Recipe: Hand-held Scottish Meat Tarts To-Go!

Gotta type it out while it's still fresh in my mind! I'll add pics and commentary later...........

Memories of Morrison Meat Pies:

I have no clue why Morrison Meat Pies decided to take-up residence in my brain today, but they did.  And that's not necessarily a bad thing.  See, when I was a wee spud, we'd go visit my grandfather in West Jordan, Utah every year.  One of our traditions, whenever we'd visit  Grampa, was to nosh on these unique little meat pies from Morrison's.  I'd never had anything like them before - or since!

Several years ago, Morrison Meat Pies lodged itself in my brain - just before Christmas - and I decided to surprise my mom by ordering a whole case of these pies and having them delivered to her house.  I can *still* hear her squeal of delight when she received the shipment!

Anyway, I really like Morrison Meat Pies is what I'm saying.  And I decided I wanted "something similar" today.  A trip to Utah is not forthcoming, so I was forced to consult Google - in an attempt to find the recipe...

I found a couple of Scottish Meat Pie Recipe here and here.  I didn't really "follow" either of them, but they were a good launching point.

I don't have a proper Scottish Meat Pie Pastry Mould (wouldn't recognize one if I saw it!), but I figured I could improvise Cheater's Style with frigerated pie-crust...

QT's Handheld Scottish Meat Tarts

Yield: Appx 8 tarts and some leftover filling ;-)

Ingredients:

• Refrigerated Pie Crusts (2) for 9" pie
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 2 cloves fresh minced garlic
• 1/2 cup fresh chopped white mushrooms
• 1 medium potato, peeled and chopped
• 1 lb ground beef
• 1/4 cup dry red wine
• olive oil
• Your choice of seasonings (I used Lawry's steak seasoning, onion powder, garlic powder, white pepper, and a splash of Worchestershire sauce)
• Your choice of sauciness (I used a Swanson Flavor-Boost packet - beef flavor + an envelope of McCormick's Brown Gravy mixed with 1/2 cup of water).

Instructions:

1. Heat a large saute pan with a couple TBS of olive oil.  Saute the onions, garlic and potatoes over medium heat 'til translucent and limp.  
2. Add the ground beef (break it up into teeny mincy-bits - not "chunky") and cook 'til browned.  
3. Add mushrooms and cook some more.  
4. Deglaze the pan with red wine, add seasonings and saucy stuff.  Reduce heat to super-low, cover and simmer while you prep the crusts.
5. Preheat oven to 375*F.  Unroll your (thawed) refrigerator crust.  Cut it into quarters and scoop 1-2 TBS of filling in the center, then roll the edges together (your "tart" should end-up roughly triangular).
6. Seal with a smidge of water and press together with a fork.  Poke a vent hole in the tops of your tarts, then place on a greased baking pan.  
7. Bake at 375*for appx 35-45 minutes 'til golden brown.  Optional - you can mix an egg with a little water and brush it onto the pie before cooking so you'll have a nice shiny glaze.

To be perfectly honest, these bear almost no resemblance to the REAL Morrison Meat Pies of my childhood.  But it was the best I could do - given the materials at hand!  It was still a mighty tasty lunchtime snack!