Dark Chocolate Bahraini Meat Pies (with Toasted Merlot Couscous)

I recently purchased an Arabic Cuisine Cookbook, created by the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee in Pittsburgh, PA.  (Who'd have thought?  But it's a very cool, mustard-and-orange-colored hand-bound book with aged typewritten pages.  Undated, but perhaps a 1970s-1980s creation.)  Although my version only took its inspiration from a recipe bound in this collection, these Dark Chocolate Bahraini Meat Pies would not have come to life had I not stumbled upon those culinary pages.

I made these savory pies for a Valentine's Day dinner: chocolate need not be merely for dessert!  Thanks to a recent Cooking Channel broadcast, I've begun thinking of chocolate as a spice.  And in order to round out the sweet, I've paired these meat pies with a toasted couscous, simmered in a Merlot, with sautéed yellow onions and a clove of garlic. 

Although this dinner has no hints of citrus, what's a Valentine's Day dish without a classic love song?  Led Zeppelin's "Tangerine" will forever make me weak in the knees.    

Pie Crust dough:

--1 1/4 c. wheat flour (you could use white all-purpose flour, too, but the wheat makes it a bit heartier)

--1/2 c. chilled salted butter, sliced

--1/4 c. ice water

--1 tsp. salt

--1 tsp. ground pepper

In a large bowl, mix flour, salt, and pepper.  Cut the butter into the flour until the mixture is crumbly.  Then pour in ice water and combine until you've formed a dough.  Form into a ball and chill in the refrigerator for 1 hour, or up to 2 days (you can make the dough ahead of time).

Meat Filling:

--4 thinly cut skillet steaks

--1 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil

--1 tbsp. salt

--1 tbsp. ground pepper

--2 tbsp. paprika

--2 tbsp. grated dark chocolate (I used 72% cacao dark chocolate)

--1 egg (for egg wash)

In a large pan, sauté the steaks in olive oil.  They need about 1-2 min. per side.  (Leave the meat juices in this pan--you'll be using it to make the couscous.)  On a separate plate, shred them by pulling them apart into small, shredded pieces, and place in a bowl.  Mix with salt, pepper, paprika, and dark chocolate.  

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Next, roll out the dough to approx. 1/8" thick and cut out eight 5-inch circles (it's almost impossible to find a cutter this large, so I usually use a tracer and cut out these larger circles).  Lay four of these circles on a baking tray, lined with parchment paper.  Spoon 1/4 of the meat mixture into the center of each dough circle.

 Make sure to leave an edge, approx. 1/4".  Cover these with the remaining four dough circles, then press and pinch the edges to make a "pie crust" edge.  Next, whisk one large egg in a bowl, and brush this egg wash onto the tops of the pies (making them a nice golden color).  

Finally, poke a few fork holes into each pie, allowing the air inside to escape, and bake for approx. 20 min, or until crust edges are golden brown.  Remove from oven and allow to cool.

Toasted Merlot Couscous:

--1 c. wheat couscous (again, as with the crust, you can use a non-wheat couscous, but this is a heartier and healthier option)

--1 large yellow onion, chopped

--1 clove garlic, minced

--1 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil

--approx. 1/2 c. Merlot, or another dry red wine

--1 tbsp. salt

--1 tbsp. ground pepper

--1 tbsp. paprika

In the same pan you used to sauté the steaks, add another tbsp. of extra virgin olive oil and sauté the onions and garlic over medium heat.  Next, de-glaze the pan with the red wine and continue to simmer, allowing the onions and garlic to absorb the red wine and other flavors.  Add 1 1/4 c. water, salt, pepper, and paprika (you want to carry over some of the flavors from the meat pies).  When the mixture begins to boil, add the couscous, remove from heat, and cover.  After approx. 5-6 min, remove the cover and fluff the cooked couscous with a fork.  Serve over a bed of fresh arugula.