Day 5 - New Zealand - World Cup Eating Challenge 2015

I can list the things I know about New Zealand cuisine on one hand:

1. Vegemite
2. Pinot Noir
3. Sauvignon Blanc
4. Livestock

Ok, I didn't even need the whole hand... and half of what I knew was wine related. This was basically a blank slate for me. I figured that there would be a big meaty factor to my dish as they are known for having a lot livestock and that I would pair it with a wine.



Marlborough (the big wine region in NZ) is mostly known for their Sauvignon Blanc. However, that is not a white to have with a red meat so I knew I'd have to go red. I popped into Bevmo and picked up a Marlborough Pinot Noir... and then another because the 5 Cent Sale was going on... and then 7 more bottles of wine. I mean... NZ isn't the only wine country. I figured I'd stock up. Also... 5 Cent Sale!!! That mixes my two weaknesses: sales and wine. Damn you BevMo!

I was really excited with what I was finding about NZ cuisine. As I figured, there were a lot of meaty dishes. There was also a lot of overlap with Australia (a problem I found a lot when doing the South American countries last year). I ended up going with meat pies and, of course, when I looked specifically into it, my recipe was actually from Australia. It's interesting to me what spills over with similar countries -and even moreso with the fact that this does not happen as much in Europe where countries are smaller and closer together. I figure it's a history thing - the older countries developed more independently whereas the newer countries take a lot of their roots from their founding country. I mean - meat pies are really English after all.

For this recipe, I stuck super close to the filling. I added some extra carrots because it seemed celery heavy. I also added extra bacon.. because it's bacon. For the beef... I didn't know what beef mince was so I just got some stew meat and cut it into tiny pieces. Of course, I came home and looked at the picture and realized it was ground beef. I like my choice better and I think it only added to the quality and taste. I also went a little nuts with the dried herbs adding parsley, thyme, sage, coriander, and cumin so there was a very rich flavor.

I ended up having a lot of trouble with the crust though. I originally bought a pack of mozzarella cheese from the grocery store. It was some non fat store brand poor quality cheese and it turned to plastic when I tried to melt it in the microwave. I can't even tell you how disgusted that makes me. I noticed that the concept of the cheese based crust though wasn't very different than how I make cheese bread tho so  I decided to try again with a new plan.

I ended up mixing a half pack of cream cheese, 3 cups of high quality Kerrygold grass fed cheddar, 2 eggs, and the almond flour in a food processor. The result was an ooey gooey blob. Normally when I make cheese bread, there is tapioca flour and milk as well and it ends up liquefying in the food processor. I needed this to be a solid though so I could form a crust. Dan luckily helped sprinkle tapioca flour into my blob while I kneaded it until it was a doughy consistency. I then molded it into my muffin tin and started filling those suckers.

I suffer from a condition called "trying to make more than you have the materials for" and figured I easily had enough dough for 12 pies. And I did... if you don't count the top crust. I stretched a little bit of dough a long way to cover some of these pies and some of them... well, they wouldn't win me any cooking challenges.

Pies only a mother could love

They smelled amazing though and I was excited to pop them out, take some pretty pictures and then pack them up. Dan and I had a movie date and I knew I could smuggle my meat pies and wine into the theater. They make a perfect meal and were so filling that 3 were plenty for a dinner.

The wine is really tasty as well. I got the Curious Kiwi Pinot Noir. It's a little more fruit forward and vibrant than I'm used to from a Pinot and I would probably think it was a light Zin if I had to guess. It's really good though the boldness of it helps it stand up to such a meaty dish.

Puppy wants one REAL bad

The pies basically taste like beef stew inside Brazilian cheese bread. I mean... that's basically exactly what they are. They are just the perfect little primal all in one meal pocket though and I would love to make these for a tailgate or something.

Also - Jurassic World was AWESOME.