[Baked or fried? You decide.]

Natchitoches meat pies are one of those special little treats with a name as fun to say as they are to scarf down. Nackadish--that's how you say it--is a small town we drive through on our way north to visit Alexandria or Oklahoma, and it's where Steel Magnolias was filmed, and it's famous for these little pies. It's a beautiful little place, with a picturesque riverfront lined with shops and restaurants that have their own sort of French Quarter-ish wrought-iron balconies (remember the Easter scene where Jackson slapped Ouiser? That's the riverfront!).  But you don't have to go into the actual town to get yourself some meat pies; just stop at any gas station right off I-10. They all fry them up and they're all pretty wonderful.

Inside a tender, flaky pastry is a thickly seasoned mixture of ground beef or pork and trinity vegetables (onion, bell pepper, celery), gilded with a little jalapeno and garlic, and punked up with Worcestershire and Tabasco.  Sort of like chili came to south Louisiana and booked a room inside a pie crust. Nothing wrong with that at all.  Most of the pies I've seen are about as big as my hand, but I really prefer them in smaller doses because they're so dang rich.  So these are miniature pies, made with prepared pie crusts for the ease of them, and you can either bake or fry depending on how high you want your crunch ceiling to go.  You can see from the photo above that the fried ones are toastier, crispier, and all-around more divine-looking, but don't underestimate the power of the baked pie.  A little flakiness from the oven is a good, good thing.

About the frying: my grandmother Willie Ruth taught me how to shallow-fry pies in an iron skillet, which only takes about half an inch of oil and is a really quick way to cook these.  It's also much easier and cheaper than deep-frying. She was famous for her fried apricot pies...putting those on my to-do list right now.

natchitoches meat pies

• 1 pound lean ground beef
• 1 Tablespoon vegetable oil, plus more if you're frying the pies
• 1 medium onion, finely chopped
• 1 small green bell pepper, finely chopped
• 2 stalks celery, finely chopped
• 1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and minced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 4 scallions, thinly sliced (greens and whites)
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley
• 1 small tomato, finely chopped
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• 2 teaspoons chili powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon white pepper
• 3/4 cup beef or chicken stock
• 2 Tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
• 4 shakes of the Tabasco bottle
• 1/2 teaspoon sugar (optional)
• 2 Tablespoons all-purpose flour
• pie dough for 4 9" pies (2 packages of refrigerated pie crusts, or your favorite recipe)
• 1 egg, beaten in a small bowl with 1 teaspoon water for egg wash, if baking

1. In a medium skillet, brown the ground beef over medium heat until crumbled and no longer pink.  Remove from the pan and drain off excess fat; set aside.
2. In the same skillet, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Add onion, bell pepper, and celery, and saute until softened, about 5 minutes.  Add jalapeno, garlic, scallions, parsley, and tomato, and saute another 4 to 5 minutes, until vegetables are very soft and juicy.
3. Stir in thyme, oregano, paprika, chili powder, salt, black pepper, cumin, cayenne, and white pepper.
4. Add the reserved beef and pour in the stock, Worcestershire, and Tabasco.  Stir well and simmer over medium heat, uncovered, for about 10 minutes, until most of the liquid has evaporated but the filling is still a little juicy.  Taste for seasoning and add more salt, pepper, Worcestershire, or whatever's needed; or try adding 1/2 a teaspoon of sugar to mellow out the spices a little.  It works for me.
5. Sprinkle the flour over the mixture and stir well to incorporate.  Let simmer over low heat another 3 to 4 minutes, until mixture is drier and well-blended.  Remove from skillet and let cool until room temperature (otherwise it will be too warm and will melt the pie dough).
6. If you're baking pies, preheat the oven to 425.
7. On a lightly floured surface, place a fourth of the pie dough and roll out to 1/8" thickness (if you use prepared crusts, you can just unwrap them and slap 'em down).  Use a 4" round cutter to cut out 6 circles from each portion of crust (I cut 4 circles, then pressed together the scraps, rerolled and cut another circle, then formed a final circle out of the last bits).  Place 1 Tablespoon of filling in the center of each circle (do not overstuff), fold the circle over, and crimp the edged with the tines of a fork.  Set on baking sheets until ready to bake or fry, and repeat with the remaining pie crusts and filling until you have 24 pies.
8. For frying: Chill the filled pies in the refrigerator for about 10 minutes before frying, to help them hold together.  Heat 1/2" of vegetable oil in a cast-iron or other heavy skillet until it's about 360 degrees; you can check by throwing a small cube of bread in the oil, and if it starts to sizzle and turn golden and crispy after a minute or two, it's ready.  If it immediately turns toasty, it's too hot.  Lower pies gently into the oil in batches, without crowding.  Let cook on one side for about 2 to 3 minutes, until golden brown; gently turn pies over (I hold a dinner fork in each hand to do this) and cook the other side for 2 to 3 minutes, until golden brown.  Remove to a paper towel-lined plate to drain and repeat with remaining pies.
9. For baking: Brush each pie with egg wash (not a skimpy amount--really get it on there) and prick the tops a few times with a fork, to let steam escape.  Bake for 15 to 17 minutes, until the edges are light golden brown.

makes 24 small pies.  If you don't want so much, halve the recipe, or make 12 pies and save the other half of the filling for burritos or enchiladas.

When I know I'm about to go to Crabby Jack's, I go a little crazy. I dance a little dance, sing a little song, and hop around, driving Paul bonkers until we hop in the car and go.  This is how hushpuppies got invented, I think.  I'm that little puppy begging for seafood!

If you've heard me swoon about Parkway Bakery's po-boys before, especially if I've gone there with you, then you might doubt what I'm about to say, but just trust me on this. Crabby Jack's is better. It's not in our neighborhood, but it's honestly the best po-boy we've ever laid eyes on, from the seafood (or roast duck) to the bread (the perfect texture) to the fixings.  We've been there several times in the past few months before coming to this conclusion (and I went a few times when I worked at Tulane), so it's not some afternoon fling...it's a long-term love affair.  I get jealous of myself every time I go.

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Yesterday I read a great article on alternet.org that my friend Meredith highlighted on her blog, The Boiled Down Juice: it's called Compost Cuisine, and it's full of really interesting ways that a few chefs in California are using "whole vegetables" in the same way other chefs use whole animals, or in other words, using all parts of the animal, from head to tail.  They're doing things like stuffing squash stems and slow-cooking kale stems until they're soft like pasta, and reducing lemon and carrot peels into flavor-packed "ash" in the oven.  I don't know if I'm up to ashing my vegetable peelings, but it's fun to see what possibilities there are in cooking things that we would otherwise throw out, or if we're more sustainability-minded, throw in the compost pail.  It's good to find creative, delicious ways to use up what's old.

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Sometimes, even though I know I'm a pretty lucky gal, I get jealous of friends who come down to Nola to visit.  They're ready to take in as much of the city as they can, they've got extra money in their pockets, and no amount of walking the Quarter or the Marigny seems excessive.  I remember the first time I visited, for Mardi Gras in 2006. I was enchanted, gobbling up every bit of food and life I could get.  Living here is wonderful--I love it, I still pinch myself sometimes--but I miss that feeling of falling in love with it for the first time.

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For most folks the holidays are over, but in New Orleans, they're JUST BEGINNING.  Yep.

Friday night, January 6, is Twelfth Night! That means it's the start of carnival season, and officially the coolest day of the year to eat king cake. But you should strive to eat a piece of king cake at least once a week every week leading up to Mardi Gras. Pick up a cake at your favorite place, take it to school/work/home, and slice it all up at once so you can see who gets the baby. If you get the baby, you bring the next cake.

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If you've never had or heard of grillades and grits, then I apologize for not mentioning them earlier.  They're one of the two most wonderful things to eat for brunch in New Orleans (shrimp and grits being the other).  I've never been to anyplace in town for brunch that didn't offer one or both of these goodies.  Grillades (gree'-awds) are made of beef, veal, or pork; I haven't encountered a rabbit version yet, but I won't be surprised when I do.  The beef is a thin, flat cut of top round or chuck--something that can withstand a long, slow cooking.  It simmers in a pot with the trinity (onion, celery, bell pepper), garlic, and a little jalapeno--not traditional, but I really like it--until the rich broth thickens and intensifies, so what you get is a powerfully flavored beef "stew" that is perfect over creamy cheese grits.  This is a great Louisiana recipe to try if you're hankering for some thick, rich goodness but you don't feel up to stirring a roux, because you don't have to.  The small amount of flour used in the browning of the beef will produce all the roux you need.

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Happy Friday, cookie monsters!  It's the final day of my bake-a-thon, and I am beat (ha).

This last little cookie is a real show-stopper that I found online at bhg.com. They're called White-Chocolate Cherry Shortbreads, but they also have a slight amaretto quality to them due to a shot of almond extract. They're super-rich and taste a bit like cherry cheesecake. In short, my, my, they're outstanding.   I was looking for something really different in flavor and appearance from the other items going in my gift boxes, which are mostly shades of brown.  This hot little pink number really fit the bill, and they taste professional-bakery-fancy.

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Day 5 of the cookie bake-a-thon, and it's time for classic sugar cookies! (Only 1 day left!)

I'm usually not into decorating cookies with icing or sprinkles--at all.  My sister is the queen of this; her sugar cookies are always perfectly glazed, smooth as little skating rinks, with patiently drawn borders, dots, and squiggles.  I'd rather put more effort into the cookie's appearance before it's baked. I'll roll them in sprinkles, or shape them into crescents, I'll even sandwich two doughs together, roll them up and make a pinwheel, though that's pushing it.  The point is, once the cookie's out of the oven, I JUST WANT TO EAT IT.

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It's day 4 of my cookie bake-a-thon...my glycemic index runneth over.

How long has it been since you opened a jar of molasses and took a big whiff?  Well, that's too long.  I find it very easy to forget what molasses smells like, even if it's only been a few days since I've smelled it.  I just had to go get the jar again and take a big pull so I could remind you: it smells like a blend of dark-roast coffee and soy sauce.  That doesn't sound like a good idea for cookies.  But molasses in ginger cookies?  It's necessary, in a big way.

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Welcome to the third installment of my Christmas Hannukah bake-a-thon!

Have you ever had rugelach?  Ever heard of them?  They're these awesome, petite crescents of cream cheese and butter dough wrapped around a filling such as cinnamon, nuts, or preserves.  The fact that the dough is almost nothing but cream cheese and butter pretty much had me hooked.  But I also saw an opportunity to inject a little deep-south peppery twist on this classic cookie.

Pepper jelly. You know, the jalapeno-spiked stuff that gets poured over blocks of cream cheese?  Turns out it's a remedy for someone who bakes and eats lots of cookies and, quite frankly, needs a little help preventing palate fatigue (that's Melissa Clark's term, not mine, but it's well-put).  I was afraid these might be too spicy in the end, but they're just spicy enough, and a welcome change of spice from the typical holiday range of cinnamon, clove, and nutmeg.  I think you'll like them.  And let's forge ahead and put pepper jelly in all kinds of sweet things!  It'll be a revolution.

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