Recipes Appetizers Natchitoches Meat Pies with Spicy Buttermilk Dip 3.0 (622) Add your rating & review Natchitoches, Louisiana, is renowned for its meat pies. Kelly English serves his mini version with a dipping sauce that combines two quintessential Southern ingredients: buttermilk and hot sauce. Southern Comfort Foods By Kelly English Kelly English Raised in New Orleans, 2009 F&W Best New Chef Kelly English is reinventing French-Creole standouts, like Natchitoches meat pies, at his restaurants Iris, The Second Line, and Magnolia House (in Biloxi, Mississippi). Food & Wine's Editorial Guidelines Updated on June 26, 2018 Print Rate It Share Share Tweet Pin Email Photo: © Anna Williams Active Time: 1 hrs Total Time: 1 hrs 40 mins Yield: 12 pies Ingredients Dough 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour 2 teaspoons salt 1/2 cup vegetable oil 1/2 cup ice water Filling 2 tablespoons unsalted butter 1/2 pound ground beef chuck 1 large garlic clove, minced 1/2 onion, finely diced 1/4 green bell pepper, finely diced 1 bay leaf 1 tablespoon tomato paste 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves 1/4 teaspoon chopped thyme 1/8 teaspoon ground coriander 1/8 teaspoon ground allspice Salt Hot sauce, preferably Tabasco 1 egg beaten with 2 tablespoons of milk Buttermilk Dip 1/2 cup mayonnaise 1/2 cup buttermilk 1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon sour cream 1 1/2 teaspoons celery salt 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice Salt Hot sauce, preferably Tabasco 1 scallion, thinly sliced Directions Make the buttermilk dip In a food processor, combine the flour and salt. With the machine on, add the oil and process until the flour is moistened. Sprinkle on the ice water and pulse 5 or 6 times, just until the dough is moistened. Transfer the dough to a work surface and knead just until smooth. Form the dough into 2 disks, wrap in plastic and refrigerate for 30 minutes. In a large skillet, melt the butter. Add the ground beef and cook over moderately high heat until no pink remains, breaking up the meat with a spoon, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic, onion, bell pepper and bay leaf and cook over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until the onion is translucent, 7 minutes. Stir in the tomato paste, cayenne, cloves, thyme, coriander and allspice and cook over moderately low heat for 3 minutes. Season with salt and hot sauce and let cool. Discard the bay leaf. Transfer the filling to a food processor and pulse until chopped. Preheat the oven to 350° and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. On a floured work surface, roll out each disk of dough to a 12-inch round. Using a 4-inch biscuit cutter, stamp out 6 rounds from each piece of dough. Brush the edges of the rounds with some of the egg wash and place a rounded tablespoon of filling to one side of each circle. Fold the other half of the dough over the filling and press to seal. Crimp the edges with a fork. Transfer the pies to the baking sheet and brush with the egg wash. Bake for 25 minutes, until golden brown. In a bowl, combine the mayonnaise, buttermilk, sour cream, celery salt and lemon juice. Season with salt and hot sauce. Transfer to a serving bowl and top with the scallion. Serve the pies with the buttermilk dip. Suggested Pairing Natchitoches, located southeast of Shreveport, Louisiana, isn't exactly a wine destination, but these flavorful pies go great with a juicy red like a Sangiovese from the Texas Hill Country near Austin, a few hundred miles west. Rate it Print