How to make meat pies (West African style)

Hi all, I hope things are going just well with everyone. This is something I started doing last summer, and I've been making them ever since (learning a lot along the way too). Okay, without much ado, here's what you do.

Ingredients for the dough (depends on the quantity you want to make)
-1kg of flour (could be plain or wheat)
-2 teaspoons of baking powder
-about 500g of margarine or shortening
-a pinch of salt
-cold water (about half a cup)

Ingredients for the filling (could vary depending on your preference)
-minced meat
-1 or 2 onions (and garlic if desired)
-diced potatoes and carrots (or prepacked mixed vegetables)
-spices
-vegetable oil (1 cooking spoon)
-salt

1 egg for the finishing


Directions for the filling
I prefer to do this first, so that it cools down while I make the dough.

1. Heat the oil and stir-fry the chopped onions (and garlic).
2. Stir in the minced meat.
3. Add your spices (I always add pepper to mine).
4. I usually parboil the diced potatoes for less than 5 minutes, and add it to the mixture last, so that it doesn't get mashed in the mixture. 
5. I also add the diced carrots/mixed vegetables at the same time as the potatoes, because the vegetables don't need to cook for too long.
6. Mix about 2 table spoons of flour in a quarter-filled cup of water and add to the mixture when it's almost done. This should be the last thing you add and it helps to keep the moisture in the filling during baking, and also holds the filling together.

Directions for the dough

1. Put the flour into a large mixing bowl and add your baking powder and salt.
2. Cut the margarine into tiny pieces in the flour, and then use your fingers to rub in the margarine until the lumps are gone (the mixture will now have the appearance of bread crumbs).
3. Add water, a little at a time and mix in to form the dough.
4. Divide into 3 or 4 pieces  and roll out with a rolling pin.
5. Depending on the size you want, cut the rolled out dough with an upturned bowl, or anything round that can get the job done. 

Almost there

1. Preheat the oven at 300 degrees Celsius (maybe I'm just being rebellious, but I don't understand why it always has to be 350). Okay, let's conform to the usual 350 degrees.
2. You can now put the filling on the cut out dough and fold the dough over.
3. Use a fork to close the open edges and place on the oven tray.
4. Use a fork to puncture the top of each meat pie at least once. This let's the steam out during baking, and prevents the pies from opening too while baking. Because that steam just has to get out some how.
5. Brush the whisked egg onto the surfaces of each meatpie and place in the oven for about 40-45 minutes. But make sure to check them in between that time to prevent any catastrophe. 
6. When it's ready, take them out and leave to cool (you can use this time to admire them too)
7. Grab one, sit back, and enjoy the delicious work of your hands.

These above, are meat pies made from regular flour. While the picture below shows meat pies made from wheat flour that my friend and I made about a week ago.

Good luck!!!

Finally in Grenada!

So after my first year of medicine in the UK, I'm in Grenada for the next dose of med school. I'm a student of St.George's University, Grenada, but did my first of four years in Newcastle. Being in the UK was great, and Newcastle was definitely fun (It's true that you don't know what you have until you lose it). I miss that place like crazy! BUT, Grenada is so beautiful that it has become easy to not miss the UK so much. 


I don't even have to leave school to get distracted. The view from different parts of school shows the magnificence of the place. Oh, and did I mention that Grenada is one of the Caribbean islands? You know what that means!!! I get to go to the beach any time I want (even though I don't know how to swim). Okay, I went to the beach yesterday with my lovely girlfriends, and for the first time in my life, got neck-deep in the water. I swam a little. Okay, floated. Alright, I stood in the water. But that was a great improvement, and thanks to my friends I think my fear of the sea has disappeared. We even played volleyball in the ocean. I just think that's really cool, that I played volleyball in the Atlantic ocean, wow! It was so much fun, and I believe that in the next few weeks, I'll be able to go scuba diving (although my friends think that it's VERY unlikely, lol). 


So what else did I do yesterday??? I finally cooked after being here for a week, yay! I love cooking, and I actually baked my first loaves of bread. Ah, the bread tasted so good. And to think that this was the first time I tried it. I just googled a recipe and followed that. The kneading wasn't easy though, I thought my right arm would turn out popeye-like by the end of the night. But it was worth the pain. Now I can bake bread and meatpies. I still wonder how I can do these and each time I try puffpuff, it turns out like akara (puffpuff is like a little ball of doughnut, and akara is fried blended beans). They are very nice indeed, if you have any Nigerian friends, ask them about it, and maybe you could get to taste it too. 


I'm off to bed now. It's 4:32am and I have a long day today. But I have to put this down before I go: "The difference between dreaming and winning: dreaming needs effortless sleep; winning needs sleepless effort" Brotips.com. Have a great day people!