Рецепт Armenian Meat Pies...
The mister will probably be arrested today...by the time he arrives at Global Headquarters I'm sure the SWAT team will be in place. He MADE me promise that I will bail him out if and when they cart him off. Riiiiiight....like THAT'S going to happen! A few days in the pokey for him would be like an early Christmas present for me! Okay, so here's the scoop...yesterday the mister was at the Post Office...where people go postal...as he's walking out he runs into an acquaintance and the two of them start shooting the bull...and by bull, I do mean bull. His initials aren't BS for nothin'! The mister jokingly asks the guy if he's sending him a Christmas present, since he's carrying a box...and the guy responds, saying, "Yeah, I'm going to send you some C-4 to play with!" C-4 is used to make some type of explosive, I know this from watching NCIS and obviously this guy KNOWS the mister and wants him to blow himself up - he must be a very intuitive man. The mister, thinking this is HIGHlarious, and talking in an outside voice inside tells the guy, "That's great, be sure to include the wires and the detonator and we'll all have an explosive Christmas!" They both have a good little chuckle over this insane conversation and then they go their separate ways...but not before the mister looks back over his shoulder to see the Postal clerks, standing dumbstruck with eyes popping out of their heads, after having witnessed a discussion about BOMBS inside a US government building!
IDIOTS!!! While the mister is doing time, I'll be snacking on these...they are a family favorite. This is an old recipe - I thought it came from my grandma, who got it from the egg lady down the street but I was wrong. My mom got this recipe from her friend Elaine Plowgian, when they were both 19 or 20 years old. Elaine's family is from Armenia, which used to be a member of the Soviet Republic - I don't know what it is now! My mom made these pies all the time for us and they used to take HOURS to make...but over Thanksgiving my mom suggested we make these using Rhodes Rolls...and they worked great! No mixing, kneading, rolling...and they tasted every bit as good as the old-fashioned way! I'm not going to give you the original recipe that includes the dough making - it's just too laborious and besides, who has that kind of the time these days?
They are very flavorful, thanks to the chopped green peppers, parsley, onion, tomatoes and spices... you won't be able to eat just one and no worries about that because this recipe makes 70 little pies - perfect for your Christmas open house or to take to the guards during visiting hours at the county lock-up!
Armenian Meat Pies - From Armenia and Elaine Plowgian, Via Carol Wagner
2 packages Rhodes Frozen Dinner Rolls (35 count each) or similar frozen, unbaked dinner roll
For the Filling:
- 2 lbs. lean ground beef
- 4 cups canned, diced tomatoes
- 1 big bunch parsley, chopped
- 3 green peppers, ground or finely chopped
- 1/2 sweet onion, ground or finely chopped
- 1/2 teaspoon allspice
- 1 tablespoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon Cayenne pepper
Thaw frozen rolls according to package directions and let rise until double in size. Take each ball of dough in hand and stretch into about a 4-inch diameter circle. Place dough circles on greased baking sheets.
Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Make filling by combining in a food processor the green peppers, onion, and parsley. Process until liquid-y (you can use a blender if you don't have a food processor or just finely chop by hand). Pour into a large bowl. Add tomatoes, allspice, salt and Cayenne pepper. Mix well to combine. Add ground beef. Mix with hands until combined well. Scoop about 1 1/2 tablespoons of meat mixture and spread evenly over dough circles (you do not want to mound up the meat or it won't cook thoroughly!) Bake at 450 degrees in the upper third of oven for 20 minutes. Makes 70 pies. Serve warm or at room temperature but they're good cold, too! And they reheat great - these pics just don't do them justice - they really are dang, dang, dang, dang good - 4 dangs folks, count 'em, four!
"I never did very well in math - I could never seem to persuade the teacher that I hadn't meant my answers literally." ~ Calvin Trillin
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