Pie Number 24 - Chocolate Brownie Pie

 The Year of Pie

Pie Number 24 - Chocolate Brownie Pie    

    This final pie in the Year of Pie is in the 1967 Betty Crocker's Pie Parade. The recipe says that it is a "rich, chocolatey version of pecan pie", but it didn't occur to me that it was actually going to turn out like it did with two separate layers; a pecan pie type layer on the bottom and brownie layer on top. This pie was easy. I recommend melting the butter and chocolate first, so it can cool a bit before mixing it with the other ingredients. The original recipe says to melt the chocolate and butter together over hot water; you can do this with either a double boiler or by adding the chocolate and butter in a glass bowl, fitted snugly onto a pan with hot water in it. I don't think it's really necessary, because as long as you heat on low, your butter and chocolate won't burn. Remove from heat and cool while you make the crust. 

I made this in a 9-inch pie pan. The pie "puffs" up while baking and you don't want the liquid filling to spill out when transferring to the oven. I thought the 9-inch pie pan was perfect. Finally, the recipe calls for pecan halves. I used chopped pecans, If you have chopped walnuts, that would work well also. 

    I made this pie for my New Year's Eve dessert. I served it with a nice dollop of whipped cream and a shaving of dark chocolate for decoration. This pie was really good. If you like brownies and if you like pecan pie, you really need to try this pie, because it was a delicious combination of the two. 

Ingredients:

2 squares unsweetened chocolate

2 tablespoons butter (I used unsalted)

3 eggs

1/2 cup sugar

3/4 cup dark corn syrup

3/4 cup chopped pecans (a good substitute would be walnuts)

9-inch pie shell (make your own or use store bought pastry)

dark chocolate bar (optional for decoration)

Directions:

Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees. In a pan on low, melt butter and chocolate. Prepare pie crust and line pie pan. In a large mixing bowl, beat together eggs, sugar and corn syrup, until just mixed (I used a hand mixer). Add the cooled chocolate mixture (If your chocolate mixture is too warm, it could cook the egg and you don't want that) and blend on low until well incorporated. Stir in chopped pecans or walnuts. Pour filling into prepared pie pan. Bake until set. Remove from oven and cool. Serve while still slightly warm or cold, with ice cream or whipped cream. Shave chocolate over top for decoration.

Chocolate Brownie Pie

Pie Number 22 - Lemonchick's Chicken & Vegetable Pie

 The Year of Pie

Pie Number 22 - Lemonchick's Chicken & Vegetable Pie

    This is my creation! 100% mine! I loved it. I really loved the seasonings I chose. The only two things I would do differently, is to bake at 375 degrees, not 350 degrees and I would make a gravy with 1 cup water, not 2 cups of water (it made too much gravy). I baked the pie for 35 minutes at 350, but ended up adding at least 15 more minutes. The crust never did get golden, but it was still a good crust.  If I'd baked it at 375 degrees for 35-40 minutes, I think the crust would have turned out more like how I wanted it to (golden). The first piece out of the pie pan did not come out very, well, but that was because it was still too hot. The second piece I had (the day after) came out just fine. I thought this creation of mine was really good and I hope you like it. 

Ingredients:

1 chicken breast diced

1 medium/large potato, peeled and diced

1/2 large onion, chopped

1 12oz bag frozen mixed vegetables, use the "steam in a bag" kind

1 cup water

1-2 tsp chicken bouillon (I used a low sodium variety)

3/4 tsp onion powder

3/4 tsp garlic powder, 

3/4 parsley flakes, 

3/4 tsp celery salt

3/4 tsp spicy chili seasoning 

3/4 tsp ground sage 

1/2 tsp salt, plus a sprinkle

1/2 tsp pepper, plus a sprinkle

canola oil

cornstarch

two-crust pie crust (unbaked)

Directions:

Heat oven to 375 degrees. Drizzle a bit of canola oil in a large heated skillet. In a saucepan, boil diced potato in water until softened, but not mushy. Drain cooked potatoes and set aside. Season diced chicken with a sprinkle of salt, sprinkle of pepper and 1/4 tsp of each of the rest of the seasonings and add to the skillet. Cook completely and remove from skillet. Add chopped onion to the same skillet and cook until translucent. Return chicken to skillet and turn burner to low. In a saucepan, boil 1 cup water and 1-2 tsp chicken bouillon. Use a little bit of water mixed with cornstarch, to thicken the bouillon into a gravy. If it is not thick enough, add a little more water/cornstarch mixture. 

Combine the gravy, potatoes, onion, chicken and vegetables. Pour into unbaked pastry shell, add top crust and crimp edges to seal crusts together. Cut slits into top crust and bake for 35 to 45 minutes or until crust is golden. Remove pie from oven and let cool. Serve pie with a sprinkle of parsley flakes if desired and serve with a garden salad. 

Serves 8

Lemonchick's Chicken & Vegetable Pie
(cooked by not golden)

The first piece of pie that I took out wayyyy too early.

The second piece of pie that came out wayyyy better. 

Pie Number 21 - Beef and Onion Pie

 The Year of Pie

Pie Number 21 - Beef and Onion Pie

    I love the little cookbook that this recipe is in. It is the Tried And True Grit Recipes - 95 Years of Homestyle Recipes. The recipe originally appeared in The Grit Cookbook, on May 4, 1958. The great thing about this pie, is that you can use beef (as in the title), ground turkey, ground chicken, ground pork or even ground bison, like I did. The other modification I made was that I added a top crust. The recipe in the book does not call for a top crust, so a top crust is optional. It definitely was more appetizing to look at, with a top crust. 

    I was really happy with how this pie turned out. My crust was good; the texture of the filling was good and "sturdy" and I liked the taste. This was pretty quick and easy to make. You could get up to eight servings from this. You don't need large slices, especially if you are serving the pie with a side salad or vegetable(s) on the side. Try this. I think you'll like it. 

Ingredients:

pastry for a 9-inch pie shell (double crust optional) (I made pastry for a double-crust pie)

1 lb ground beef (or your choice of ground meat; I used ground bison)

2 tbsps butter or margarine

1 large or 2 medium onions, thinly sliced

1 1/2 tsps salt

1/4 tsp pepper

2 tbsps flour

1 cup sour cream or butter milk (I used sour cream, but I think plain, non-fat Greek yogurt would add an interesting flavor)

1 tsp Worcestershire sauce (I didn't realize I was out; I used low sodium soy and it was just fine)

2 eggs, slightly beaten

pimiento strips (optional)

parsley flakes (optional)

Directions:

Cook onion in butter until translucent. Add in ground meat  and cook until meat is completely cooked (browned). Pour off any grease. Stir in salt, pepper and flour. Mix sour cream, Worcestershire sauce and eggs into the meat and onion mixture. Pour into pastry lined pie pan. Cover with top crust if desired. Bake at 375 degrees for 30 to 40 minutes. A knife inserted at the edge of filling should come out clean. Serve with a sprinkle of parsley flakes and/or pimiento strips and a vegetable or garden salad. 

Bison and Onion PIe

Bison and Onion Pie with Peas

Bison and Onion Pie with Peas

Pie Number 19 - Lemon Icebox Pie

 The Year of Pie

Pie Number 19 - Lemon Icebox Pie

    This recipe is based off "Icebox Pie" in Favorite Recipes of the Deep South: Alabama-Georgia-Mississippi.  As always, my notes/modifications will be in italics. There is no date in the book, but I guessed it to be early to mid 1960's and I found a date of 1964 in the Library of Congress records.  This book was sold for fund raising by the Home Demonstration Club. No idea where this club was actually located, but the recipes were submitted by women in various clubs throughout Alabama, Georgia and Mississippi. This Icebox Pie recipe was submitted by Mrs. C.T. Elmore of Maben, Mississippi.

    I may have used too much lemon juice or evaporated milk because it didn't "set" real well. I'd had to guess at the amounts. I googled "How much juice in 3 lemons?" and "How big is a small can of evaporated milk?"). The first piece tasted great, but was just a pile of messy pie. The second piece, after freezing, was better and kept it's shape.  This pie was really good. I discovered that it definitely needs to go in the freezer overnight or at least freeze for several hours. It was easy to make, so if you like lemon like I do, try this. I think you'll like it.

Ingredients:

1 small can evaporated milk, chilled (5 1/2 oz)

1 cup sugar

juice of 3 lemons (1/2 cup)

1 crumb crust

1/4 cup crushed graham crackers (optional)

lemon zest (optional)

whipped cream (optional)

Directions:

Whip chilled evaporated milk until it stands in peaks (I don't think I whipped the milk long enough). Beat in sugar and then fresh lemon juice. Pour into crumb crust. Sprinkle lemon zest over the filling if desired. Chill (Freeze) until firm. Serve with a dollop of whipped cream sprinkle of graham cracker crumbs. 

Crust:

1 1/4 cup fine graham cracker crumbs 

3 tablespoons sugar

1/4 cup butter or margarine, softened (I melted mine)

Crust Directions:

In a large bowl, combine graham cracker crumbs, sugar and melted butter/margarine. Press into a 9-inch pie pan and bake at 350 degrees for 12-15 minutes if desired. You do not have to bake the crust, so baking it is optional.

Lemon Ice Box Pie

Lemon Ice Box Pie

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)

Pie Number 14 - Strawberry Cream Cheese Pie

The Year of Pie

Pie Number 14 - Strawberry Cream Cheese Pie

    From Favorite Eastern Star Recipes - Old Family Favorites - Including Menus comes this yummy pie. A little history for you: the Order of the Eastern Star (OES) is a Masonic organization. It is a primarily a women's organization affiliated with the fraternal organization, the Freemasons. Male members of OES are required to be Freemasons.  There are no female Freemasons; female members of OES simply join the organization. I am a member of OES, but admittedly have not attended in decades. In the event that I ever decided to attend after moving several states away from where I grew up, my late father and now my step-mother, have kept up my dues all these years. 

    This recipe was submitted by Mrs. Amy Sanders, Secretary of Sylvan Hills OES, Chapter 602 in North Little Rock, Arkansas. While the flavor was somewhat similar to cheesecake, the texture was much lighter and creamier. Soooo good with the fresh strawberries I got a great deal on.  Sliced peaches or any kind of berry, would be good with the cream cheese base. This recipe uses a regular pastry crust, but it would be good also in a graham cracker crust. I really liked this pie and plan to make it again. 

Ingredients:

1 8oz package cream cheese, softened

1 cup powdered sugar

1/2 pint heavy cream

1 tsp vanilla

1 9-inch baked pie crust

1 pint fresh sweetened strawberries or 1 10oz package frozen strawberries, thawed and drained (I actually used the bottom of the pie pan to measure my strawberries, by laying halved strawberries in the pan in a single layer, until the bottom was covered; it was perfect!

1 tablespoon sugar (maybe a little more) for sprinkling over strawberries (optional)

Directions:

Use your favorite pie crust recipe and bake pie shell according to directions. Cool your crust. Wash, stem and slice strawberries in half. In a bowl, whip cream cheese with powdered sugar. In a separate bowl, whip cream until thickened (go for those stiff peaks) and add vanilla. Fold the cream and vanilla mixture into the cream cheese mixture (The original directions say to fold in the cream cheese mixture, but I did the opposite and folded the cream and vanilla into the cream cheese mixture. It worked just fine.). Scoop your filling into your cooled pie shell and cover with strawberries or other fruit. Sprinkle sugar lightly over berries. Chill in refrigerator until ready to serve. Serves 8. 

Strawberry Cream Cheese Pie

Strawberry Cream Cheese Pie

Pie Number Nine - Barbara Frietchie Pie

The Year of Pie

Pie #9 - Barbara Frietchie Pie

    Who is Barbara Frietchie? What I learned about Barbara Frietchie (Frietchie), December 3, 1776 - December 18, 1862, is that she lived in Frederick, Maryland in 1862. Frietchie, also known as Barbara Fritchie and Barbara Frietschie, is the subject of a poem "Barbara Frietchie" by John Greenleaf Whittier. Frietchie is alleged to have shaken a Union flag and hurled insults at Confederate troops who were marching through Frederick. There are conflicting stories, but it is said that she did at least wave a Union flag at and cheered for Union General Ambrose Burnside's troops as they marched through. 

    I've seen other blog posts/articles on versions of this pie and it seems that mine did not turn out like some of those. For example, while the flavor sounds like it was the same, mine did not turn out to have two layers. Mine turned out thin and with a chewy consistency. It was a bit hard to cut with it destroying some of the pie crust edge, but that didn't matter, because overall, I really liked it. Served very, cold like the recipe suggested, it was delicious and surprisingly not oversweet. I would definitely make this again.

    The recipe I used comes from 250 Superb Pies And Pastries, published in 1950 by the Culinary Arts Institute and in fact, the black & white photo of the pie, does show what looks like two layers. 

Ingredients:

1 - 9 inch pie crust

3/4 cup sugar

3/4 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup heavy cream or evaporated milk (I used what I had, which was heavy whipping cream)

2 egg yolks (beaten)

2 tablespoons butter

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1/8 teaspoon salt

2 eggs whites (beaten) 

Sprinkle of nutmeg

Whipped cream (optional)

Directions:

Prepare pie crust and line a 9-inch pan with crust. Pre-heat oven to 425 degrees. Cook the sugar, brown sugar, cream/milk, egg yolks and butter in the top of a double boiler if you have one (I used a regular pan and heated on medium-low heat) until thickened. I forgot the "until thickened" part and cooked until thickened and bubbly. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla, salt and egg whites. Pour into pie shell and sprinkle with nutmeg. Bake at 425 degrees for  ten minutes, then reduce temperature to 300 degrees and bake for forty-five more minutes. Generally if you insert a knife in the center and it comes out clean, you're done. Cool on a rack. Once cool, place in the refrigerator and serve very, cold with a dollop of whipped cream. Serves between six and eight slices.  

Barbara Frietchie Pie

Slice of Barbara Frietchie Pie

Pie Number Three: Pork and Tater Pie

The Year of Pie

Pie #3 - Pork and Tater

     Pork and Tater Pie.  I wasn't sure what to expect from this recipe which comes from the Favorite Recipes From Southern Kitchens - Meats: Including Seafood and Poultry, published in 1967, but it turned out really well. This recipe was submitted to Southern Kitchens by Mrs. A. Tschoepe Jr, of San Antonio, Texas. I adjusted some of the seasoning, because I didn't have any "savory" seasoning and also because I wanted to. Also, I added nutmeg. It is a two crust pie and although I still struggle with making pretty circles when I roll out my dough, but overall, I am doing good with crusts.  I brushed melted butter on the top crust, before baking and it gave it a nice, golden brown color.  Modifications in italics. Note that the original recipe only calls for salt, savory (1/2 tsp), sage (1/4 tsp), cinnamon, cloves (1/8 tsp) and pepper. The original recipe does not include thyme, Italian seaoning or nutmeg. I really liked this pie. I served with a nice garden salad and it was perfect. So, try this pie!

Ingredients:

2 cups flour, sifted

1 tsp salt

2/3 cup shortening

1 lb ground pork, browned

2 cups diced potato, cooked

2 tbsp butter, melted

1/2 cup water

1 tsp salt 

1/8 tsp oregano

1/8tsp thyme

1/8 tsp Italian seasoning

1/8 tsp nutmeg

1/8 tsp cinnamon

1/8 tsp pepper

parsley (optional)

Directions:

Sift flour and salt together and cut in shortening until pea-size crumbles form. Sprinkle 6 or 7 tablespoons cold water over the pea-sized crumbles and mix until dough forms (I used my hands to form the dough ball after mixing with the fork). Separate dough into two halves. Roll out one half of dough until about 10 inches round. Loosely lay dough over a 9 inch round pie pan. Cook pork in skillet and drain off fat. Add seasonings and 1/2 cup water. Mix thoroughly until heated through. Pour the meat & potato mixture into the pie pan. Set aside and roll out the second half of dough. Place over the filling. Crimp top and bottom crust together and trim any excess dough. Cut slits in top crust to allow steam to escape. Brush top crust with melted butter. Bake at 400 degrees for 40 to 50 minutes. Serve with sprinkling of parsley flakes. The original recipe says four to six servings. You can get six to eight servings. 

Pork and Tater Pie

Pork and Tater Pie

The Year of Pie

 The Year of Pie

    2023 is going to be the Year of Pie. The plan? I will make two pies every month. There will be a mixture of savory and sweet pies. Meat, fruit, cream, custard, chiffon, chocolate and maybe veggie. In my collection of cookbooks, a lot of books have pie recipes, but, I also have several "pie only" cookbooks.  I'm interested in making lesser known varieties of pies, which brings me to the first pie. Tomorrow, I'll be making Peanut Pie. It's pretty much like Pecan Pie, only peanuts.  

    It should be interesting, because I also started Weight Watches earlier this year. I'm doing really well so far. Doing Weight Watchers is not going to stop me from making pies. And, it's not going to stop me from taste testing my pies. I just have to be good and save up points, so I can enjoy a piece, guilt free. 

    So, I hope you all join me on this Year of Pie and I hope you see some you'd like to try.  

Week 34 - Salami-Cheese Pie

 Salami-Cheese Pie

Week 34 of 52

Meat/Fish Entree #5

    Well, this was something I never thought of making. I've never even made anything with salami. This recipe comes from the 1979 seventh printing of Better Homes and Gardens All-Time Favorite Casserole Recipes published in 1977. The recipe is on page 12, in the "home-style casseroles" chapter. I don't understand how it qualifies as a casserole and a number of recipes in this section are not casseroles. But, one of my goals of this year's Fifty-Two In Twenty-Two project, was to use recipes from cookbooks in my collection, which I haven't used. The other goal was to try things I've never had before. I couldn't remember if I had used any recipe from this cookbook, but I didn't think I had, so I kept it in the mix of books to choose this week's recipe from. And like I said, I've never made anything with salami. I am really glad I tried this and I'm very, pleasantly surprised at how much I liked it. 

    Would I make this recipe again? Yes. Is it partly also because I bought the biggest sized package of salami at the store yesterday? Also, yes. The recipe calls for 1 1/2 cups of chopped salami and 1 cub cooked & cubed potatoes. You could probably do a 1/2 cup less of the salami and add a 1/2 cup more of potato.  I used fresh basil as a garnish, which isn't called for in the recipe, but I wanted a garnish, Fresh parsley would be lovely also. Serve with a side salad or vegetable and hot bread or rolls. My notes in italics. 

Ingredients:

Plain Pastry (below)

1 tablespoon all-purpose flour

1/8 teaspoon pepper

1 cup evaporated milk

1/2 cup shredded American cheese (I used my standard Colby-Jack)

1/2 pound salami, chopped (1 1/2 cups)

1 cup cubed cooked potato

1/4 cup chopped onion

2 tablespoons chopped pimiento (I drained juice before measuring)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees (You will turn the oven down to 350 degrees when you take the pie shell and cutouts out). In a saucepan combine flour and pepper. Blend in milk. Cook, stirring continuously until thickened and bubbly. Remove from heat. Stir in cheese until melted, then salami, potato onion and pimiento. Turn into pie shell and decorate the top with the baked cutouts. Bake at 350 degrees for 35 to 40 minutes (I did 40 minutes). You want the center to be nearly set. Cool for at least 5 minutes. Serve with a garden salad or side of vegetables (I had cauliflower), with hot french bread or rolls and butter. It's a pie, so you could get six nice servings.

Plain Pastry

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/3 cup shortening

3 to 4 tablespoons cold water (I used 4 tablespoons)

Directions:

Stir together flour and salt. Cut in shortening until pieces are the size of small peas. Sprinkle a tablespoon of water at a time over the mixture and toss with a fork. You want it all moistened. Form a ball and roll out on a lightly floured baking mat, until you have a 9-inch round or if you are like me and your pastry rolling skills are sub-par, you have a large enough piece to entirely cover your pie pan). Gently lay your pastry in your 9-inch pie pan. Prick the bottom and sides with a fork (I forgot to do this before baking the pie shell by itself, but did when it came out of the oven before adding the filling, and it turned out fine). Mash the trimmings together into a ball, roll out and use mini or regular size cookie cutters (I used a mini heart cookie cutter from Pampered Chef) and set aside on a small baking sheet. Bake the pie shell for 10 minutes and the cutouts for 5 minutes. Remove the pie shell and cutouts, setting aside while you finish making the filling.

Salami-Cheese Pie

Salami-Cheese Pie - Take Two

Salami-Cheese Pie w/Fresh Basil Garnish and Cauliflower

Bacon and Onion Pie

 Bacon and Onion Pie

    I've wanted to make a quiche for a long time, but never have.  This pie is pretty much a quiche; it's just not called a "quiche". I have a set of four book set of Favorite Recipes of America cookbooks from 1968 and this recipe comes from the "Vegetables" book, which also says "including fruits" on the cover.  This amuses me that it mentions it includes fruits. I started by pre-heating my oven to 375 degrees. I made my piecrust using a recipe from a 1978 The Family Circle Pies and Cakes Cookbook. This recipe was submitted by Mrs. Jack Roberts of Augusta, Georgia. I'm not good at rolling out pie crusts or making them look pretty in the pie pan and this time I was par for the course.  The crust was pretty horrid looking (I used a 9 inch pie pan and used a nine inch single crust recipe) as it had torn a bit. I poked  holes around the crust with a fork, after I'd done as best I could getting the crust into the pan and patching a few places. You do not pre-bake this crust. 

    Next, instead of cooking my bacon and then crumbling it, I cut it up befre cooking until crispy. When crispy, I removed the bacon to a paper towel covered tray. As the bacon had cooked (I stirred it around occasionally) I chopped up my onion.  The recipe calls for four large onions and after I'd chopped one onion, I knew that two were going to be plenty and it turns out I was right on that.  Two large onions were perfect for this. I cooked the onion in the bacon grease until clear & softened, returned the bacon to the pan, combining the onion and bacon before removing the pan from the burner to cool. I mixed sour cream and eggs until well incorporated and combined the sour cream and egg mixture with the bacon and onion mixture. Here is where it was helpful to have the onion and bacon mixture cooled. When mixing hot ingredients with eggs, you need to either cool the hot ingredients  before mixing or temper the egg with a little bit of the hot mixture, before combining the two.  If you don't it will not be smooth.  It will look more like the egg bits in fried rice.

    Once the egg/sour cream and the bacon/onion mixtures were well combined, I added a 1/4 teaspoon each of salt and pepper, as well as a 1/2 teaspoon of Italian seasoning and poured everything into my crust and placed it into my oven for about 37 minutes.  The recipe says to bake for 30 to 45 minutes and I set my timer for 37, because I could always cook the pie longer if necessary. As it was, at 37 minutes, there was no need to cook it longer. The pie was gorgeous, in my humble opinion and even my wonky pie crust looked fine around the edges. After cooling for about 15 minutes or so at least (I actually lost track, because I was anxious to cut into it), I served myself a good slice with a sprinkle of finely shredded Cheddar-Jack cheese. 

    The verdict?  I really liked this and I would definitely make this again. I thought the pie was visually appealing, the pie crust turned out really good, I liked both the finished texture and flavor. The recipe calls for caraway seed, which I didn't have and I was going to substitute dill seed, but at the last minute, decided to use the Italian seasoning instead and  I'm glad I did. Other options could be cajun seasoning, chili powder, garlic powder or try something different. As always, let me know if you try this.  

Mom's Chocolate Cream Pie w/Merinque

 Mom's Chocolate Pie

        This is a special post. I baked this pie yesterday (12/23/2020) on the 2nd anniversary of my father's passing. My dad did most of the cooking growing up, but my mom would cook on her days off and would make this chocolate pie for my dad on special occasions.  She used the same recipe every time. The recipe she used for the pie crust (I can only assume) and the filling are in the 1960 Better Homes & Gardens Dessert Cook Book of which I have a 1965 fifth printing copy. My mother passed away 30 years ago this coming NYE and I don't know for sure what happened to her copy of this cookbook. I'd looked for one since I started collecting cookbooks and found my copy years ago at either an estate sale or an antique store. I recognized it and knew it was the right book.  

    I don't believe I've ever tried making her pie, but as part of how I honor my parents on the anniversaries of their passing, I make things they liked to eat or used to make. I have memories of baking this pie with my mom and sister, but no clear memories of the ingredients or the process.  I just remember as kids, my sister or I were the ones who had to do the stirring. 

    I started with combining the first three ingredients (sugar, salt and I used cornstarch instead of flour for my thickener) in a saucepan, followed by slowly adding the milk which I had pre-heated in the microwave and two one ounce squares of un-sweetened baking chocolate, chopped. I stirred this mixture continuously and after this mixture boiled, I cooked it for two more minutes and removed the pan from the heat. I stirred a small bit into my slightly beaten egg yolks and then stirred that into the chocolate mixture, stirring for two minutes and removing from the heat. After removing from the heat, I added vanilla and the recipe calls for 2 tablespoons of butter; I forgot to add the butter for some reason, even though it was on the counter right next to the stove; in the long run, it did not seem to affect the pie. The recipe says to let the mixture cool to room temperature. 

    While the chocolate mixture was cooling, I made the pie crust (it did not look pretty) and baked it in my pre-heated oven. The recipe says 450 degrees! However, my oven is ancient and doesn't go that high, so I do my best, like I normally do. I baked it at 375 degrees for about 20 minutes I believe. I am pretty good at "eye-balling" doneness, so I just watched it.  Anyhow, once the shell was ready, I poured the chocolate filling into the pie crust and smoothed it out. 

    I beat egg whites, cream of tartar and half a teaspoon of vanilla for the meringue. I don't think it formed soft peaks like it really was supposed to before adding the sugar, but I've been having a problem with my shoulder and it was hurting from holding the mixer over the bowl. I slowly added six tablespoons of sugar until the mixture was a bit stiffer. It wasn't perfect, but it spread nicely over the filling and I was able to make some little peaks on top, before putting the pie in my oven at 350 degrees (I'd lowered the temperature after doing the crust) for 15 minutes. 

    I was pretty pleased with how the pie looked when it came out of the oven. After cooling for quite awhile, I cut myself a little piece and the filling hadn't held up as well as I'd hoped (pictured below), but it sure tasted good. It was just as good as I'd remembered.  Once the pie was completely cooled, I put it into my new Tupperware pie container and then into the refrigerator.  I declare this a tasty success, because although I forgot the butter, the piecrust wasn't super pretty and the meringue wasn't the best, it tasted like my mom's. That and that it was for my dad, were what was important. 

Hershey Bar Pie

 HERSHEY BAR PIE

    Here's a super short post about the pie I made for Thanksgiving. It was just me and I'd decided I wanted to cook all the food, just for me! At the last minute I also decided I wanted to make pie. Hershey Bar Pie is so easy. It's just three ingredients, plus anything you decide you might want to top it with . Unfortunately, I did not write down the weight/amount of the chocolate, but I used three packages of mini Hershey bars. There is 8 mini bars in each package. They were $1.50 each at my local Kroger grocery store. I bought whipped topping for under a $1 and a graham cracker pie crust for about $2. I added chocolate chips I had at home, so this cost me less than $5!!! 

    What you do, is make sure your Cool-Whip or the generic brand whipped topping like I used, is thawed and softened. If your whipped topping is too cool, when you mix it with the chocolate, it might make little "chippy" type bits.  This happened to me before and it wasn't bad. So as far as mistakes go, it's okay if that happens. It is not the end of the World. Unwrap the chocolate bars and melt them in a saucepan on low.  You can break them up into smaller pieces first, if you like. Take the saucepan off the stove. Use a large spoon or spatula to scoop the whipped topping into the chocolate.  I used a metal whisk to incorporate the topping with the chocolate. You can use a wooden spoon, but the whisk helps make sure it is completely combined. Spoon the chocolate mixture into your pie crust and sprinkle any toppings you like on top, before chilling the pie in the refrigerator. 

    I cut fairly big slices and I got 6 pieces from mine.  You can do smaller pieces, because this pie is pretty rich. I think it would be great with a nice hot, cup of coffee or tea. 

Ingredients:

Hershey Bars - About 3 or 4 large or 3 packages of 8 mini bars

Whipped Topping (aka Cool Whip)

Graham Cracker Crust

Toppings can be chocolate chips, toffee bar, nuts, coconut, etc... Be creative!

Colorado Cream Pie

 COLORADO CREAM PIE

        So, here's the second recipe I've tried from the cookbook which started this all.  Colorado Cream Pie; recipe submitted by Mrs. Oliver Grimes.  It feels like pie crust has been the bane of my existence.  I've had crust not turn out well. Partly, I think because I'm not good at rolling it out; I've been scared to even try.  This time I used a recipe for a 9 or 10 inch double crust; I only needed one crust but the recipe for the single crust said that if you were doing a 9 inch pie, you should use the bigger recipe.  The pie crust recipe is on page 70 of my copy of the 1960 (1965 5th edition) Better Homes & Gardens "Dessert Cook Book".  I have a zillion dessert books in my cookbook collection, but I bought this particular cookbook, solely because it is exactly like the one my mom had. On a side note, my dad did most of the cooking when we were growing up and mom cooked on her days off. Sometimes she made chocolate cream pie with merengue for my dad (his favorite) and that recipe is in this cookbook.  I haven't been brave enough to make the chocolate pie, because when I make it, it will probably taste like her pie and that will make me cry buckets.  I've only had chocolate cream pie with merengue once in the almost 30 years she's been gone, where it tasted like her pie.  And that was at the old Stone's Restaurant in Marshalltown, Iowa, where some of my family is from.  

    Anyhow, back to my Colorado Cream Pie.  The ingredients are sugar, flour, butter, milk, vanilla, salt and two eggs (separated).  You cream the sugar, flour and butter, add the egg yolks, milk, vanilla and salt; mixing well. The recipe directs you to stiffly beat the egg whites and fold them into the other mixture.  Once that's done, you pour the filling (it was very, thin) into the unbaked crust.  It was the perfect amount for my 9 inch pie pan (Pyrex glass), so if you try this recipe, use a 9 inch pie dish. Much like a lot of recipes in these old cookbooks, pan size, no oven temperature was given and no baking time was given.  It only says "bake in a moderate oven, until inserted knife comes out clean. I used 350 degrees and started with 35 minutes. At 35 minutes, the filling didn't seem anywhere near being set, so I didn't even check it with a knife. I did another 10-15 minutes baking time.  I set the pie pan on a slightly elevated cookie rack, did the knife check and it was perfect.  I used an elevated cookie rack to cool, because I figured it would help it cool faster.   

    I probably could have let it cool a little longer and I don't remember how long I did, except I think it was about 1 1/2 hours or so. When I cut into the pie, I was able to easily remove a slice. The filling was "soft" if that makes sense, but it did not run all over the place, so I consider that a success! The pie crust was the only thing I wasn't super happy with.  It was not 100% cooked all the way through.  Close.  I think if I'd rolled the crust thinner, the crust would have turned out better.  Even with that, I was pretty proud of that crust.  It didn't bubble up anywhere and I thought the texture was fine.  

    Overall, I was really happy with this pie.  It tasted really good. Sweet, but not too sweet and it had a nice, not overpowering vanilla flavor  And, it was good today (of course I had to test that out). I just covered the pie pan and put it in the fridge.  Will I make this again? Another 100%, "Yes"!!!! And, let me know if you try it.