Recipe: Meat Pies (laham ageen)

Recipe Source: Patent, Greg.  A Baker's Odyssey.  John Wiley & Sons, Hoboken, 2007 pp. 184 - 6

I made these for a recent Sunday open house.  I liked them.  I think my guests enjoyed them.  My husband really, really liked them!  What he liked was their versatility.  They were great as part of a normal sit-down dinner, but they'd be great as a quick snack, or even brought along on a picnic.  It was a little more challenging than a lot of the recipes that I prefer to post here, but it's definitely worth the effort. 

I did make a few changes to the original recipe.  The main change was exchanging turmeric for sumac.  The original called for sumac, and I love sumac.  I love sumac so much that I seem to have run out of sumac and am now sad.  I decided to use turmeric because it has a distinctly sour flavor that while not really authentic still worked with the rest of the dish. 

Meat Pies (makes 24 pies; approx. $0.42/ea.)

4 cups flour

2 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast

1 pinch sugar

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon nigella seeds

1 teaspoon ground mahlab

1 teaspoon fennel seeds, ground if possible

8 tablespoons butter

1 cup plus 2 tablespoons water

1 egg, beaten with a pinch of salt

2 pounds boneless leg of lamb

3 onions, finely chopped

1/4 cup olive oil

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

1 teaspoon black pepper

1 teaspoon allspice

1 1/2 teaspoons turmeric

1/3 cup chopped fresh parsley

Equipment:

• Large saute pan
• Baking sheets
• Colander
• Plate
• Heavy thing
• Rolling pin
• Stand mixer with the dough hook attachment
• Small saucepan
• Cookie cutter (I used a pint glass because I didn't have round plain cookie cutters at the time.  I have since rectified the situation - yay!) 

1. Melt the butter in the small saucepan.
2. Add the water.  The mixture should now be lukewarm.
3. Add a pinch of sugar and the yeast.  Set aside five minutes or so, or until frothy.
4. Combine the yeast mixture with the flour, salt, nigella, mahlab and fennel in the stand mixer bowl.  Mix on very low speed for about 2 minutes, then increase the speed very slightly (level 2 to level 3 on my mixer, which has 11 levels) and knead 5 minutes. 
5. Cover loosely with plastic wrap, then set aside in a warm place until doubled in size (about 1 1/2 hours.)
6. Meanwhile, make the filling.  Put the chopped onions into a colander, then top with a plate. 
7. Put something heavy (I used a 5-lb sack of sugar) on top of the plate and set aside in the sink for about 15 minutes.  This will rid the onions of some of their excess moisture.  It may seem like a silly and unnecessary step now, but believe me, it will be very important when you go to fill the pies. 
8. Dice the meat into 1/2" dice.
9. Heat the oil in the large saute pan over medium heat.
10. Add the meat to the saute pan.  Cook uncovered, stirring when you feel like it, until the meat is tender and the juices have evaporated.  The original says this should take 30 minutes; it took less time for me.
11. Add the onions and cook over medium-low heat.  Cook until very tender and cover the pan for the last 15 minutes.
12. Add the 1 1/2 teaspoons salt, pepper, allspice, turmeric and parsley.  Cook another 5 minutes or so, then allow to cool.
13. When the dough has risen, work in batches to roll out the dough to a thin consistency. 
14. Cut out circles of dough with the cookie cutter - the original called for a 3" cutter.  As I mentioned, I had a pint glass so that's what I used.
15. Set the dough circles aside and let rest 15 minutes before proceeding. 
16. Preheat your oven to 425.
17. Roll out each circle to a circle about 5" in diameter.  I had less success with this than suggested by the original, as you can see by the variable sizes in the photo. 
18. Fill each circle with a "scant 1/4 cup" of the filling.  Fold in half and pinch the edges closed to seal. 
19. Brush with the egg. 
20. Bake 25 minutes, rotating once. 
21. Serve warm or at room temperature.