the ground pepper, thyme and bay leaves. The stock should just cover the meat so if it doesn’t just add little water.
  6. Place the lid on the casserole and bring to a slow simmer, cook for about 2 hours stirring occasionally until the meat in tender and the gravy reduced.
  7. Check the seasoning and adjust to your personal taste.
  8. If the gravy isn’t as thick as you would like, remove the cooked meat from the pan and turn up the heat and simmer fast until the gravy has reduced and is thick and shiny and only then return the meat to the pan.
  9. Allow the casserole to cool.

Step 2

Once you have the filling done, taste it and add spices or seasonings to your taste. Don’t add to much salt to the meat before or during the cooking process. It’s easy to add, but impossible to take out!

Step 3

It’s time to prepare the pie plates. Roll out the pastry (I use store bought) and cut out round forms to fit your small pie plates. Use aluminium plates and spray them with non stick cooking spray to make sure the pies are easily removed after baking.

Place each round into the pie plate and gently press into the bottom, making sure you have enough dough to bring up the sides of the plate.

Step 4

Fill the pies but make sure that the filling has cooled down. A hot filling will ruin the crust. Cover the pie with another round piece of dough and firmly press all the edges with a fork to secure the filling. After you finish the edging, make a few holes with the fork in centre to top crust. This will allow steam to escape when the pie is baking.

Step 5

Wrap them up or eat them! I use double wrap them to prevent freezer burn. If you can’t wait to try them, bake them at 190 C for about 45 minutes on a middle oven rack. Before baking, brush tops with beaten egg – the pies will turn out beautiful golden brown.