Pie Number 17 - Onion Pie

 The Year of Pie

Pie #17 - Onion Pie

    This savory pie comes to us from Back To Basics: Home-Tested Recipes from A to Z. This book was originally published in 1991 and my copy is from the 1992 third printing. This pie has a lot of cheese (1 lb!!). I love cheese and I do like cooked onion, but overall, with all that cheese it was too much for me. If I made this again, I would definitely use half of the cheese called for. There is no seasoning in this, so use whatever you like. Salt, pepper, spicy seasoning or your favorite seasoning. I say go ahead and try this, but you might want to start out with 8oz, not the full pound. 

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups crushed butter crackers (I used saltines)

2 1/2 cups thinly sliced onion

1/2 cup melted margarine (or butter)

1 1/2 cups milk

4 eggs, beaten

1/2 to 1 pound Colby Jack shredded cheese

parsley flakes (optional)

chili powder (optional)

Directions:

Place cracker crumbs in the bottom of pie pan. Saute margarine or butter. Spoon sauteed onion over the cracker crumbs (You may want to drain the liquid/melted margarine/butter, before adding onions on top of the crumbs). Heat milk, then cool (This step made no sense to me, so I didn't heat for very, long). Add eggs and cheese to milk. Mix well. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 to 45 minutes or until custard is set. Scoop onto a plate and sprinkle with parsley flakes and/or chili powder. Yield (The original recipe says this serves 6, but it was a lot; I think it's more like 8)

Onion Pie

Onion Pie

Onion Pie

Pie Number 16 - Frozen Creme De Menthe Pie

The Year of Pie

Pie #16 - Frozen Creme De Menthe Pie 

    Also known as Grasshopper Pie, this recipe comes from Coffee Treats: A Collection Of Favorite Recipes For Luscious Treats To Serve With Coffee And Tea - Breads, Cookies, Cakes and Desserts. There is no date on this book which was created by the West Suburban Hospital Auxiliary of Oak Park, Illinois. Guessing at a date for this, I'd guess it was published in the late 1950s or through the mid 1960s. Thora Hegstad Campbell is named as cookbook author and a board member of the auxiliary. Cover design and sketches were created by Florence Muir Hemphill, a SYMBIE artist and an auxiliary member. It's a "collection of extra-good recipes" which were contributed by auxiliary members.  I couldn't find plain chocolate sandwich cookies, so I substituted chocolate graham crackers. I also had a lot of graham cracker crumb crust, so I put the pie in a 9 inch pie pan, not the 8 inch pan the recipe called for and I still had a lot of crumbs. It worked out though, because I sprinkled some on my piece of pie when I had dessert. Although the filling would be a bit thicker if I'd had it in the smaller pan, I still really liked this pie. It was nice and refreshing and I would make this again for sure! Try it yourself! My notes/modification(s) in italics. 

*Contains alcohol

Ingredients:

14 chocolate wafer cookies, crushed (Substitute chocolate graham crackers or a store bought crust if you like)

3 tablespoons butter or margarine, melted

24 large marshmallows cut up, or 2 cups mini marshmallows

3/4 cup milk

3 tablespoons (1 1/2 oz) creme de menthe

3 tablespoons (1 1/2 oz) creme de cocoa

1 envelope whipped topping mix (make according to directions) or  1 cup of your favorite whipped topping (In a pinch you can also use a cup of canned whipped topping)

Directions:

Combine cookie/graham cracker crumbs and melted butter. Press firmly into the bottom and sides of an 8 or 9 inch pie pan. Place crust in the refrigerator and let it chill while making the filling. On low heat, place marshmallows and milk. Heat and stir until the marshmallows are melted. Stir in liqueurs, remove from heat and cool.  Thoroughly combine the whipped cream/topping with the chilled marshmallow mixture. Remove chilled pie shell from the refrigerator and pour filling into the crust. Lightly cover pie pan and freeze. Serve this frozen with a dollop of whipped cream on top and sprinkled with extra cookie/graham cracker crumbs. Serves 8. 

Creme De Menthe Pie

    

Creme De Menth Pie
So refreshing!

Pie Number 15 - Honey Chocolate Pie

 The Year of Pie

Pie Number 15 - Honey Chocolate Pie

    Yummm.  All I know about this recipe is that it was in some Winnie The Pooh book. I've had some copies of recipes in a photo album, for decades and there is artwork and a Winnie The Pooh quote on the page I have this recipe. I added loose recipes into the photo album and then have never really made much from it. That changed when I made this Honey Chocolate Pie. I really liked the texture; it was nice and creamy, and just really good. The honey and chocolate flavors both come through and neither overpowers the other. My crust was good and the only real blemish was that I like an idiot poured the honey chocolate mixture into the pie shell, while it was on the counter and had to carry it very, very slowly to the oven and close it. I only spilled a little (phew), which made that part of the crust look burned (it wasn't). I got positive feedback from my taste testers and I would definitely make this again. Serve with the whipped cream as suggested or even a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Either way, drizzle a little honey on top of each piece when serving, if you like. Serves a minimum of 8.

Ingredients:

1 9-inch pie shell (do not pre-bake)

4 oz semisweet chocolate (I used semisweet chocolate chips)

1/4 cup butter

14 1/2 oz evaporated milk

1/2 cup honey

1 cup sugar

3 tbsp cornstarch

1/4 tsp salt

2 large eggs, beaten

1/2 cup whipping cream (optional)

Directions:

Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees. Make your favorite pie crust recipe or buy a pre-made crust (that is totally fine). Place crust in your pie pan. Melt chocolate and butter in a pan on low heat. Remove from heat when melted and blend in the evaporated milk. In a separate bowl, mix the honey, sugar, cornstarch and salt. Beat the eggs into the honey mixture. Pour the chocolate mixture into the honey mixture; use a whisk and mix until the honey and chocolate mixtures are thoroughly combined. Pull the oven rack out; place the pie pan on the rack and slowly pour the chocolate honey mixture into your pan. If you fill the pan on the counter top, that's fine, but you'll have to be extremely careful not to spill the filling while carrying it to and placing in the oven. Bake for 40 minutes. Cover lightly with aluminum foil and bake another 20 minutes. It will look a little puffy and may have some cracking; this is totally fine. Cool for an hour at a minimum and then refrigerate for several hours or overnight. Serve with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream. 

Honey Chocolate Pie (The crust isn't burnt; that's just where I spilled filling while                                carrying the pie to the oven)