I Think You Might Know What I'm Going to Say...

I'm going on hiatus. Thanks for reading my good ol' blog and supporting my crazy adventure. There's another one about to begin. Must focus on it.

I Hadz Cheezburger Pie

Well, crap. My kids are going to get sick of pie, because I think I'm going to serve them one for each dinner for the rest of their lives (well, make that until they are 18) and stuff it with yummy goodness. Tonight, I made Cheeseburger Pies. My husband ate three of them. Yes, THREE! I'm talking three mini pies (aren't they cute?), but still. I guess I might have had three, if you count me sniggling the leftovers from my boys. I can attest to the fact that both my children ate enough dinner to qualify for a dessert, so that means this pie was a success.

Here's what I did, and I winged it...

1 lb ground beef

1/2 cup onion, chopped
1/2 cup tomato, chopped
1/2 cup dill pickles, whole or chopped
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1/3 cup mayonnaise
1 tablespoon mustard
2 tablespoons ketchup
1/2 teaspoon Montreal steak seasoning (or more if you like)
1/2 teaspoon Old Bay (ditto above)
1 tablespoon olive oil

Heat up olive oil in skillet on medium heat. Add onions and cook until transparent (5 minutes). Add ground beef and season with steak seasoning and Old Bay. In a mixing bowl, combine tomato, cheddar cheese, pickles, mayonnaise, mustard, ketchup and tomato. When beef is cooked, combine well with tomato and cheese mixture.

That's the filling! Now, what I did was (cheating) use the personal pie maker from Breville that my parents SO GENEROUSLY got me for Xmas to complete my mini Cheeseburger pies. It was just so frickin' easy. I made 12 of them tonight. For those of you without a pie maker, just line a 9-inch pie plate with pre-made or fresh pie dough, pour in the filling, and top (or don't) with more pie dough. Cook for 40-50 minutes at 350, to make sure your crust is done.

Kinda in the Mood for Pie

That just sounds dirty to me. Does it to you or am I just a royal potty mouth/sophomoric doofus? Oh-the-well. I am what I am. So, I'm gonna make a pie tomorrow and it's gonna be savory. Greg...I am a dessert turncoat or a born-again savorist (Is that a word?). Dunno. I'm thinking Cheeseburger pie. Who's with me here? Do I hear a "HELL YEA!"? Well, I'm excited and so is my behind, as it is sure to expand after this delightful dish. Yesh.

All Day Bake-Off

So, Wednesday Night Pies didn't happen, because I spent the evening prepping for a big ol' full day of baking on Thursday. I (along with my business partners...yup, you read that right) spent from 9:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. whipping up a magical new take on pie. We are excited to introduce it to everyone, but for now, I'll just tease. We'll go live with our new venture (name to be revealed) in about two weeks...or less. AAAACK!

Sweet and Savory

I broke down and did a savory pie this Wednesday. Sorry my sweet pies, but the savory pie was quite yummy, too. There is room in my heart for both of you.

The savory pie was a take on a caprese salad. The main ingredients: big slices of tomato, fresh mozzarella, parmesan cheese and fresh basil...plus the crust, of course. I made this for friends of mine who just had a beautiful (really beautiful) baby boy, and they said it tasted like a fresh margherita pizza. I didn't follow a recipe on this one, so here's what I think I did...ha, ha:

5 large tomatoes
1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil
1/3 cup fresh mozzarella
1/3 cup shredded mozzarella
1/3 cup parmesan cheese
1/3 mayo
one clove garlic, minced
1/2 large yellow onion, diced
salt
pepper
prebaked crust


Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Slice and salt the tomatoes and layer into a colander. Let the tomatoes drain for about 15 minutes. In a skillet over medium, add one tablespoon of olive oil. Add onion and garlic. Cook until onions are transparent. While onions/garlic are cooking, mix together the mozzarella, shredded mozzarella, parmesan cheese and mayo. Mix onions and garlic to the cheese mixture along with the tablespoon of basil. Add one layer of tomatoes into prebaked crust. Add a layer of the cheese mixture. Add a dash of salt and pepper. Add another layer of tomatoes, another layer of cheese mixture and dash of salt and pepper. Add one final layer of tomatoes, cheese mixture and salt and pepper. Top with lattice crust, if you'd like. Bake for 35-40 minutes.

Oh, and I also made a chocolate meringue pie. My personal favorite. Yum, snarf! This pie is like crack. I'm convinced. Especially when you get the meringue really tall and the pudding really smooth.

Oh Crap. What Pie am I Baking Tonight? BTW...Pie is IN!

Alrighty...I didn't post my blog to FB and I have no input from peeps, so I'm going to make another call for suggestions. Greg...this is your chance to pony up a pie idea! ;)

Also, I just wanted to reiterate the fact that I (and a lot of other foodie folks) think cupcakes need to step off. Takey a lookey:

• Food Network’s Kitchens: "We are looking forward to innovation around that all-American icon: pie. We anticipate pie shops, pie trucks, pie books, pie blogs, festivals of pie. Hopefully everyone gets a piece of the pie in 2011. And that to us is a pretty comforting thought." 
• NPR: Cupcakes are Dead. Long Live the Pie!
• The Feast: The Year's Top 10 Trends From Pizzaiolo to Pie 
• Eater: "Talia Baiocchi, wine writer: Pie Defeats Cupcake in Epic Baked Goods Battle"  
• Allrecipe.com 2011 Food Trend Survey: "Pies of all types - hot and cold, sweet and savory - are increasingly popular. In 2010, savory pie was often served as part of dinner, and a sweet pie as dessert. Page views for AllRecipe's pie recipes were up more than 20 percent from 2009" 
• Nation's Restaurant News: Pies top 2011 restaurant trend list
• NY Daily News: "If there is one thing that [Liz] Vaccariello, [Every Day with Rachel Ray editor-in-chief] insists, it's that 2011 will be the year of the pie."

Need I say more? Nope. Comfort is back, my friends.