Pie! Part Two

[taste_is_sweet]

As those who may recall, a few weeks ago I made Apple Pie for Dinner. It was good, but too quichy for my taste, so I determined to try it again with fewer eggs and more cheese. :)

Well, I did, and it was great! I doubled the cheese (or thereabouts, I didn't actually measure, but it was a lot, I know that), used one half cup milk and one egg instead of the cream and three egg yolks, so it ended up much more pie-like, and the apple and cheese taste came through very strongly. My husband loved it. :D

My son, of course, hated it. He agreed with my assessment that he likes apples and cheese cold, not hot and attached together. No, I don't understand this. Then again, I'm not three and a half.

Here's a picture!



As you can see, I probably put too much cheese on the top of the pie. Luckily, Dom loves toasted cheese crusts. In fact, he wants me to make it the same way the next time. But I'm thinking I'll either put more cheese on the bottom, or mix it into the apples and onions before I put them in the crust.

Thanks for your suggestion, fish_echo. This has been a lot of fun.

Comments

[fish-echo.livejournal.com]

Oooh, looks and sounds delicious! I'm glad to hear that you were able to tweak it into a tastier recipe for you and yours. And perhaps Jav will be happier with the chilled leftovers tomorrow?

Either of your solutions to the cheesecrust should work and be tasty. One other thing you can do to cut down on the crispy effect is to keep everything the same but add an upper crust-- I'd probably make it a latticework one that doesn't have too much open spaces (easy way to make a fake latticework-style crust-- take a full pie crust and a sharp knife and cut small holes out of it randomly until it has enough open spaces to make you happy. It's not necessarily pretty, but it does the job and can be fun for the children to do, although I'm guessing Jav won't be getting knives in the kitchen for a few more years.)

PS. My berry pie pictures/discussion have been moved to *some indeterminate point in the future but hopefully soon* because I'm behind from being sick. So quick and dirty rundown: The main thing I learnt was my flour estimate was wildly too much (made a normal thickness pie) but I used store bought blueberries, so I should have thought enough to realise I wouldn't need as much flour (and I added more flour than the words called for but less than the measurement called for). I'd say follow the words for how much flour to add, and keep in mind how juicy your berries are (add a little bit more flour if you have extra-really-juicy-fresh-picked berries, or use scant flour if you have dry-ish berries-- like my store bought blueberries). And for your family, maybe double the sugar? I think that would be too sweet, but you've a sweet tooth :)

[taste-is-sweet.livejournal.com]

Thank you for the flour warning. :) I bought some frozen mixed berries, so when I'm feeling brave I'll probably use more flour than less. I also don't mind the thick texture. I don't think I'll double the sugar, though I'll probably add more. We can always put maple syrup or honey on it afterwards. :D

[fish-echo.livejournal.com]

Mmmm, sounds like a tasty plan!

[innana88.livejournal.com]

It sounds really good. I love tweaking recipes with success!

[taste-is-sweet.livejournal.com]

Yeah. It makes me feel kind of like an alchemist. That's my favourite thing about cooking and baking.

And I just edited this to say thank you, as opposed to just being a dork. :D

[innana88.livejournal.com]

I had a job once where they paid me to do that. My job was to taste the recipes they had and improve them, find other recipes and modify them so that they were originals and invent new ones. It was awesome, until I was promoted to lead cook aka manager of the cooks. Then, not so much fun.

[taste-is-sweet.livejournal.com]

Wow. I didn't know you had that kind of knowledge. <--is impressed.

[innana88.livejournal.com]

I didn't know I had it either! I was hired because I instantly hit it off with the kitchen supervisor during the interview. We spent more time talking about beliefs and values than we did cooking. I came up with a few winners that were quite popular. Also a few that I loved, but didn't go over so well. I still make some of 'em. :)

[taste-is-sweet.livejournal.com]

Well, that's even more interesting! And seriously, I didn't know you were that good at this kind of thing. That's fun to know.

What were some of your favourites, if I may ask?

[innana88.livejournal.com]

Well, it was a vegan-vegetarian deli. Neither the kitchen supervisor nor I were vegetarians or vegans, but we both enjoyed eating it immensely. It was one of those funky jobs where I was completely unqualified at the time of the interview and just discovered I had a knack. :)

My absolute favorite is one that I couldn't actually make at the deli because we packaged everything up rather than made them to-order:

2 slices Ezekiel Sprouted Grain Bread
Deli sauce (mayo with a hint of horseradish mixed in)
sliced cucumbers
onion sprouts
sliced apples
sliced avocado
a slice of cheddar cheese

Tofu-Miso Sandwich (this one I found and modified. It was a hit!)
2 slices Ezekiel Sprouted Grain bread
1/4" slice of extra firm tofu, (not silken) well-pressed (wrap in clean towel and place slice between cutting board and something heavy. Press for 20-30 minutes. I usually make up a bunch of slices at once to use later. The marinade below is only for 2-3 slices at most)
1/4 cup onions or scallions
2 cloves garlic, minced
2/3 cup olive oil
Dark miso, enough to spread on both pieces of bread.

Marinate the pressed tofu overnight in olive oil, garlic and onions
Bake tofu at 300 degrees for about 1 1/2 hours or until well-toasted, turning repeatedly.
Spread a thin layer of miso on each slice of bread.
Use remaining marinade to brush the outsides of the bread slices.
Place baked tofu on the bread and grill.

BBQ Tempeh (I love this one! The original recipe was gross, so I improved it!) Tempeh has a great texture and a slightly nutty flavor when cooked.

hamburger buns or kaiser rolls
Two packages Tempeh
One bottle of Annie's Smokey Maple BBQ sauce
1/4-1/2 cup maple syrup
1/2 tsp. Wasabi powder
small red onion or half a medium red onion, chopped
canola oil
mayo or Veganaise
brown mustard

Combine wasabi powder, maple syrup and BBQ sauce in a bowl
Sautee tempeh and onions in canola oil, stirring frequently.
Add sauce to tempeh once the tempeh is toasty-brown. Immediately remove from heat. Stir.

Spread mayo on bun, add BBQ tempeh. I like a small squirt of mustard on mine, too.

This keeps pretty well and is great to have in the fridge if you need to cook on the fly. They taste just as great cold as hot.

Those are my faves. :)

Raw Cashew Butter and Apple or Banana sandwiches are also great. I can't eat peanuts, but you can do it with peanut butter, too. I also had a vegan spring roll recipe and a quesadilla recipe, too. The spring rolls were a pain in the ass, but they flew off the shelves.

[taste-is-sweet.livejournal.com]

You are just the neatest person ever. :D

Thank you for the recipes, the do sound great.

[niamh-sage.livejournal.com]

That pie looks delicious. *drool* I think I'm going to add it to my "to try" folder! :D

[taste-is-sweet.livejournal.com]

\o/

I am spreading the apply-cheesiness! Whoo!

It is really, really good. I was surprised at how good it was. Really easy to make, too. :)

[claudia603.livejournal.com]

Um...it LOOKS good, but I've always been a little iffy about quiches just because I gag at egg-taste, and quiches are just a little too eggy for me...but that DOES look yummy!

[taste-is-sweet.livejournal.com]

I getcha--I didn't like the first version of this nearly as much for the same reason. But I assure you that with just the one egg it doesn't taste eggy at all. If you don't mind a looser pie, you could probably skip the egg entirely. :)

[iadorespike]

Mmmmm...food porn. That looks and sounds amazingly yummy. :) I'm not sure if my husband would go for it as a meal, but I think he might as a side dish. Hmmm, now to find the time to do it. ;)

Thanks for filling us in on this. :)

[taste-is-sweet.livejournal.com]

Hee. I'm corrupting the masses with food pictures.

It is really good! And it could certainly work as a side-dish. It's also surprisingly easy to make. The hardest part was chopping the onions and apples (as long as you have a pre-made crust), since I cheated and bought a bag of pre-grated cheese.

[iadorespike]

LOL...corrupt at will! Food makes me happy. ;)

I would definitely use the pre-grated cheese since I usually keep a bag or two around. It just makes things so much easier, and I like to add cheese to things as the mood strikes me. *g*

The pie crust - well - I used to make excellent pie crust from scratch, and then...and then I just lost the knack. I'm not sure why or how that happened. :( Next time I get to the grocery store, I'll have to pick up the Pillsbury ready-to-use crusts. They are just so handy, and they're really good, I think.

Thanks!

[taste-is-sweet.livejournal.com]

Funnily enough, I used a Pillsbury crust myself. I can contend to its excellence. :D

I'm sure I'll be posting more food stuff now and again. Thank you for stopping by to read it.