MeMere's French Meat Pie

One of my favorite things growing up was my MeMere's meat pie. We usually had it around Thanksgiving. There was a place in New Bedford that mom used to buy it at, think it was Bouchard's Tavern. Almost as good as my MeMere's. All my friends love it too! It's a fairly simple recipe and ohhh so yummy. As with many of my own recipes I never measure when I cook this. I taste as I go and add this and that till it's right.
By the way, MeMere is french for grandmother. Just in case you were wondering.

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Ok, here is what you need.
* 2lbs of ground beef
* 1lb of ground pork
* 4-6 C of mashed potatoes (instant or homemade)
* 1/4 C finely chopped onions
* 2 t minced garlic
* 1-2 T Bell's Seasoning (this is the key ingredient!)
* salt and pepper
* 4 pie crusts (I use frozen ones or Pillsbury ready made. If you want home made go to www.allrecipes.com)
Pre heat oven to 350. Pre bake 2 crust. These will be what you fill. Don't forget this step or it will not cook.

 This recipe will make two 9" pies.

Saute ground meat. I use a very large pot. Add onions and garlic. Salt & pepper to taste. Do NOT drain off juices after meat is cooked.
Now add the mashed potatoes (this is where the large pot come in handy) You want enough to hold it all together. Too much and it gets mushy, not enough & it is dry. I always make plenty of potatoes. Whatever is left over can be served with the pie.
While blending in the potatoes add 1 T of Bell's Seasoning. Taste. You want a good flavor. This is the key ingredient! Not weak or overwhelming. I just keep adding
a little at a time till it is where I like it. Like I said earlier, I don't measure. Deal with it! :)
Now divide the mixture between the 2 cooked crusts. Top with the 2 remain unlocked crusts. Cut a couple of slits in the top crusts. Bake until crusts are golden brown. Sorry. I'm not sure how long.
Serve with brown gravy, or my favorite, ketchup!
Here are a few tips for a perfect pie crust. When pre cooking a crust. Line with parchment paper. Fill will uncooked beans or pie beads. This will prevent the crust from shrinking & bubbling. Cook at 450 until light brown in color. Remove beans & paper from crust. Prick with fork a couple of times to prevent air bubbles. The lightly beat an egg with a tablespoon of water or milk. Brush the sides and bottoms of the cooked crust with the egg wash. Return to the oven for just a few minutes until wash is dried & golden brown. You can use the rest of the wash on the top crust before baking. This will give it a nice shiny finish. I also recommend using a pie shield or foil around the edges of the crust while baking so it doesn't burn.
One last tip. If you want to freeze one pie, cut it before you freeze it. Then you can remove just the slices you want to eat and won't have to defrost the whole pie. Can you tell I live alone?

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