Paper Palate

Meat-filled breads are always a surprising pleasure. While they can be a happy filler to a meal at breakfast or dinner, they make a not-so-guilty snack when one is craving carbs; forming more of a mini-sandwich than mere bread.

My grandmother makes a succulent Latvian variety known as Piedogs. Traditionally filled with chopped ham and onion or mushrooms and onion, many cultures have a similar offering. In Latvia they are about the size of a sand dollar and sell in all the bakeries for a slight 20 cents a piece. My brothers and I buy bags of them, happily popping them in our mouth as we explore the countryside. In the United States, we have the quick version found at many a football game party: Pigs in a Blanket.

In her book, The Art of Eating, M.F.K. Fisher provides a recipe for a quick and delicious variety of meat-filled breads. Made with biscuit (or cornbread) mix and with tomato sauce substituted for water, these little treats are scrumptious and filling, providing a slight tomato tang. Even better- add some fresh chopped herbs, onion or red pepper and a few little pieces offers up an entire meal!

In the past, I have made these with sausage and cornbread mix. They are sweet, salty and delicious with an egg or two at breakfast. The ones pictured are made with biscuit mix, onions, thyme, 2 Tbsp of tomato paste and sardines. Smeared with a little cream cheese, these poppers made an excellent snack. Instead of making one whole pie, I made mine in individual biscuits; either way is delicious and they will disappear faster than it took you to whip them up.

Here is Fisher’s recipe, as it appears in The Art of Eating:

SAUSAGE PIE (OR SARDINE PIE)
* 1/2pound sausage [or bacon] (or ½ can sardines)
* tomato sauce
* biscuit-mix
* 1 teaspoon grated onion or chopped green onions

Spread sausage [or bacon or fish] thin in pie-pan or shallow casserole. Let heat in quick oven and pour off almost all fat. (Leave oil on sardines.)

Make one-half usual baking powder biscuit, mixing with tomato sauce [… or meat stock. It is a question of flavors. One good combination with bacon strips is milk in the biscuit-mix, plus a generous half-cup of grated cheese.] instead of milk or water. Add the onion and any chopped herbs you like. Pour over the sausage, and bake in hot oven until firm and brown [… about 20 minutes].

Notes on this recipe: While the sausage version is exceptional, especially with cornbread mix, the sardine bread was a little lacking in overall flavor (this could also be the regular biscuit-mix used instead of cornbread-mix).

Pros: It is easy and most often, delicious. Mix and match to create many different varieties.
Cons: Mix and matching might not always come to good results.
Rating: 6