Something Good to Have on Stand-By

A brunch with friends was planned for the end of Week 25 and I figured a breakfast pie would be a hearty dish that all of us could enjoy.  The trick for this dish was finding a breakfast pie that did not involve potatoes.  My husband is not a fan of potatoes, and believe it or not, most breakfast pies throw potatoes in the mix.

Earlier in the month I had seen a recipe for a pie with egg, cheese, bacon and potato, so I decided I would do a little modification of my own and make a pie using all but the potato.  In order to make this happen I used portions of the recipe I had found, as well as a recipe I had used in December for Three Cheese and Onion Pie.

I used a parbaked All Butter Crust for this pie.

The filling consisted of small pieces of bacon, a cup of cheese (Mexican cheese is what I had on hand, though any number of cheeses could be substituted here), small amounts of cayenne, salt, and pepper, half & half, and eggs.  The most time consuming part was frying up the bacon before mixing all the other ingredients together.

This pie was tasty, but not a show-stopper.  Would I make this Egg,Bacon and Cheese Pie again?  Yep, but not for a crowd you need to impress.  Thankfully, my brunch was among friends and no one went away unhappy, including me.

Egg, Bacon and Cheese Pie

Should This Even Count?

Week 24 was slipping through my fingers much too quickly and I did not want to take another pie break so soon, so as I was putting the box of Bisquick away, I came across a recipe called the Impossibly Easy Cheeseburger Pie.  My family needed dinner, I needed a pie, and so here we are.

I feel as though I am cheating a bit since part of this pie comes from a boxed mix, but I have concluded that although I may have been given a head start I am still following a recipe for pie.  This counts, however brainless it may be.

This pie truly does live up to its name, unlike my pie from Week 23.  If you can chop an onion, brown some meat, and stir a few ingredients around in a bowl, then you can make this pie.  It is not only easy, but fast and reminded me of growing up.

Easy, tasty, and I should hardly get credit for baking it, but I am.  

Browning ground beef and onion

First layer: Ground beef and onion

Second layer: Cheese

Final layer: Bisquick mixed with milk and eggs

Impossibly Easy Cheeseburger Pie

It's All About... Texture, Texture, Texture

If flavor could completely rule out texture, then my Sugar Free Chocolate Cream Pie with Sugar Free Meringue might have been doable.  The flavor of this pie for Week 23, however, did not have that capacity.

For Week 23 I wanted to celebrate a friend and long time member of my church by baking a pie.  Carole's birthday came as she was packing up her life to move to the east side of the county where she would no longer be able to attend our church.  Carole is diabetic, so I promised I would deliver a sugar free pie that she could eat at our next women's gathering.  I found a recipe called the Best Tasting Sugar Free Chocolate Cream Pie from Suite101.com, and based on the name I thought it might deliver the proper results.

Covering hot custard or cream filling with plastic wrap directly on it can help keep the filling from forming a "skin"

Hot filling ready for meringue topping

Whipping up sugar free meringue topping

Beautiful pie with fluffy meringue waiting to be baked

Overbaked meringue on a not so delicious pie.  Bummer.

Sadly, as I have already stated, the pie was not one of my successes.  All of the women gathered that evening were quite gracious toward my disappointing pie, but the truth remains....

The crust was excellent, as I stuck with the All Butter Crust recipe I have grown so fond of using.  The flavor of the filling was decent, but the texture and denseness were, um, let's just say I still squirm at the memory of it in my mouth.  The sugar free meringue topping is also a rather unpleasant memory--both overcooked and strangely textured.

While the company for the evening was delightful and entertaining, the dessert was laughable and will not be attempted again.  

Full of Light and Life

The Raspberry Chiffon Pie I made during Week 22 was made for our Easter celebration at my in-laws.  Living in Southern California, the odds that Easter would fall on a warm and sunny day were quite favorable.  I wanted a pie that would not be heavy, as well as a pie that would be full of life and brightness to remind us of the celebration of Christ's resurrection. Upon reading through this recipe from the Summer Entertaining magazine by Cook's Illustrated (Summer 2009), this pie would fit the bill.

The crust for this pie, a pat-in-the-pan crust, is a new one for me.  Along with some of the usual ingredients for crust--flour, sugar and butter--this recipe also called for cream cheese to help stabilize it and keep the juicy raspberries from making a soggy mess of the bottom of the pie.  After mixing up the ingredients for the crust, which looked like loose crumbs, I put the crumbly crust in the pie pan, and pressed them around the base and up the sides of the pan.  Although I placed the crust in the refrigerator, following the directions, I did not leave it in for the full hour as directed because we had to leave for my in-laws.  I did not think taking it out 15 minutes early would make a big difference, but I was wrong!  While baking, the sides of the crust slipped down into the base.  When I pulled it out of the oven, I tried to manipulate the sides of the crust while it was still hot to form into a more attractive crust.  This sort of worked, but next time I will just make sure the crust refrigerates for at least an hour before baking to see if the problem can be solved that way.  Otherwise, I believe there could have been better instruction on this crust, perhaps involving pie weights?

Pat-in-the-Pan crust before baking

Pat-in-the-Pan crust after baking... hmmm... need to try again...

The fruit and chiffon layers were very easy to put together.  Part of the recipe calls for fresh raspberries, but all the stores in our area did not have them in their produce sections (I checked 4 stores!).

Fruit layer added to the crust

Chiffon topping the fruit layer

Whipped topping finishing off the Raspberry Chiffon Pie

Easter pie--light, bright, and full of life

The completed Raspberry Chiffon Pie, apart from its misshapen crust, was exactly what I hoped my Easter pie would be: light, bright, and full of life.  I definitely will be making this one again.

Finding Ways To Be Green

Saint Patrick’s Day kicked off Week 21, and I wanted a pie that would ring in Irish spirit.  Being the only one in my family of four who likes potatoes, many of my savory pie ideas were just not going to happen unless I was to eat the whole pie myself… not likely.  I decided I would capture that Saint. Patty’s day mood, as well as satisfy my ice cream-loving family by making the Easy Grasshopper Ice Cream Pie from Tasteofhome.com.

For the crust, I made chocolate cookie crust, using crushed Oreo chocolate sandwich cookies and melted butter, mixed and pressed into my pie pan.  The filling was mint chocolate chip ice cream, green for Saint Patrick’s Day, softened enough to spread and smooth onto the crust.  To top off this easy pie, I sprinkled crushed peppermint patties, drizzled Magic Shell chocolate ice cream topping, and placed the pie in the freezer to firm up. 

Oreo cookies and butter

Pile on the ice cream

Smooth out the ice cream to fill the cookie crust

Top off the pie with mint candies and chocolate sauce

Easy.  Green for St. Patrick’s Day. Devoured by my ice cream-loving family of four.

Ready to dig in to our St. Patrick's Day pie

When Life Hands You Lemons...

My husband’s all-time favorite pie is Lemon Meringue Pie.  As an alternative to cake and ice cream to celebrate his 33^rd year, this pie adventure lends itself to providing him with another one of his favorites.  The recipe for Week 20’s Lemon Meringue Pie comes from the New Best Recipe cookbook.

Fresh lemons make for tart and refreshing filling

Instead of going with the All-Butter Crust which I use in most of my pies, I decided to follow the recipe provided in the New Best Recipe cookbook.  This crust uses a combination of butter and shortening and for this particular pie, adds crushed graham cracker crumbs as you roll out the crust.  The idea here is that the graham cracker added to the crust will allow the crust to stay firm, after adding the lemon filling.  This proved to be true for the pie I made, as well as providing a subtle and complementary flavor to the crust, not found in the average Lemon Meringue Pie.

For me this pie really makes its mark by the tart lemon filling, using both lemon zest and lemon juice from fresh lemons.  The meringue is pretty amazing as well, but without that refreshingly tart center… well, I just don’t care about the meringue enough. 

Covering the filling with plastic wrap while making the meringue,  reduces the risk of a skin  forming on your filling

Filled graham-cracker rolled pastry crust

Whipping up meringue

Meringue before browning

Perfect Lemon Meringue Pie with nicely browned meringue

This Lemon Meringue Pie was perfect.  The crust, filling, and topping came out as I hoped they would.  My husband was treated to a great example of his all-time favorite pie.  

When the Moon Hits Your Eye Like a Big Pizza Pie, That's Amore...

Week 19 was leading into my husband’s birthday weekend, so he asked if I could make a “pizza” pie for him.  At first I laughed at him, but I told him if he could find pizza recipe with pie in the name, I would use it for my blog.  Well, he found a few and this week I went with the Sausage and Pepperoni Pizza Pie recipe that he found at Epicurous.com.

This pie was very much about layering.  The base layer, or crust, was my All-Butter Crust.  From the base I added layers of sliced mozzarella, sauce, shredded Monterey Jack cheese, sauce, pepperoni and sausage.  I repeated this once more, omitting the green olives on top of the last layer of meats since my man has an aversion to any type of olive.  I finished the pie off with the remaining sauce and the top crust. 

Beginning the layering with pastry crust and sliced mozzarella cheese

More layering...

More layering...

More layering...

Final layer before the top crust 

Now, I was trying to speed the process up a little to have my young family eat dinner at a reasonable time, so I cut into the 30 minute cooling time by 10 minutes.  Mistake.  As I cut into this pizza pie, the layers were still not set enough.  Had I left if for the full cooling time, perhaps with an additional 5-10 minutes, the layers would have been much more stable.  However, regardless of my impatience, the Sausage and Pepperoni Pizza Pie was delicious, if a little soupy.  Our second slices were much more manageable on a plate.

Baked pizza pie!

Ooey, gooey goodness... that's Amore!

If cheesy, deliciously gooey pizza gets your mouth watering, this pie needs to be on your radar.  The Hubs is already asking when my next pizza pie will be.

High-Dive Belly-Flop Pie

It has been some time since I have sat before my computer to write about my ongoing pie adventures.  Although I have shied away from my writing the past many weeks, my readers may find joy in the knowledge that I have not given up on my pie making. 

The pie I made for Week 18 was one I had seen flipping through cookbooks, but one which I had no personal experience.  The Chess Pie was a mystery I thought I could handle.  I found a recipe for a Chess Pie in my A Taste of Kansas City: Then and Now cookbook called the  Myron Green Chess Pie.  The ingredients were not other-worldly, nor were the directions complex, but there was a mystery here that was beyond my comprehension.

I used the All-Butter Crust from the Cutie Pies cookbook and followed the rest of the directions precisely.  And yet there was something very wrong with my pie.  I let it cook for an additional 10 minutes to allow the pie to thicken, but to no avail. 

The last line of my recipe states, “Bake in a preheated 350°F oven for 45 minutes or until a knife inserted just off the center comes out clean.”  That’s it.  No instruction on cooling on a wire rack or refrigerating, so I let this pie sit on the counter for an hour or so to cool down slightly and thicken up more.  No luck.  I placed the soupy pie in the refrigerator for four hours, but still it would not set up.  The pie went back in the refrigerator for the night and when I woke up… not set. 

Later the next day, I decided I would try to cut a piece and at least give it a try to evaluate flavor and texture.  As I started to lift up the pie from the pie pan to my plate, the gooey mess fell apart onto the counter.  Giving up on notion that this pie could be put on a plate, I dove into the Chess Pie with a fork. 

Two bites were all that I needed for the Myron Green Chess Pie.  It was a failure all around.  I could not get around the fact that it looked like egg yolks, had the consistency of egg yolks, and was made with 2/3 cup egg yolks.  If I ever try this pie again, which is highly unlikely, I will have to find myself a new recipe with a few more details.  Though I have failed with my pies in the past, this definitely tops the chart as a high-dive belly-flop of a pie.

      

How To Be Objective When Your Taste Buds are Screaming Ewww

During Week 17 I hit upon another “first” in my pie-making.  Prior to this week I had never tasted or baked a Pecan Pie, of any sort.  Growing up I tended to avoid all things nut, whether in the form of pie or cookies, or just for plain for snacking.  I had an opportunity to try a Pecan Pie nearly every Thanksgiving of my childhood, but alas I avoided it until now, near the end of my 32^nd year. 

With this confession at hand, readers, I must also admit that I know not what a good Pecan Pie should taste like or what its texture should feel like, so I had no idea what I was getting myself into by making a Sugar Free Pecan Pie over a traditional Pecan Pie. 

I was set on making a pie for my Father In-Law, who does not eat sugar, and also wanted to make a sugar free pie that is not available at Marie Callendar’s.  The cookbooks I have in the house do not have recipes for sugar free pies, so I began to scour the internet for recipe options.  The recipe I found for Sugar Free Pecan Pie comes from Tablespoon.com.

For the crust I used a parbaked All-Butter Crust.

The filling was incredibly fast.  I mixed all the ingredients in a bowl, poured them in my crust, and baked for 50 minutes.  Should it have been this easy to make?  Are Pecan Pies this easy??  This pie was making a great first impression on me, even if it was to be short-lived. 

Fast filling

Oven-ready

Now when I took this Sugar Free Pecan Pie to my In-Laws’ house, I received nothing but praise from my Father In-Law.  My Mother In-Law also found it to be quite good.  My husband and I, on the other hand found the pie rather strange.  Since neither of us had experienced Pecan Pie before I feel a little wrong giving this pie completely bad marks just because of my uncertainty of the pie.  Here are my observations:

1.  

     The pie was squishy, like a cross between a gelatin and a pudding.  I was expecting a filling that was more solid and firm.

2.       The pecans had become chewy, even those that were sticking out of the top of the pie.  I was expecting them to be a little crispier—at least those on the surface of the pie.

3.       The pie was just sugary sweet tasting.  I was expecting more of the earthiness of the nuts to rise above the syrupy sweet flavor.

4.       The crust was awesome.

So whether my In-Laws were right on with their praise and I could not comprehend the true meaning of Pecan Pie, or whether my In-Laws were over generous with their praise and my husband and I were correct in our assessment of this pie, I may never know.  Now it is your turn.  If you have made a Pecan Pie before, try out this recipe for Sugar Free Pecan Pie and let me know your thoughts!

    

Now I Understand Why

Lemon Blueberry Pie was the short order for Week 16.  Blueberries were on sale for a spectacular price, so another pie featuring the delightful berry seemed an easy choice.  The recipe comes from the Cutie Pies cookbook.

For the crust I chose to follow the recipe for All-Butter Crust from the Cutie Pies cookbook as I am becoming increasingly fond of this simple to make and simply delicious crust.  For the last month or so I have been using this crust and it is with reserve, and delicacy, that I am venturing to say that it may be my favorite crust yet.  Grandma’s Oil Crust has, and will always remain, one of my favorite crust recipes, but I believe it may have finally met its match.  Hopefully, if Grandma reads this blog entry, she will forgive me this betrayal and accept a homemade pie of her choice the next time we are together as payoff for such a breach in loyalty....

The filling for this pie was very simple, and the whole pie was prepared, baked and cooling by the time I was on my way to church this particular Sunday morning. 

The recipe leaves the option to leave the pie open-faced or put a crumb topping on.  I opted for the crumb topping.  The only other time I have had a blueberry pie it did not have the addition of lemon and was prepared with a double-crust.  The flavor of that first pie decent, but I felt it was missing something.  So with this pie I had my hopes on brightening the flavor with the lemon and the sweet crumb topping. 

Our visiting friends were not disappointed.  This Lemon Blueberry Pie was delicious.  The addition of lemon perked up the pie and made my taste buds pop.  The crumb topping further enhanced the pie by providing a melt-in-your-mouth finish.

Not many leftovers this week!

To all of my friends who have always loved Blueberry Pies… now I understand why.

BanBerPudPie

Our friend Erin’s birthday happened to fall on Week 15, so I let Erin’s preference guide the pie for this week.  I had already made her all-time favorite pie, Banana Cream Pie, during Week 3 and since part of my pie adventure is to not repeat pies, I started flipping through my cookbooks to find a pie with banana in it that might serve as a suitable replacement.  I came up with two that I was very interested in trying and Erin opted for the Banana Blueberry Pudding Pie.

Erin's birthday pie

The recipe for Banana Blueberry Pudding Pie comes from the Cutie Pies cookbook, a resource for pies that I love more and more.

How it all begins

The crust on this pie was unique.  Rather than a pastry crust or some form of crushed cookie with melted butter, this recipe called for crumbled vanilla wafers left unmarred by other ingredients or baking.  Just crumbled vanilla wafers.  This was topped with sliced bananas and blueberries that had been dipped in fresh lemon juice.  So far putting this pie together was very simple, and not having to use the oven would make this a perfect pie to make during the hot summer when turning the oven on means raising the temperature of your home from miserable to standing at the fiery gates of Hades.

First vanilla wafers (just vanilla wafers)

Then come the bananas

Add some blueberries and we're almost done

On top of the vanilla wafers and fruit, I mixed together a filling of cream cheese, condensed milk, vanilla pudding, and whipped cream.  Chilled it in the refrigerator for a few hours and voila!  A simple pie, perfect for those hot summer nights.  But was it good?

Whipping up some memorable filling

The simple vanilla wafer “crust” was a pleasant complement to the pudding and fruit.  Another aspect of this pie that made an impression on me was the subtle tanginess achieved by the lemon dipped bananas and blueberries.  It may have been intended to keep the bananas from browning too quickly, but the effect on my taste buds was delightful.  With each bite of this pie, I felt like a kid again, eating pie at Grandma’s dining room table.  Banana Blueberry Pudding Pie is yet another pie I will be putting in my growing list of pies I will be making again in the future. 

View of the layers

Now, I’m sure all of you are dying to know if Erin enjoyed her birthday pie and I am pleased to announce that she loved it and took a slice home for later.  The rest of my family enjoyed the pie immensely; in fact it was given a nickname: BanBerPud Pie. 

Bountiful Berry Black-Bottom Pie

Four layers of heavenly goodness: buttery pastry crust, filled with a layer of chocolate, topped with four kinds of berries, and finished off with crumb topping.  The Bountiful Berry Black-Bottom Pie I made for Week 14 was sensational.  The recipe comes from Dani Cone’s Cutie Pies cookbook. 

For the crust I opted to stick with the All-Butter Crust recipe used in the Cutie Pies cookbook.  It is a tasty crust, but seems to lack stability when I fold and crimp the edges.  It may be stable before I place it in the oven, but by the end of baking one side has inevitably slumped into the pie pan or flopped over the edge of the pie pan.  As I work through this crust recipe in the future, I will have to see if I can tweak the recipe a bit to make the edge of the crust more durable.   

The filling was put together very quickly, scattering chocolate chips on the bottom of the crust topping with a layer of sweetened and spiced berries.  The pie could be left open or finished with a crumb topping, but who can resist a crumb topping?  “Not I,” said the avid pie-baker. 

   

The chocolatey base

Four kinds of berries

Sweetening up the deal

Feeling crumby, anyone?

Bountiful Berry Black-Bottom Pie oven-ready!

Our Bountiful Berry Black-Bottom Pie was the finale to an already grand meal with our friend Eric.  It is hard to believe that so many good things could come together so perfectly for a small dinner party, but this was one meal that hit the spot from the first bite into our French dip sandwiches to our last taste of pie licked off our forks.  Perfection.   

At the top of my list of favorites...

I am often asked if I have a top list of pies from my year-long adventure.  Usually my response is indefinite with a pie or two listed between a lot of hemming and hawing because, let’s be honest here, I have made a lot of very tasty pies so far.  However, if I were asked today, Bountiful Berry Black-Bottom Pie is most certainly at the top of that list.  Enough said?