Jana: Easy Natchitoches Meat Pies

Once a Louisiana girl... always a Louisiana girl. Unfortunately in faraway places (like Georgia) you can't just head to the freezer section of the store and buy a box of frozen Natchitoches Meat Pies... much less head over to Lasyone's for the authentic delicacy. For those of you not familiar with this local flavor, let me explain... a Natchitoches Meat Pie is named after a small town in northern Louisiana (pronounced "Nack-a-tush") and is basically a flaky empanada filled with a spicy cajun/creole meat mixture.

And, because Emeril Legasse is the ultimate Louisiana chef, I used his recipe for meat pies as the basis of my meal. However, as I've mentioned before, I am not fond of frying food myself, so I created my own easy version, using refrigerated crescent rolls, instead of Emeril's complicated dough.

Trying to cook around Rob's cycling schedule can be a challenge, but this recipe fit right in. I was able to make the meat mixture during the afternoon and refrigerated it until evening. When I got his email that he was on his way home, all I had to do was build the pies and bake according to the crescent rolls instructions.

It took a couple of tries to get the dough to close around the meat. They certainly got prettier as I went along. But it was kind of fun to press the edges with a fork.

Although the crescent rolls didn't provide exactly the same flavor as the delicate, flaky crust of a traditional meat pie, this combination wasn't half bad. And, my Arizona boy, who didn't know the difference, thought they were quite a hit! He even gave me a high-five! (He's a bit of a dork, too!)

You should definitely try this recipe out!!! As Emeril would say, "BAM!!"