WYld Cheeseburger and Fries Hand Pies
By: Stephanie Weed
American pop culture in a pastry
These are perfect for Super Bowl munchies or for a soul satisfying meal outdoors while skiing, snowshoeing or snowmobiling! Can be served warm out of the oven or eaten at room temp-both are delicious!
WYld tip: When I make hand pies I usually make twice as many as I am serving so that I can put half in the freezer to bake up “fresh” at a later time.
Perfect, Flaky Hand Pie Dough
(Makes 12 single serving pies, or 20 minis)
Do not be intimidated by this dough. It is no-knead and virtually fool proof. This recipe is for savory pies but you can convert it to be the perfect foil for sweet fillings by replacing the paprika, turmeric, onion powder with 1 teaspoon of cinnamon and 1 tablespoon of confectioner sugar.
INGREDIENTS
1 cup of water
3/4 cup of butter
2 3/4 cup of AP flour
2 tsp. of sea salt
1 tsp. of paprika
½ tsp. onion powder
½ tsp. turmeric
1. Heat the water and butter in a saucepan over medium-high heat until butter is melted
2. Whisk flour, salt, and spices in a large mixing bowl and make a well in the center of the flour
3. Pour a little of the hot liquid in the well and mix. Pour the remaining liquid over the dough and well.
4. Mix with a wooden spoon until completely incorporated but do not work the dough
5. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and chill in the fridge for at least 1 hour or overnight. I think that chilling overnight yields a flakier pastry
Cheeseburger and fries FILLING
INGREDIENTS:
2 lbs ground Wyoming beef (Ground chicken, turkey, pork, wild game, or a mixture can be used here as well)
1 small purple onion diced
(purple is prettiest and what is usually served with a hamburger but you can definitely use yellow)
1 clove garlic minced
1 4” chunk of American cheese cut into ¼” squares (Bobby Flay has said that a true cheeseburger has American cheese on it and I trust him implicitly when it comes to burgers! But of course you can sub your favorite cheeseburger cheese such as cheddar, pepper Jack, Monterey, Colby or Cheddar Jack)
6 baby dill pickles diced (you can leave these out if you must but you will be missing out…trust me!)
4 heaping tablespoons tomato paste
4 pieces of thick cut bacon-sliced
3 tablespoons Dijon mustard
2 large russet potatoes ¼” diced
1/4 cup beef stock
DIRECTIONS:
Dice potatoes and rinse in cold water, (this reduces the starch so that they will crisp well in oven) dry with a paper towel then toss with olive oil, paprika, salt and pepper
Place potatoes in a single layer on a foil lined cookie sheet and roast in the oven at 375 for 25 minutes, while you are making dough and filling, or until golden and crispy
In a large, heavy bottomed skillet, sauté bacon pieces until crispy, then remove to a paper towel, keeping bacon grease in pan
Add diced onion, garlic and ground beef to pan and sauté all on medium flame or heat until beef is cooked through and onion and garlic are soft. (At this point if there is noticeable grease in the pan drain meat mixture by tilting pan over mason jar or heatproof bowl. I mean the fat is where the flavor is but you don’t want your mixture to be too greasy)
Mix in tomato paste, mustard and beef stock and simmer on med-high until all liquid is absorbed, set aside and let cool
Right before you get ready to fill your hand pies, add reserved bacon bits, pickles, crispy potatoes and cheese and fold together
Take your pastry our of the fridge and cut into 2 equal pieces. Take one piece and rewrap in plastic so it does not dry out and roll the other piece out with a rolling pin as thin as possible without tearing (about 1/8”). OR keep cutting into equal pieces until you have 8 pieces (You should get 8 from the other half still in the fridge as well-giving you 16 hand pies)
Take your empanada/hand pie form (I have two sizes. One small for minis and one large for single serving size) and cut out as many circles as possible
***If you do not have the cutters, cut your dough equally into 16 pieces and roll it into balls and then roll them out individually. Both ways work equally well. You can decide which is easiest for you
Create an egg wash with two eggs and a tablespoon of water
Brush all around the edges of your dough circles, then put a spoonful of your filling in the middle (you will have to play with this as you want enough to fill the hand pie but too much will make it explode)
Fold one side over the filling into a half moon shape and press down along the edges of the filling like a ravioli, tucking the filling in all nice and cozy
Crimp the edge by pressing down with the tines of a fork, or by twisting from one side to the other, like a braid or a twist
Brush tops with egg wash for the perfect shiny, golden color
Bake in oven at 375 for 30 minutes or until bottoms are golden
Since these hand pies have all of the elements of a true bacon cheeseburger and fries you really don’t need to serve them with anything. If I am feeling on the healthier side, I like to cut up carrots and celery and serve together with homemade ranch dressing. Bring them to a party on a platter or pack them individually in parchment and tin foil for the slopes. Then next time, try filling with scrambled eggs, black beans, green chilies and sausage for a breakfast on the go!
