Tag Archives: piday

Hearty Mushroom Quiche

13 Tuesday Mar 2012

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Hearty Mushroom Quiche

Another savory pie in the countdown to Pi Day. Quiche is like the risotto of pie crust: once you get the basic formula down, you can put almost anything in it and something wonderful will come out of the oven!

Most quiche recipes call for a significant amount of milk or cream mixed with the egg to form custard. I don’t do a lot of milk so I just increased the number of eggs and the result was great – less on the fluffy side, more on the hearty side. Perfect for dinner.

Hearty Mushroom Quiche Ingredients

Ingredients:

  • 1 9” pie crust
  • 2 cups sliced mushrooms – I used baby Portobello
  • .5 cups finely chopped onion – I had a couple small scallions and some green onions left over so in went a blend of those
  • .5 cups diced red bell pepper
  • 3 cloves finely chopped garlic
  • 1 tbsp fresh thyme
  • .5 tsp fresh ground black pepper + more to taste
  • .5 tsp kosher or Celtic sea salt + more to taste
  • 1 tbsp grape seed oil
  • .5 cups shredded Parmigiano Reggiano
  • 5 eggs, lightly beaten with a tablespoon of water

Instructions:

  1. Preheat the oven to 400° and prebake the pie crust for 10-15 minutes while the oven heats up.
  2. In a pan over medium heat, sauté the garlic and thyme, salt and pepper for 3 minutes. Add the onion for 2 minutes, then the pepper for another 2. Finally, add the mushroom and sauté for 5 minutes, stirring consistently so that the juices can reduce as much as possible.
  3. Put the mushroom mixture in the crust, top evenly with the cheese, then pour the egg on top.
  4. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until the crust is golden brown. Let sit for 10 minutes before slicing.

So yum. If you have a favorite quiche filling, please share!

Savory Squash Pie

12 Monday Mar 2012

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Savory Squash Pie

As the countdown to Pi(e) Day continues, I’ve made a couple of savory pies for dinners. The first is an adaptation of this recipe that I substituted in several places with what I had on hand. Turned out great, and will be a general formula for future savory pies for sure!

Ingredients:

  • 1 9” pie crust
  • 2 acorn squash (or 1 butternut squash) , seeds removed and meat cut into chunks an inch or less
  • 1 onion, diced
  • .25 cups grape seed oil
  • .25 cups dry white wine
  • .25 tsp salt + more to taste
  • .25 tsp fresh ground black pepper + more to taste
  • 1 egg, lightly beaten
  • 1 cup fresh whole wheat bread crumbs
  • .5 cups walnuts, chopped
  • .5 cups shredded Parmigiano Reggiano

Instructions:

  1. Preheat the oven to 400° and toss the squash chunks in half of the oil plus the salt and pepper. Roast the squash on a baking sheet for 20-30 minutes until golden. You can simultaneously prebake your pie crust for 10-15 minutes if you like.
  2. In the meantime, sauté the onion over medium heat in the other half of the oil. After 5 minutes, add the white wine and cook it down for another 5 minutes or so.
  3. If you’re making homemade bread crumbs, toast 2 to 3 pieces of bread until they are dry, break them into chunks and toss in a food processor. You can also add the walnuts and cheese as these three together will make the crumb mix.
  4. When everything is done, mix the roasted squash, sautéed onions, lightly beaten egg, and half of the bread crumb mix together in a big bowl.
  5. Scoop filling into the crust, sprinkle remaining bread crumb mix on top, and bake for 30-40 minutes until the crust is golden. Let sit for 10 minutes before slicing.

Make sure to also: wash those squash seeds, toss them in oil, salt and pepper and roast them on a baking sheet for 20-30 minutes, stirring occasionally, until golden brown. Yum!!

Blackberry & Apple Tart (or is it a pie?)

07 Wednesday Mar 2012

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Blackberry and Apple Tart

Probably a pie, since I used a pie crust – even though I made it in a tart pan and arranged the ingredients like a tart.

But the distinguishing characteristic of this recipe is its tart flavor – by which I mean a distinct zippiness and pucker. So if you’re tired of too-sweet pies, here’s the antidote.

Blackberry and Apple Tart Ingredients

Ingredients:

  • 1 pie crust
  • .5 cups butter
  • .75 cups brown sugar
  • .5 tsp cinnamon powder
  • .25 tsp lemon zest (adjust for desired pucker)
  • .25 inch slice of ginger root, peeled
  • .5 cups water
  • 4 cups baking apples, peeled and cored and cut as you like
  • 2 cups blackberries, rinsed and patted dry

Instructions:

  1. In a large pan, melt the butter over medium heat and then stir in the brown sugar, cinnamon, lemon and ginger
  2. Mix in the apples and water and simmer for 10 minutes – use only enough water to come less than half way up the apples
  3. Add the blackberries and cook for 1 more minute
  4. Remove from heat and allow to cool to handling temperature
  5. In the meantime, roll out your pie dough and place in a 9” pie dish or 10” tart dish
  6. Add the filling by scooping into the crust with a slotted spoon so you can easily control the amount of liquid – be sure to find that chunk of ginger and pull it out!
  7. Any leftover filling and liquid can be blended to make a syrupy topping – also, I drizzled a bit on half way through baking for color and texture
  8. Bake for 50-60 minutes at 350°, remove and allow to stand before serving

I bet this would also be wonderful with pears instead of apples, in which case I might leave out the lemon zest altogether and emphasize the ginger.

Basic Homemade Pie Crust

07 Wednesday Mar 2012

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Basic Homemade Pie Crust

I’m not much of a baker, but with Pi Day in a week I’m occupied with…bad puns, evidently. But also pies!

And while I may still be refining my technique for perfectly flaky crusts, I do have the theory down. The way to a flaky crust is to allow pockets of air to form in the dough while it bakes. This happens when small pieces of butter melt and the 20% of butter that’s actually water forms steam.

So to get flakiness you need chunks of butter, not a dough where the butter is fully incorporated. And two things support this: how much you mix it (or how little, as the case may be) and maintaining a cold temperature so the butter stays hard.

This basic recipe will yield enough for one pie with a top and bottom crust, or two pies with open tops.

Basic Pie Crust Ingredients

Ingredients:

  • 2.5 cups flour
  • 1 cup butter, cubed and chilled
  • 1 tsp salt
  • .5 cups ice water

Instructions:

  1. Mix the flour and salt
  2. Slice in the butter – some people use knives or pastry blenders, some use food processors – the trick is to stop when you have tiny butter balls coated with flour
  3. Add the ice water (not the ice…) 1 tablespoon at a time until the dough holds together when you pinch it
  4. Shape the dough into 2 balls, wrap in plastic and let sit in your refrigerator for at least 2 hours and up to 2 days
  5. Sprinkle a clean surface with flour and use a rolling pin to flatten the dough into a 12” circle

Note: I used 1 cup whole wheat flour and 1.5 cups unbleached white flour – probably a better choice for the crust of savory pies than for sweet pies.