December 3, 2013 by gn0mel0ver

Chocolate Pie

I am a pie girl. I love it. I like how pretty it looks when it comes out of the oven. The smell of it cooking. This is my first sweet pie I have posted. I have done three savory pies: chicken pot pie, tuna pie, and sloppy joe pie. I kind of want to eat them all. Right now. Yum!

Speaking of which: I made a tuna pie tonight. Excuse my diversion, but isn’t she perty?

Oh! And for dessert, I made a pistachio pudding pie. So, when I do not fit into any of my clothes next week, please just whisper one torturous word into my ear: “pie.”

Notice: “pie” rhymes with “thigh.” Coincidence?

I think not.

Excuse me while I “cry.”

Anyhoo, we’re talking about chocolate pie. Here it is: the chocolate pie I grew up with. The one that no other chocolate pie has ever stood up to. I had stopped making this pie for many years. It made me sad to make it. It was my uncle’s favorite thing at the holiday meal. I remember how excited he would be about it. He passed away a few years ago and I just could not bring myself to make or eat this pie. But a few months ago, The Pioneer Woman made a very similar pie. And it made me want to make my family’s pie again. I wanted a new generation to enjoy it. My uncle would have been happy about it.

There was only one problem. I could not find the recipe. Surprise!

I called my sister for it. “We just use your recipe,” she said. I assured her she was incorrect. I’ve always used our mom’s recipe.

I called my mom. She replied with, “Sweetie, we use your recipe.”

At this point, I was feeling more than slightly crazy (well, more than usual).

“Mom, I use your recipe.”

“No, honey. Remember when you changed it with Egg Beaters?”

Awwww. Now it made sense. Years ago, I had changed my mother’s recipe to use Egg Beaters instead of raw eggs and now it was “my recipe.”

I happily got “my recipe” from her.

I made it for Thanksgiving. It was a huge hit. I went home. The next day I made another pie for our family. This is because a day without pie for lunch is no day you want to be a part of. Again for lunch, not with lunch. Big difference.

Ingredients:

1 cube (8 Tbsp.) softened salted butter
2/3 cup Egg Beaters or you could use 3 pasteurized eggs
1/4 cup chocolate chips
2 squares or 1 oz. unsweetened chocolate (4 small rectangles if it comes like that.)
3/4 cup of sugar
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1 pie shell (I use Pillsbury. My mom always made her own. But this is my recipe, so we take shortcuts.)

Optional:

Whipped cream for topping individual slices

Preheat oven to 425 degrees or 400 degrees convect bake.

In a pie dish, lay your pie crust. Crimp the edges. Pierce the bottom and sides several times with a fork. If you are scared of shrinkage (mine always shrinks a little, but it doesn’t bother me), you can line your pie sheet with foil and beans or marbles to weigh it down. I never do this. But you could if you are not as lazy as me. It does not affect the taste one bit.

Bake for twelve minutes.

Remove the pie pan from the oven. Turn off the oven. Let pie shell cool completely (I usually wait one hour before moving on to the next step). If you added marbles or beans with foil, now would be the time to remove all of that (after it is cooled). This might seem obvious, but I am a maker of a chocolate pie recipe I did not know was mine. Therefore, I have lost my marbles. I do not want you to eat yours.

Melt chocolate chips and unsweetened chocolate in a small bowl in the microwave for thirty second intervals. Stir. Keep repeating until chocolate is completely melted.

In a mixer or with a hand mixer (be warned if you are using this method, you will be mixing for 17 minutes. I guess you could think of it as working off chocolate pie calories), mix together sugar and butter for one minute. Add Egg Beaters and beat on medium high speed for three minutes.

Turn mixer to low and very slowly start drizzling in the melted chocolate. After all of the chocolate is incorporated, scrape sides, and turn mixer to high. Mix for 10-15 minutes. I usually do thirteen minutes. This is the extent of my patience. I can not wait longer than thirteen minutes for anything.

It’s called being a grown up.

Pour the chocolate ~~heaven~~ mixture into the pie shell. Carefully cover pie without touching the covering to the filling (if this happens, you will have to explain to the surgeon why your stomach is full of foil. Nobody got time for that). Refrigerate until ready to serve. This needs to refrigerate at least three hours before serving.

Lunch is ready! Enjoy!

* Update: Lovely Lisa just asked me about whipped cream. You can absolutely top your slices with that airy heaven. Most of my family does! Thanks Lisa! : )

November 11, 2013 by gn0mel0ver

“It tastes like yellow”: Sloppy Joe Pie

I have had this recipe in my mind for years. I used to make sloppy joe empanadas, but they were missing a little somethin’ somethin’. I decided that “somethin'” was breakfast potatoes. As it always is.

But after I made this, I had my doubts when my son turned to me while dinner was cooking in the oven and said:

“Mom. Our dinner smells soggy.” Since this is what I had feared would happen with the potatoes in the pie, my heart raced. All I could smell was raw pie crust cooking.

Thankfully my husband made me laugh when he replied, “Really? I think it smells yellow.”

Ingredients:

2 Tbsp. Diced onions
1/2 diced red bell pepper
1/2 diced green pepper
1 tsp. worcestershire sauce
1 tsp. garlic powder
1 clove minced Garlic (or a frozen pouch or 1 teaspoon from a jar)
1 pound ground meat (I used turkey)
2 cups water
3 Tbsp. Butter
1-2 Tbsp. Olive oil (check as you are cooking your potatoes to see if they need more)
Sloppy joe mix
3 Tbsp. Ketchup
10 oz. tomato paste (1 and 1/2 small cans)
Pie crust package
8 oz. shredded cheese (2 cups) (I used shredded Mexican from Costco, but cheddar would work just as well)
1/2 package frozen country potatoes

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Heat butter and oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add onions, bell peppers and garlic. Add frozen country potatoes in a single layer around the pan. Salt and pepper according to taste. I hate when recipes say that, but in this case it is true. Cook about twelve minutes, stirring occasionally so potatoes brown evenly.

Transfer potato mixture to a small dish.

Take refrigerated pie crust out of refrigerator.

Add ground meat (I used ground turkey) to the pan. Sprinkle with salt, pepper, garlic powder and worcestershire sauce. Cook and break up until brown and crumbly. Add sloppy joe packet. Add water. Stir. Add tomato paste. Stir. Add ketchup. Stir.

Cook on low heat for five minutes.

Add potatoes mixture and shredded cheese. Gently mix together.

Place one pie crust sheet into bottom of pie pan. Pierce with fork.

Fill pie pan with sloppy joe filling.

This part is optional: Lay other pie crust sheet onto a plate. Pierce center with a small cookie cutter shape.

Lay pie crust sheet so that the cut out shape is in the middle. Pinch edges together all the way around the pan. Gently pierce the top with a fork. I try to do mine evenly.

Place in preheated oven. Cook for 45-50 minutes.

Turn off oven. Let pie cool for ten minutes before cutting.

Serve it up!

And hope it tastes neither soggy or yellow. My husband and I both loved this. My son had talked himself out of it and would barely eat it. He could not get past the idea of store cut potatoes. Imagine that. I think if he would have seen me chopping up the potatoes myself it might have made a difference. But he saw the bag, and that was that. Who knew he had this aversion?

When my husband exclaimed upon his first bite, “It does taste yellow!”

My son replied, “Do you mean disgusting?”

I gasped and said, “That’s not nice!”

My son tried to recover by saying, “It’s just that yellow is my least favorite color. When dad said, ‘it tastes like yellow,’ it sounded to me like he was saying it was disgusting.”

So there you have it folks. I made yellow. Let me know if you try this! For the record: I like yellow. I like this pie. Both of them tasted great!

I shared this on Savvy Southern Style

And My Romantic Home

August 18, 2013 by gn0mel0ver

Tuna Pie

Yes, tuna pie.

It is my favorite.

Dish.

Ever.

I am a freak.

When I was a young lass, a friend was planning a surprise party for me, she called my best friend to see what to serve at my party. She wanted to serve my favorite dishes.

My best friend responded, “Well, I do not know what you are going to serve. All I know is, she likes tuna pie.”

This answer still makes me laugh. Hysterically. Because I imagine being the person receiving that response and the questions and images it inspires.

But I digress…

My grandmother used to make this for me. My mother would make this for me.

My grandmother and mother used to make homemade pie crust and fold cheese into the edges to make the most amazing crust. Folks, I am lazy. If you choose to be ambitious, that would take this pie to the next level.

Tuna Pie (makes one pie)

Ingredients:

Package of refrigerated pie crust (I prefer Pillsbury. Choose the pie crust that can be rolled out. Not the frozen kind).
2 cups sharp cheddar cheese
2 cans of white albacore tuna in water, drained
2 cans of cream of celery soup (and yes, it must be cream of celery. Not cream of anything else. It will not taste good.)
1/2 stick of salted butter or 4 tablespoons
1 green bell pepper seeded and diced
1/4 cup chopped onion
1/8 tsp. ground pepper

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Place refrigerated pie crusts on counter at room temperature while you perform the following tasks:

Melt butter in a skillet. Place onions and green pepper in skillet on medium heat. Cook until soft, about eight minutes. Turn off heat.

In a separate bowl, mix drained tuna, cream of celery soup, and pepper. When onions and green bell pepper are soft, add them directly to this mixture. Do not drain. Add that glorious flavored butter to the tuna creation.

Mix.

Add shredded cheese.

Mix.

I forgot to add pepper to my pie! Maybe I should have read my recipe first! Be better than me. Season.

Open pie crust package. It should now be malleable. If it is not, wait five more minutes before you handle it.

Place one layer of pie crust on the bottom of the pie pan. Pierce with fork.

Pour tuna mixture into the pie pan.

Cut a pretty shape into the remaining pie crust with a small cookie cutter.

Place over tuna mixture. Crimp edges. Pierce with fork.

Isn’t this lovely? You would never know it was a tuna pie.

Bake in the oven for 50-55 minutes.

Let cool for 15 minutes before serving. It’s not going to be pretty when you slice it. Hey! You’re eating tuna pie. This is the least of your worries.

This pie is even better reheated the next day. You have to eat it by the next day. Tuna products are bad after that.

My husband despises this pie. It’s okay. My dad despises this as well. My mother still cooked it. Thank God! So, I cook it when my husband is at work. The kids and I love it.

If you love tuna, make this! Enjoy! If you hate tuna, look away! While I enjoy!

Have a great day!

I shared this on Savvy Southern Style

And My Romantic Home

Gnome Lover

Stumbling through life while still having fun

pie

Chocolate Pie

“It tastes like yellow”: Sloppy Joe Pie

Tuna Pie