Mini spinach pie

I decided today that it was high time to finish up the leftover Easter ham. That, and my post-gym legs were craving some serious protein. These mini spinach pies are more like quiche than the Greek phyllo-dough treats of the same name (spanakopita translates to "spinach pie") and are a quick and easy way to spice up a solo breakfast or serve up a weekend brunch for friends.

*White cheddar pie crust

Ingredients 

1 1/4 cups flour, plus more for dusting
7 tablespoons shortening (I'm partial to Crisco Baking Sticks)
3/4 cup shredded white cheddar cheese
Dash salt
Dash sugar
1/2 cup ice water

How to
With a pastry blender, mix dry ingredients until coarse and crumbly. Slowly add water, kneading the dough by hand until it is soft and gummy. Form into a disc, wrap with parchment paper and refrigerate at least 30 minutes.

*Mini spinach pie
Ingredients
1 tbsp olive oil
3/4 cup onions, finely chopped
3/4 cup spinach - if frozen, then defrosted and fully drained
3/4 cup diced ham
3 tbsp heavy cream
Dash salt
Dash pepper
3 eggs
5-6 cherry tomatos, one for each pie
About 5-6 mini pie tins, muffin cups, tart cups, etc.
   Non-stick cooking spray (if, like me, you bought your tins from a sketchy kitchen supply company in the Bowery and they are not, in fact, non-stick.)

How to
In a large pan, saute the onions, spinach and ham in the olive oil until nicely browned, adding salt and pepper to taste. Add the cream and stir until creamy, but take care to not burn the cream. Remove from heat.

While the vegetables are cooling, roll out the cheddar dough on a floured surface. Using a stencil (I use a small glass prep bowl) cut out enough rounds to fill each pie tin. Spritz the non-stick cooking spray onto the bottoms and sides of each tin if necessary, then gently press each dough round into the tins.

In a separate bowl, beat the eggs. Fold the vegetable mixture into the eggs, then spoon the batter into each tin, leaving about 1/4" of space at the top, as the egg mixture will slightly rise. Brush edges of crust with egg wash, or with remaining batter if possible. Slice cherry tomatos and place two halves in the center of each pie.

Bake at 350 degrees for 18-20 minutes, or until edges are browned and egg is fully cooked through; insert and remove a skewer to check for doneness - if it comes out clean, the eggs are done. Let cool on a wire rack, then gently remove the pies from their tins.

English Pork Pies

This past weekend begged for a hearty meat pie for two reasons: 1.) we're deep into winter (I even had to break out the puffy coat for a few days!) and 2.) Sunday was the American premiere of Season 3 of Downton Abbey. Being a law-abiding citizen, I had been patiently waiting in earnest to see what snappy quips my favorite Dowager Countess would have for us this year, and it only seemed right to make mini English meat pies to eat alongside the Crawley family dinner.

For the cheddar crust:
2 1/2 cups flour, plus more for dusting
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp salt
14 tbsp Crisco shortening
4 oz (about 1 1/2 cups) finely shredded cheddar cheese
1/2 cup ice water
1 egg for final egg wash
**Mini pie tins - I used my new Mini Cup Pie Set from Williams-Sonoma

*Mix flour, sugar, salt, shortening and cheese together with until coarse and crumbly. Slowly add the ice water and knead by hand until doughy. Form into a disc, wrap with parchment paper and chill in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes.

For the pork filling:
1 large Granny Smith apple, cored and sliced
2 tbsp vegetable oil
1 small onion, diced
1 lb ground pork
1 tbsp brown sugar
1/2 tsp each of salt, pepper, ground cinnamon, ground ginger, and fresh sage

*Heat apple slices over low heat until they are soft and browned, then set aside. Add oil to the pan and saute onions, pork, sugar and spices until fully cooked and most of the oil is cooked off.

*While meat is cooling in the pan, unwrap the dough and roll out on a floured surface. Cut out four discs that are just slightly larger than the inside of your pie cups (I have a glass bowl that works perfectly) and save the remaining dough for the top crusts. Press the dough firmly into the cups and let any excess dough flap over the edges. Fill the tins with the pork and onion mixture, then top with a healthy layer of apples. Cut out four more circles that are a bit smaller than the first circles (again, finding a bowl or large cup as a stencil works well) and place over each mini pie, pressing the two crusts together with fingers or a fork. Cut two slits in the top crust to vent, and brush with egg wash if desired. Bake at 425 for 10-15 minutes, until crust is golden brown.

Sage and apple tart

I promise I'll get off this apple kick soon - but it is still fall, and it's not even November yet (when I plan to inundate you with pumpkin-flavored recipes), and truth be told, a friend of mine recently met me on a street corner with a huge bag of freshly picked apples, and I would be doing a disservice to the entire apple orchard industry if I didn't show at least a few more apple recipes.

This rich, savory tart is quick and easy to make, and would be a perfect party appetizer (or mid-Wednesday afternoon breakfast, if you're me). Double the recipe if you have more than a handful of guests and serve it warm. Enjoy!

Slice of the Week - Memorial Day Edition

Summer in New York means a couple of things: hoards of slow-moving tourists, long lines and high prices at the beer gardens, and street fairs. $5 pashminas! Cheap sunglasses! Zeppoles! Luckily, I was met with only the latter of the three this Memorial Day just around the corner from my apartment.

This being an Astorain street fair, the food choices slanted toward the more Mediterranean of cuisine, and I was delighted to see that Omonia Cafe had set up a booth serving up Greek pastries.

Otherwise known as spanakopita, a Greek spinach pie is made with spinach, onions, and feta cheese amongst layers of phyllo dough, and is an utterly delicious treat that I had never heard of, let alone craved until I moved to Astoria.

I won't go too critical on this slice of the week - it's street fair food, and it's Memorial Day after all. I hope everyone is having a day full of sun, fun, good food, and even better friends.

Slice of the Week - Frito Pie (and I'm back!)

I'm back!

I mean, I never actually vanished from all of life (that would have been odd), but I did have an extremely busy last couple of weeks in which I had to hunker down at my real job and focus and send emails and all those other things you do on a daily basis that seem really inconsequential but somehow take up ALL of your time and energy. Hey, a girl's gotta pay those bills somehow!

But, life has (sort of) stabilized. Or, at least it's calm enough for me to start writing again. In any case, you probably don't care all that much about my busy life. You want to read about pie. Well, I shall not disappoint (any more)!

Frito Pie

While on my southwestern road trip vacation last month (see some cool pics here), I ended up walking through the lovely town of Santa Fe, New Mexico. Amongst the pueblos, churches, and vendors hawking silver and turquoise, I happened upon the Five and Dime General Store.

Normally, I would have kept on walking. Other than being an awesome song from Reefer Madness,  five and dime's don't necessarily interest me.

But then I looked up and saw this:

Five and Dime General Store, Santa Fe, NM

And then I looked down and saw this:

More Five and Dime sinage

And then I stopped right in the middle of a busy sidewalk, gave a little scream, flailed my arms, caused some general mayhem and confusion amongst the other tourists, and stormed into the store.

For a moment, I thought the sign was just a cruel joke. The inside of this supposedly magical place was nothing more than an unorganized dollar store with terrible fluorescent lighting. There were rows of kitschy souvenirs next to steering wheel covers and mop heads, and things certainly cost more then mere nickles and dimes. Confused and not seeing where to get my pie, I continued to the back of the store where I was greeted with this:

It's like you're at an old movie theater. Without the movies.

Slightly more encouraged, I stepped up to the counter where I discovered they were indeed selling something called a Frito Pie. The sign priced it at almost $5.00. I actually had second thoughts about going forward with my culinary plans - not only did it seem pricy (and I wasn't even too sure what I was ordering - $5 for a slice of pie in the back of a convenience store just seems wrong), I had recently eaten breakfast and wasn't even that hungry.

But it's moments like these that I call to the ultimate inspiration and ask myself, What Would Anthony Bourdain Do? (WWABD, if you're into acronyms).

He'd order the damn pie, Mary! That's what he would do! C'mon....

So I ordered. I was able to watch the bored woman put together the pie (I will not elevate this pie's status by saying it was made. That would be giving it too much credit. It was put together.) and here's what I learned:

Makin' my pie

The Frito Pie begins with a small, snack-sized bag of Fritos. The bag of Fritos is opened. A scoop of chilli, made with ground beef and a few red kidney beans, is spooned on top of the corn chips.  A half an inch of re-fried pinto beans make up Layer #3. Shredded cheddar cheese tops off the concoction. The bag is then put in a special holder that keeps everything upright, but this is only so you can pay for the pie. You don't get to take the special holder with you to the table. A Toppings Bar, comprised of onions and Tabasco sauce, is pointed out. You are handed a plastic fork and a stack of napkins, and told to go find a seat.

Really - where can I get one of these holders?

Needless to say, I was a bit apprehensive. I'm fairly brave when it comes to trying strange food (I willingly ordered sushi wrapped in trout skin just last week), and I realize that one of my first recipes for this blog was a Taco Pie that was loosely based on this very concept, but this just seemed...not glamorous. Where was the smoking campfire? Where were the sweeping southwestern vistas? Where have all the cowboys gone???

Ah well, such is life. So I dug in.

Into the depths of the Frito Pie

It was...not terrible. The chili was caliente Y picante, which made my mouth burn in two different ways. I'm not a fan of Fritos to begin with, but the salty-savory-cheesy combination was surprisingly delightful. If I was a starving frat boy, I would have devoured this in a second.

Luckily, I brought this guy along as my personal photographer

I can see the appeal of this pie, both as a tourist trap ("over 3,000 sold annually!" says the sign) and as a fun treat for kids or cowboys. The clean-up, provided you keep the bag upright, is almost non-existent. And it was overpriced, but there was a good amount of food in the bag, and hey, I'm on vacation.

Frito Pie - Santa Fe, NM

As I was finishing up, I overheard an older gentleman tell his wife, "oo! They're serving up some Walkin' Cowboys!"


So they are.

Pie Run 2012 - Shepard's Pie

Two weeks ago, I had the pleasure of heading to Philadelphia to collaborate on a blog post with my friend Sean from Phat Man Running. We wrote wrote of our individual experiences on each others' sites (I talked of and showed photos from the 20 minute run we went on, he discussed the caloric breakdown of the pies we made), but I realized that I still had a phone full of pictures just begging to be uploaded. And, since no self-respecting pie blogger would ever let well-lit pictures go unposted, here's the first of the two pies we made. (Note: some of the measurements are a bit general, we didn't have access to many measuring cups so we eyeballed a lot of the cooking process)

(Note #2: I was really excited about having someone else do the cooking because that meant I could take a lot of action shots. Please excuse the slightly excessive amount of photos.)

(Note #3: When we were at the Trader Joe's buying groceries, we almost bought pre-made apple pie and called it a day. But we didn't. That's how much we honored the sanctity of our PieRun Mission.)

Pie Crust
Since Sean was running the kitchen for this portion of the day, we used his pie crust recipe - flour, salt, and butter (instead of shortening) - and made enough for two 9" crusts.

 

Ingredients
Butter for sauteing 
2 cups chopped onions
2 cups chopped carrots
8oz. can of corn
1 lb. ground beef
1 cup vegetable stock
A few splashes of red wine
Mashed potatoes as topping
     5-6 large potatoes, peeled and chopped
     1/2 stick butter
     1/2 cup buttermilk
     Salt/pepper to taste
Parmesan cheese as topping
9" pie crust

How to
Melt butter in large skillet. Add onions and carrots, saute until soft.

Add ground beef, cook until brown.

Stir in the stock and wine.


















Add the corn.

It will be soupy; cover and simmer for about 20 minutes.

While the meat is simmering, roll out half of the pie crust and place in the bottom of your pie plate. Excess crust may be consumed.

When the mixture has reduced to your liking, remove from heat and pour into the pie plate.

Spread the mashed potatoes over the meat mixture.

From a homemade piping bag, add decorative potatoes in the shape of a labyrinth. If you so choose.

Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese

Bake at 375 for about 30 minutes, or until potatoes have browned.

Then thrown yourself a very classy dinner party.

Delicioso.

Superbowl Sunday Funday - Chili Pot Pie

Whether you're ecstatic that the Giants are playing, still crying about that devastating Packers loss two weeks ago, or one of those few who live hermetic lives and aren't really sure what this "big game" is all about, one thing is clear - you'll probably end up consuming some sort of chili this weekend.

Not being one to ever shy away from a national trend, I am here to add but one more recipe to the ridiculously-sized pile of "Super Bowl Sunday Chili Recipes" by giving you the Pies Etc. version - the Chili Pot Pie.

Disclaimer: I put together this recipe by pulling from a bunch of different sources - Guy Fieri's Dragon Breath Chili (he seems like a guy who knows his chili), the drunken frat-boy sounding Fritos Pie Remix (which I considered making, but then realized that I am not in college anymore and that some things just aren't appealing when you're not drinking entire fishbowls with names like "red" or "blue") and a recipe my mother sent me simply titled "Steve's Chili." I'm not too sure who this Steve is and why my mother is so devoted to his chili, but that's another story. 

Ingredients 
Chili
2 tbsp butter
1 cup chopped onions
1 cup chopped green peppers
1 clove garlic, diced
1 lb. ground beef
8 oz. tomato sacue
8-10 oz. diced tomatoes - I used Del Monte with Zesty Jalapenos
8-10 oz. red kidney beans
6-8 oz. beer - I used Coor's Light. Because that's what was in the fridge. 
Spices to taste:
***There are millions of combinations one can use for chili; I threw in a few handfuls of each of these:
- Worcestershire sauce
- Paprika
- Crushed red pepper
- Mrs. Dash Fiesta seasoning
- Black pepper
- Cumin
8 oz. Elbow macaroni
4 oz. shredded cheddar cheese
Unbaked pie crust, enough for bottom and top of 5-in. oven-safe pot pie dish (see my recipe here!)

How to 
Heat butter in a large pot, add onions, garlic and green peppers until soft, about 5 minutes.

Add ground beef and fully cook until brown

Add the spices. This is where you get creative! My system consists of adding spices until I like the smell of what's cooking. Smarter, more well-trained chefs might not agree with this lax level of consistency, but so far it's suited me well.

Stir in the tomato sauce and diced tomatoes.

Carefully pour in the beer. Drink the rest of the can.

Add the beans, stir completely. Cover, simmer on low for approximately 90 minutes or until the dish is reduced to taste (it'll be pretty liquid-y at first.)

While the chili is simmering, cook the macaroni and prep the pie dough.

When the chili is reduced to your liking, remove from heat and add the cooked macaroni.
   ***Note of interest - I grew up in a household that put macaroni in our chili. I have since learned that this is an oddity amongst chili connoisseurs, but trust me - it's good.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

Place the bottom crust in the oven-safe pie pan and pierce with a fork.

Add the macaroni/chili mix

Cover with shredded cheese

Top with remaining pie crust, seal edges of both crusts together. Use any leftover dough to cut out your team's logo to add as decoration. If you like, brush the top crust with an egg. For this particular experience, I brushed the top crust with a little juice from the remaining chili (I only made one pot pie and had quite a bit of extra meat).

Cook for about 20 minutes or until crust is golden brown

Please know that I am fully aware of the ridiculousness of this recipe. It's not healthy. It's like seven different dishes in one. I don't even want to think of the calorie count. However, sometimes it's fun to celebrate silly things like Super Bowl Sunday with new and delicious recipes, and this chili pot pie is pretty tasty.