Ronni Lundy's Tomato Pie

A few months ago, I finally bought Ronni Lundy's mountain South cooking staple Shuck Beans, Stack Cakes, and Honest Fried Chicken, after hearing its praises sung for years.  My friend Lora always said that when she first met her husband, she knew he was a keeper, because he had the cookbook on his shelf. I'm not sure what took me so long to acquire it, but I have a lot of catching up to do, just as Ronni is about to release another highly touted book, Victuals, due out at the end of the month.

Faced with a glut of heirloom tomatoes, as one often is in the month of August, I went looking for a new tomato pie recipe, and reached first for Shuck Beans. The recipe, as Ronni says, is a traditional version of the Southern restaurant favorite stewed tomatoes, and as I say, is not to be confused with pizza, Philly/South New Jersey tomato pie, or for that matter, sweet green tomato pie. It bakes up easily with a simple top crust, and is an ideal side dish for a summer dinner on the porch.

Tomato Pie
Adapted from Shuck Beans, Stack Cakes, and Honest Fried Chicken by Ronni Lundy

Ingredients
For the crust:
1 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 Tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
1/3 cup buttermilk

For the filling:
1 Tablespoon unsalted butter
1/2 cup white onion, chopped
3 1/2 cups fresh tomatoes and juice, peeled and chopped (1 large 28 1/2 oz. can tomatoes also works)
1 cup milk
1 Tablespoon brown sugar
1 Tablespoon cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon fresh basil, minced
1/2 teaspoon salt

Directions
1. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour and salt, then use fingers to work in the 2 Tablespoons of butter. Pour buttermilk into the flour mixture and stir until well blended but still damp. Turn out onto a floured board and roll into an 11-inch circle (or the size of your large cast-iron skillet). Cut into strips about an inch wide for the lattice top.

2. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Melt the Tablespoon of butter into a skillet. Add onions and cook until softened. Meanwhile, drain juice from the tomatoes and add milk to the juice. Whisk the sugar, cornstarch, and spices into the tomato juice and milk mixture until well blended.  Pour into skillet and turn heat to medium. Add the tomatoes, cut into bite-sized pieces, and bring to a boil, stirring constantly.

3. Let the mixture boil for 1 minute, then remove from the heat and let cool slightly. Lay the strips of dough over the top of the tomato mixture, weaving to make a lattice, if desired. The tomato mixture will bubble up through the strips to flavor them.

4. Place skillet in the oven and bake for 25 minutes until the dough is golden-brown. Enjoy as a side dish, perhaps with a salad and chicken or fish.

Related recipes:
Heirloom Tomato Hand Pies with Bacon, Cheddar, and Thai Basil Jalapenos
Pimento Cheese and Tomato Pie
Savory Heirloom Tomato-Ricotta Galette
Tomato, Bacon and Jalapeno Pie

Beef Picadillo Pie with Mashed Potatoes

I was first introduced to picadillo-- the spicy beef dish traditional to Spain and other Latin American countries-- by the folks at La Mano Coffee Bar in Takoma, D.C. Shortly after they opened in fall of 2013, I stopped by for a coffee and quick lunch bite and tried their beef picadillo hand pie. It was heaven, with juicy tomatoes, ample spice and a touch of sweetness in a flaky, buttery crust. I've craved it ever since. Eventually, I worked up the courage to email them and ask for the recipe, a request which co-owner Anna Petrillo graciously obliged.

I've been making that beef picadillo pie often lately, finally settling on a somewhat adapted recipe that works well as a main course as well as a potluck contribution. While some picadillo includes raisins and olives, I veer towards spicy and tang rather than sweet and salty. Gordy's Thai Basil Jalapeños are perfect for that extra kick, and the addition of the crust and mashed potato toping provides the antidote to the heat.



Anna included a few additional tips with her recipe, which I'll include here:

I did not grow up eating picadillo, but I have always enjoyed dishes that start with a base and can be modified to one's own tastes and depending on what's in the cupboard. Over the years I have had many versions of picadillo made by friends, during traveling, and in restaurants. Everyone has their own take on it. I think the important points to remember for this are:

1) Make sure you mince up the ground beef into as small as chunks as possible as it's cooking ("picadillo" means "mince") so the meat can absorb and be coated with the spices and sauce.

 2) Try to create a balance of all the main flavors: 1) sweet, 2) salty/tangy, and 3) spicy. Tomatoes, olives, and raisins seem to be common elements but it's fun to experiment with ratios or look for items in your pantry that you can throw in to create those flavors. I've made it with all types of brined items like anchovies and olives, different types of vinegars or wine, and different spices like thyme, tumeric, bay leaf, etc. 

For a hand pie, because you're only getting three or four bites, and it all has to stand up against a salty, buttery crust, you want a lot of flavor packed in the meat. So I go heavy on all the flavors. It also helps if you let the mixture sit overnight to allow the flavors to blend. The meat mixture is also delicious just with rice and beans or tortillas if you don't want to use it as a stuffing. Good luck!

Beef Picadillo Pie with Mashed Potatoes
Adapted from La Mano Coffee Bar

Ingredients
Nothing in the House pie crust, halved

For the beef picadillo:
1 1/2 pounds ground beef
1 onion, diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
5 shallots, minced
1 ounce ginger root, finely grated
1 teaspoons dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 1/2 teaspoons fennel seed
1/4 cup chili powder
1 teaspoon salt (more, to taste)
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon or allspice (optional)
1/2 Tablespoon Sriracha (optional to taste)
1 large can (about 25 ounces) crushed tomatoes
1/4 cup capers
1/4 cup Gordy's Thai Basil Jalapeños (or other pickled jalapeños)
1/8 cup vinegar
1/8 cup lime juice
1 bunch cilantro leaves, chopped
1/2 Tablespoon cornstarch
Olive oil
1/2 teaspoon sugar (optional, to taste)
Egg wash (leftover 1/2 egg and 1/2 Tablespoon whole milk or cream)

For the mashed potatoes:
2 pounds Yukon gold potatoes
1/2 Tablespoon salt, plus more to taste
1 cup whole milk or heavy cream
4 Tablespoons unsalted butter
Pepper, to taste

Directions
For the crust:
1.  Prepare half of Nothing in the House pie crust as per the directions, reserving the leftover egg for an egg wash and saving other half of the recipe in the freezer for a future pie. Chill dough at least one hour before rolling and fitting into a greased and floured 9-inch pie pan. Wrap with plastic wrap and place in fridge until ready to use. 

For the beef picadillo:
1. Brown ground beef in olive oil (if needed) until cooked through and no more pink remains. Add the onion, garlic, and shallots, cooking over medium high heat until onions are softened and translucent. Mix in the ginger root, oregano, cumin, red pepper flakes, fennel seed, chili powder, and salt 1 teaspoon salt. Add in the cinnamon or allspice and Sriracha, if using. Cook for another few minutes until spices are fragrant. Use a large spoon to break up the meat chunks until finely chopped. 

2. Add in crushed tomatoes, capers, jalapeños, vinegar, and lime juice. Simmer 20 minutes or until the liquids are reduced, continuing to break up meat chunks. If the mixture seems too dry, add some water.

3. Add chopped cilantro leaves and 1/2 tablespoon cornstarch, pre-dissolved in small amount of water. Simmer 1-2 minutes until the mixture is a little thickened. Taste for salt, adding more if necessary. If too tangy, add sugar, to taste. Once cooked, allow mixture to cool to room temperature before filling pie crust.

For the mashed potatoes:
1. Peel potatoes and cut into quarters. Place in a pot, covered with water and 1/2 Tablespoon salt. Bring to a boil over low heat until potatoes are soft and tender when pierced with a fork. Drain potatoes and return to the pot or the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment.

2. With the mixer, immersion blender, or a potato masher, mash potatoes until smooth. Add butter, stirring quickly to melt. Mix in milk or cream, then add salt and pepper to taste.

To assemble:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Scoop beef picadillo filling into refrigerated pie crust, filling just to the beginnings of the crust flute (you may have some leftover filling). Mound mashed potatoes on top. Brush crust with egg wash. Place pie in oven and bake for 30 minutes until crust is browned and filling is bubbling. Serve warm and enjoy!



Related recipes:
Frito Pie
Gordy's Cherry Pepper Spread Galette
Heirloom Tomato Hand Pies with Bacon, Cheddar & Thai Basil Jalapeños
Pimento Cheese and Tomato Pie
Tomato, Bacon & Jalapeño Pie

Christmas Pie Ideas

My trip home for Christmas has been delayed by a pesky migraine, but the upshot is that this extra recovery time offers me chance to squeeze in a little post before the holiday. Things have been busy for me, with a new city and job and all, and I realize my previous post was of a similar bent, just for Thanksgiving, but I'm looking forward to digging back in to some regular posts in the new year. In the meantime, enjoy your winter holiday celebrations, whatever they may be, and hope there's some sweetness to go with it. 

Chocolate
Chocolate Orange Pie with Mascarpone Cream
Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie with Nabs Crust, pictured top left
Milk Chocolate & Salted Caramel Hazelnut Tart
Peppermint Pattie Tart

Fruit & Nut
Bourbon Ginger Pecan Pie
Cranberry Pie, pictured bottom right
Fig-Pistachio Tarte Tatin
Shaker Orange Tarts

Preserves & Icebox
Almond & Grapefruit-Ginger Marmalade Crostata
Bakewell Tart with Apple Rosemary Jelly, pictured bottom left
Meyer Lemon Honey Marmalade Linzer Torte
Speculoos Icebox Pie

Cookies & Cakes
Pea & Corn Cookies
Sandy Spring Sand Tarts, pictured top right
Whiskey-Soaked Dark Chocolate Bundt Cake

Savory
Corn and Black Pepper Crackers
Ham, Gruyère & Caramelized Onion Galette with Fried Egg
Red & Golden Beet & Goat Cheese Tart
Tri-color Potato, Caramelized Onion, Goat Cheese & Rosemary Galette

As always, you can find many more recipes, via the Recipe Index.

Thanksgiving Pie Ideas

As usual,  I'll be making a game-time decision on my Thanksgiving pie selections. In general, though I tend to go for at least one classic pick and one new, experimental, or non-traditional option. It will be hard to top last year's Cranberry Chess Pie, which has since become a new favorite, inspiring many variations with other fruits. If you're also still pondering what pies to make, here's a few suggestions for your Thanksgiving table-- both savory and sweet. If this list doesn't do it for ya, check out the Recipe Index, as well as past guides from 2013 and 2012.

Pumpkin & Sweet Potato
Drunken Pumpkin Bourbon Pie with Mascarpone Cream
Pumpkin & Chai Spice Nut Butter Pie
Sweet Potato Pie with Cornmeal Crust (pictured top left)
Sweet Potato Speculoos Pie

Fall Fruits
Apple Pie with Salted Caramel Glaze
Apple Slump (not really a pie, but so what, who cares?!)
Cranberry Chess Pie (a new favorite, pictured top right)
Cranberry Hand Pies
Cranberry-Sage Pie
Persimmon Pie

Chocolate & Nuts
Bittersweet Chocolate Pecan Pie
Chocolate Chess Pie
Pecan Pie with Brown Sugar (pictured bottom right)
Samoa Pie

Custard & Cheese
Cranberry Goat Cheese Tart with Almond Shortbread Crust
Pumpkin-Ginger Cheesecake Pie
Salty Honey Pie

Savory
Celery Ham Tart aka Pissaladière
Colcannon Pie
Gordy's Cherry Pepper Spread Galette
Pear, Gruyere & Caramelized Onion Hand Pies (pictured bottom left)

As always, I'd love to hear what you're baking this holiday, whether from this list or not. Have fun and happy Thanksgiving!

Pear, Gruyere & Caramelized Onion Hand Pies

It feels a little disingenuous to post this without divulging that that when I made these savory pocket pies, I wasn't able to eat them.

For the past two weeks, I've been doing a detox/cleanse guided by my friend Michelle, a naturopath in Detroit. I'd been interested in doing something of the sort-- prompted by a lethargic feeling after weeks of travel with some overly-indulgent food choices as well as a cycle of bad migraines. I was interested in cleansing, but also in potentially identifying and/or eliminating some migraine triggers. I saw that Michelle was offering a guided detox and asked it I could participate from afar. I especially liked that  it offered the support of a doctor and a participant community-- even a remote one-- and I think it made me more likely to follow through and stick with it over the two weeks.

The detox worked similarly to a food elimination diet, cutting out food items that are inflamatory and/or a common source of sensitivities. That meant, roughly, no wheat, coffee, dairy, soy, sugar, alcohol, peanuts, corn, nightshades, oranges & grapefruit, and processed foods and meant a lot of fruits and vegetables, grains like quinoa and brown rice, nuts, coconut or almond milk, green tea, grass-fed meat, fermented foods, and water.

It was much easier than I imagined and I adhered to it pretty strictly, though did allow myself a glass of red wine on one or two occasions (1 being the evening after I finished moving). After I broke by caffeine/coffee addiction, which resulted in a few minor headaches, I felt really good, healthy, and energetic throughout.

I'm still in the process of adding foods back in and testing sensitivities. I know right now that I'm planning to cut out a lot of dairy, particularly heavy creams, soft cheeses, etc.--this was a sensitivity I was already fairly aware of, but the detox helped me to really see what an effect it has on my digestion, mental awareness, and general well being. I don't think I have other serious sensitivities, which I'm thankful for, but feel more conscious now of the effect that an excess of wheat and sugar has on my body as a whole, and in general am very appreciative of the consciousness and self-care approach that the detox has brought to my eating habits.

Like any time restrictions are set on creative process, I really enjoyed the way the cleanse injected some new energy and innovation into my daily cooking. Working within the detox's constraints, actually allowed me to transcend my cooking comfort zone and "same old" recipe mode, and try out some new things-- namely crispy chickpeas, quinoa-carrot-cabbage soup, and a variety of green smoothies.

That being said, I'm also excited to return to the world that includes Pear, Gruyère & Caramelized Onion Hand Pies. Quite versatile, these can serve as a breakfast, lunch (with a side salad accompaniment), or a dinner appetizer or side. I relied on friends to be taste testers and they gave it a thumbs up. Feel free to substitute the pears for apples, and the gruyère and rosemary with other cheeses and herbs.

Pear, Gruyere & Caramelized Onion Hand Pies
Makes 8-10 depending on size

Ingredients 
Nothing in the House Pie Crust
3/4 lb. (about 3) Bosch pears, cut into small wedges
1 Tablespoon. olive oil
1 yellow onion, sliced thin
1/2 cup gruyère, grated
1 Tablespoon fresh rosemary
Sea salt & fresh ground pepper, to taste
1 beaten egg + 1 tsp. milk/cream for an egg wash.

Directions
1. Prepare Nothing in the House pie crust as per the directions. Once chilled, roll out dough onto a floured surface and cut into circles of equal size (mine are about 6-inches). Place cut circles on a parchment-lined baking sheet and return to the fridge while you prepare the filling.

2. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Add 1 Tblsp. olive oil and sliced onions to a cast iron skillet and place over medium heat. Stir to coat onions with olive oil. Cook the onions, stirring occasionally, until translucent. Sprinkle onions with salt and pepper and reduce heat to medium-low. Cook 25-30 more minuted until onions are caramelized. 

3. Place onions in a medium sized-bowl and add pears, gruyère, rosemary, and salt & pepper to taste. Remove cut dough from fridge and add a scoop of filling to one side of every cut circle. Brush edges of dough with cold water and fold the other half of the dough over the filling to form a crescent shape. Using a fork, poke a steam vent in the top and press the edges to seal.

4. Brush hand pies with egg wash and sprinkle with flake sea salt, if desired. Bake hand pies on parchment-lined baking sheet for 35-40 minutes, rotating baking sheet halfway through. Crust will be golden brown when done. Transfer to a cooling rack and let cool slightly. Serve still warm.

Related recipes:
Ham, Gruyère & Caramelized Onion Galette with Fried Egg
Heirloom Tomato Pies with Bacon, Cheddar & Thai Basil Jalapenos
Pear Tarte Tatin
Savory Apple Tart with Caramelized Onion, Gruyère & Sage

The First Pizza Party at Big Switch Farm

This guest post from my dear friend Lora Smith takes us back to high summer in Southeastern Kentucky, and the first pizza party at Big Switch Farm--the first of many, I expect. Some of our pizzas were summer-seasonal, but pizza is for all seasons. Now from Lora...

"The land belongs to the future, Carl; that's the way it seems to me. How many of the names on the county clerk's plat will be there in fifty years? I might as well try to will the sunset over there to my brother's children. We come and go, but the land is always here. And the people who love it and understand it are the people who own it for a little while."

-- Willa Cather, O Pioneers!

When I met my husband we were both working on sustainable development efforts in Kentucky-- Joe with a farm organization that supports small family farmers and me for a grassroots organization dedicated to social and environmental justice. Both of us were also dealing with the paradox that while we worked on issues of sustainability, our lives were anything but sustainable. As we explored ideas of the future we wanted to create together, we returned again and again to a desire to become landowners, to farm at a small scale, and raise a family near friends and family in the mountains of Southeastern Kentucky.

Joe and I found Big Switch Farm the year we were married. Its previous owners were a state-recognized Native American tribe who were using the property as a gathering place to host dances and celebrations four times a year. Before that it had been a hunting property, and many years before that a country road dotted with small homesteads ran through the middle of the acreage. We find remnants of the farm's past everywhere on the land: the foundation of old houses, empty shotgun shells and makeshift targets, sticks tied to fabric in the color of the four directions. Big Switch has always been a gathering place and we intend to keep it that way.

A small group of friends joined us for our first camp out and party on the farm this summer. Joe and I recently purchased a small mobile wood-fired oven and couldn't think of a better way to test it out. Many of our friends also happen to be talented chefs, bakers, and home cooks. We even had a pizza ringer in our friend Brett who spent his teenage years slinging dough at Papa John's. It showed in his perfectly round crusts that made our oblong and misshapen ones seem less "rustic" and more, well, amateur. Everyone brought ingredients to pitch in and each person made their own pizza to share with the group with "ooohs!" and "ahhhs!" erupting every time a new one was pulled from the oven. Prosciutto, salami, sausage, green onions, lambsquarters, garlic scapes, sundried tomatoes, brisket, mozzarella, homemade tomato sauce... there were no losers in the bunch. We even used pizza dough to make a blackberry galette for dessert and our friend Anna whipped up a breakfast pizza with leftover ingredients the next morning.

Along with ingredients, everyone arrived with something to offer-- gifts of food and drink, fiddle tunes, laughter-- and pitched in to create our first gathering on the farm. Here's to many more pizza parties to come while Big Switch belongs to us-- for a little while.

Breakfast Pizza with Sausage, Greens, and Fried Eggs aka "The Dwight Yolkum"
Inspiration from Anna Bogle

Makes 2 breakfast pizzas

Ingredients
Peter Reinhart's Napoletana Pizza Dough, halved
1 bunch kale
Small bunch lambsquarters (you can stick to kale if you prefer)
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 red onion, finely diced in thin rings
8 ounces breakfast sausage (Anna used Murray's smoked sausage + Berea College breakfast links)
8 ounces parmesan, cut into thin slices
8 large eggs
Olive oil for drizzling
Cornmeal for dusting

Directions
1. Prepare half of Peter Reinhart's Napoletana Pizza Dough the night before making the pizza. Follow Peter's instructions, though rather than forming into 6 balls, form into 2 large balls of dough. 2 hours before making the pizza, follow the steps for letting the dough rest on a counter dusted with flour and sprayed with olive oil.

2. At least 45 minutes before making the pizza, preheat the oven as high as it will go and place a baking stone on either the bottom of the oven (gas or wood-fired oven) or on a rack in the lower third of the oven. If you don't have a stone, you can use the back of a baking pan, but don't preheat it.

3. Meanwhile, prepare the filling. In a medium skillet, cook the sausage until cooked through. Transfer to a plate to drain and let cool, then cut into small chunks.

4. Using the same skillet, sautée garlic and onion in sausage grease until translucent. Add the kale and lambsquarters with a little bit of water and cook until the greens are cooked down and tender.

5. Shape and stretch one of the balls of dough into a pizza of at least a 12-inch diameter and place on a peel or on your baking sheet, dusted with cornmeal. Sprinkle half of the sausage and sautéed greens on the pizza, then arrange parmesan slices on top. Drizzle entire pizza with olive oil, and sprinkle with salt, if desired. If you're using a wood-fired oven or an oven that gets very hot, crack 4 eggs on the pizza and place in the oven. If you're using a conventional oven that can only reach 500-550 degrees F, wait to crack the eggs until the end of the baking time. In a high-heat or wood-fired oven, the pizza should bake in 5-9 minutes. In a conventional oven, this will take about twice as long. If using a conventional oven, check at 10-15 minutes, and when crust is beginning to brown and bubble and cheese is melting, crack 4 eggs on top of pizza, and bake an additional 5 minutes.

6. Once crust is golden brown, cheese is melted, and eggs are cooked through, remove pizza from oven and let cool. Serve slightly warm. Repeat with remaining dough and ingredients. Enjoy!

Follow Big Switch Farm on Instagram here.

Related recipe:
Ham, Gruyère & Caramelized Onion Galette with Fried Egg

Heirloom Tomato Hand Pies with Bacon, Cheddar & Thai Basil Jalapenos

A couple of weeks ago I head the real pleasure of working with the menswear collective MUTINY DC, along with creative director Morgan Hungerford West and photographer Justin T. Gellerson to develop a summer heirloom tomato pie recipe.

I've been keen on Green Tomato Pies this summer, inspired by Richmond chef Travis Milton and the rave reviews I'd heard of his fried pies at the Appalachian Food Summit. When MUTINY suggested using the unripe summer fruit in hand pies, my mind went to savory and to fond memories of this Tomato Bacon Jalapeno Pie I made for a Buckeye Banjo party a couple of years ago.

Subbing in Gordy's Thai Basil Jalapenos gives this recipe its D.C. bearings and complicates the flavor. The result is an adult take on the classic BLT sandwich--my favorite way to enjoy fresh tomatoes--ripe and green--from the backyard garden.

If you end up having leftover filling, save it and scramble it with eggs the next morning for a killer breakfast.

The other delight of this project, was that the folks at Etto generously let us work in their handsome kitchen, meaning I got to bake these pies (and cook the bacon!) in the beautiful wood-fired oven. Ever had bacon cooked in a brick oven? It's practically DOUBLE SMOKED. I highly recommended it.

Heirloom Tomato Hand Pies with Bacon, Cheddar, and Thai Basil Jalapenos

Makes 8-10 hand pies, depending on size

Ingredients

Nothing in the House Pie Crust*

3/4 lbs. heirloom tomatoes, half green/unripe and half ripe (meaty varieties are best), diced

1/2 tsp. sea salt

1 1/2 c. sharp cheddar, shredded

2 cloves garlic, minced

1/4 c. Gordy's Thai Basil Jalapenos, diced and drained

4 oz. bacon, cooked and diced or crumbled

2 Tblsp. fresh basil, julienned and then halved into small strips

1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper (optional)

1 beaten egg + 1 tsp. milk/cream for egg wash

Flake sea salt, for dusting

Directions

1. Prepare Nothing-in-the-House pie crust as per the directions. Once chilled, roll out dough onto a floured surface and cut into rectangles of equal size. Place cut crust on parchment paper on a baking sheet and return to chill in the fridge while you prepare the filling.

2. Place diced tomatoes in a colander and place in a large mixing bowl or kitchen sink. Sprinkle tomatoes with salt and toss, then let sit at room temperature for 30 minutes while the juices drain.

3. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a large mixing bowl combine cheddar, minced garlic, drained jalapenos, cooked bacon, basil, cayenne pepper, if using, and the drained tomatoes. Stir with a wooden spoon to combine.

4. Remove cut dough from the fridge and mound filling in the center of half of the cut rectangles. Brush edges of dough with cold water and place a matching piece of dough on top. Press the edges with a fork to seal. Brush hand pies with egg wash, sprinkle with flake sea salt, and cut a steam vent in the top of each with a fork.

5. On a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, bake hand pies for 35-40 minutes, rotating baking sheet halfway through. Filling will be bubbling and crust will be golden brown when done. Transfer pies to a cooling rack and let cool slightly. Serve still warm.

*Tad suggested using a partial lard crust, and I agree that it would be a great complement to the filling. You can replace half the butter in this recipe with leaf lard, or use your favorite butter/lard pie crust recipe.

See MUTINY DC for the original post. Photos by Justin T. Gellerson

Pimento Cheese and Tomato Pie

I first made this Pimento Cheese and Tomato Pie when I was in grad school at the University of North Carolina. My friend Emily Wallace (the other Emily Elizabeth) was writing her Master's thesis on the history of pimento cheese and we wanted to combine our two food loves into one dish for a potluck at our professor Marcie Cohen Ferris' class.

I wasn't too familiar with pimento cheese until I moved to North Carolina. I'd had casual encounters with the stuff--at potlucks and in tubs at the grocery store--but without context, the mixture of cheddar cheese, pimentos, and mayonnaise just seemed like a sad deconstructed cheese ball to this Midwesterner. But I came to the Piedmont at just the right time for some pimento cheese schooling. Not only was the iconic sandwich spread becoming a trend across the U.S., appearing in everything from cheesecake to jalapeno poppers, but my fellow Emily Elizabeth was deeply entrenched in a study of pimento cheese's cultural history--which happened to hit upon some of my own research interests like women's domestic creativity and entrepreneurship.

According to Emily in this Indy Week article, pimento cheese was considered a dainty treat across the nation at the turn of the 20th century. Finger sandwiches made with the spread were a delicacy, particularly because the Spanish-imported pimentos were expensive and hard to come by. By 1915, Kraft had processed the spread and farmers began to grow their own pimentos stateside. 

In the Piedmont of North and South Carolina, textile mills offered lunches from dope carts, which sold sandwiches with various spreads, including pimento cheese. Soon small companies, often with women at the helm, supplied the food carts with sandwiches. Wallace says, "These women used food as a means to escape the drudgery of home or other unwanted employment, such as a textile mill. And pimento cheese—food that was considered part of a women's domestic domain—was a window not only into work but also business ownership, financial independence, and creativity in ways that were nonthreatening to gender roles of the time."

Now I eat my pimento cheese, whether as a sandwich, on my grits, or in a pie, with pride, knowing that it traces back to a long line of enterprising women, sure, but also because it tastes damn good. This pie recipe came to us from our friend April McGreger of Farmer's Daughter Brand Pickles and Preserves. She adapted it from The Southern Foodways Alliance's Community Cookbook. Though best with fresh tomatoes, it's become a Pi(e) Day staple and was included in this article on Pi(e) Day and female friendship that my friend Lora Smith and I wrote for Ronni Lundy's Zenchilada. 

Pimento Cheese and Tomato Pie

Adapted from The Southern Foodways Alliance Community Cookbook via April McGreger

Ingredients
Nothing in the House pie crust, halved
20 oz. tomatoes (canned whole San Marzanos or fresh)
2 Tablespoons fresh basil leaves, chopped
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
1 1/4 cups prepared pimento cheese
1/3 cup panko bread crumbs or Ritz cracker crumbs
1 Tablespoon unsalted butter, melted
1/8 teaspoon garlic, finely chopped
1 Tablespoon parmesan cheese, grated
Fresh ground pepper

Directions
For the crust:
1. Prepare half of the Nothing-in-the-House pie crust as per the directions. Chill dough at least 1 hour before rolling out and fitting into a greased and floured 9-inch pie pan. Place pie plate in fridge for about 20 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

2. Once you've let the pie crust chill, prick crust with a fork all over the bottom. Line crust with parchment paper and pie weights or dried beans and bake for 25 minutes. After 25 minutes, remove weights, reduce temperature to 350 degrees F and bake until crust is golden brown, about 20 minutes more. Let crust cool completely and leave oven on for the tomatoes.

For the filling:
1. Drain the tomatoes (if using canned--and keep the juice for Bloody Marys!) and dice them into 1-inch pieces. In a medium bowl combine the tomatoes, basil, salt and pepper, and half of the olive oil. Toss with your hands until all the tomatoes have a little oil on them. Pour the remaining half of the olive oil onto a sheet pan, rubbing with your hands to coat the bottom of the pan. Spread the tomatoes on the pan in a single layer. Roast the tomatoes in the oven about 15 minutes or until they dry up a little and start to shrivel slightly.

2. Fill the bottom of the pie crust with the tomato mixture. Spread the prepared pimento cheese over the tomatoes. In a small bowl, toss bread or Ritz cracker crumbs with melted butter, garlic, parmesan cheese and pepper, and sprinkle over the top of the pie.

3. Place pie in oven 10-15 minutes, just enough to warm and brown the crumb top. Remove from oven and serve slightly warm.

I've been making Stephanie of 3191's recipe for Pimento Cheese for a few years now--it's become a New Year's Eve tradition (served with Sweet Potato Biscuits) that my family now requests. But I wanted to include Emily Wallace's grandmother recipe--which is also delicious and shows some of the variation in style. Of course in North & South Carolina you're pretty much required to make it with Duke's mayonnaise--if you do make it with Hellmann's or another sweet mayo, I might not include the sugar.

Pimento Cheese
Adapted from Charlotte Heavner Wallace's (Emily Wallace's grandmother) recipe

Ingredients
1 lb. sharp cheddar (Charlotte used red-rind hoop cheese)
1 4-oz. jar pimentos, diced
4 Tablespoons mayonnaise (Duke's recommended)
1/2 teaspoon mustard
2 Tablespoons white wine vinegar
1 Tablespoon sugar
Dash vinegary hot sauce, like Cholula or Tapatio

Directions
1. Grate cheese into a medium-sized bowl and add entire contents of pimento jar. Mix with a wooden spoon. Add other ingredients and stir to combine. Taste and add any more of the above ingredients according to your preference.



Related recipes:
Phoebe Lawless' Rustic Cheese Pie
Savory Heirloom Tomato-Ricotta Galette
Tomato, Bacon & Jalapeno Pie

Last photo by Mackenzie Smith from Pi(e) Day 2014

Colcannon Pie

When my friend Abra was studying at the Ballymaloe Cookery School in County Cork, Ireland, we maintained a regular pen pal correspondence. In her letters, she told tales of living in a cottage on the farm while excitedly learning new culinary skills that were often Irish in flavor but upheld broader values of farm-to-table, seasonal, traditional yet creative, and fresh. We also bounced around dreams of future collaborative farms and restaurants, schools and artist collectives.

Abra has since set forth on those aspirations. She works as a chef in Chicago and is part-owner of Michigan's Bare Knuckle Farm, where she runs beautiful farm dinners (she also just shared this fantastic Celery Ham Tart recipe on the blog!). Recently, I was asked to contribute St. Patrick's Day-related recipes to Domicile DC's spring issue, and was browsing through The Hoosier Mama Book of Pie, where I remembered I'd seen a recipe for Colcannon Pie. Then upon reading the headnote, I discovered that the recipe was inspired by Ms. Abra Berens herself. Of course!

Colcannon is a traditional Irish dish made of mashed potatoes with kale or cabbage, combined with leeks or scallions and butter or cream (as most traditional dishes go, there are many different regional variations). In Ireland, colcannon is historically associated with Halloween--charms hidden inside the colcannon bowl were a game of marriage divination for young girls. Here in the United States, the dish is affiliated with St. Patrick's Day, like many Irish and pseudo-Irish things.

This recipe uses colcannon as a double crust pie filling and adds a few extra ingredients like pickles, maple syrup, and apple cider vinegar. Abra uses spicy pickled ramps in her colcannon and Paula Haney of Hoosier Mama calls for celery and shallot pickles in hers, but this time I used Hot Chili Spears from DC locals Gordy's Pickle Jar. The added spice was superb, though you could really use any type of savory pickle you have on hand. Since making it for Domicile and the blog, I also prepared it with friends on a snowy weekend in the Hudson Valley--the perfect context for it, as this is a hearty pie that really sticks to your ribs (I could insert some nerdy potato famine joke here, but I shall refrain). And as a warning, this recipe has a lot of steps and takes some time to make. It's best made when you have some time on your hands, have prepared some items--like the mashed potatoes-- in advance, or have extra hands to help out.

Roasted Garlic Mashed Potatoes

Adapted from The Hoosier Mama Book of Pie

Ingredients

2 heads roasted garlic

Approximately 2 ½ pounds potatoes, peeled and chopped into 1 ½ inch cubes

Kosher salt

1 cup sour cream

1 stick unsalted butter

¼ cup whole milk

Directions

1. Place the potatoes in a large pot and cover with cold water by 2 inches. Add a few pinches of salt and bring to a boil over high heat. Then reduce the heat.

2. Continue to boil the potatoes at medium-high heat until they are fork tender, about 15-20 minutes. Transfer the potatoes to a colander and set aside until the water is drained.

3. Add the sour cream and butter to the still warm pot and warm over medium heat until the butter is melted.

4. Mash the potatoes (I used a standing mixer) and stir them together with cream mixture. Squeeze the roasted garlic from the heads. Add the whole milk and fold in the roasted garlic. Season to taste with salt.

Colcannon Pie

Adapted from The Hoosier Mama Book of Pie

Ingredients

Nothing in the House pie crust

¼ head green cabbage, shredded

2 Tablespoon olive oil

Kosher salt & fresh ground black pepper, to taste

1 bunch kale, de-stemmed and finely chopped

¼ cup hard cider

¼ cup apple cider vinegar

2 Tablespoon maple syrup

2 Tablespoon water

½ cup sour cream

3 Tablespoons buttermilk

4 cups roasted garlic mashed potatoes (recipe below)

¼ cup Gordy’s Pickle Jar Hot Chili Spears, diced (or your favorite pickle variety)

1 large egg, beaten

Directions

1. Prepare Nothing in the House pie crust as per the directions. After chilling the dough for at least 1 hour, roll and fit half the crust into a greased and floured pie pan. Return pan and top crust (rolled or unrolled) to the refrigerator while you prepare the filling. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

2. Toss the cabbage with olive oil and add salt and pepper to taste. Spread out on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Roast the cabbage for 25-30 minutes, turning the pan halfway through, until leaves are soft and starting to brown.

3. Meanwhile, toss the chopped kale with hard cider, vinegar, maple syrup and water in an ovenproof baking dish. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Cover pan tightly with aluminum foil and braise in the oven for 25-30 minutes (it can go in while the cabbage is still roasting).  Halfway through, stir and add a bit more water and hard cider if the bottom of the baking dish is dry.

4. Meanwhile, in a large bowl, stir the sour cream and buttermilk into the mashed potatoes. Set aside.

5. Once the cabbage and kale are cooled, combine them, discarding any remaining liquid. Fold the diced pickles and greens into the mashed potatoes. Taste and adjust salt and pepper, if needed. Pour the filling into the pie shell, spreading evenly with a spatula.

6. Remove crust from refrigerator. Position the top crust over filling and flute and seal the edges. Be sure to add vents so the steam can escape. Freeze the pie at least 1 hour before baking.

7. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Place the frozen pie on a baking sheet and brush the beaten egg over the pie crust and sprinkle with salt, if desired.

8. Bake from frozen for 50-60 minutes, rotating 180 degrees halfway through, until the crust is golden brown and filling is heated through and bubbling out of the vents slightly. Remove from oven and let cool slightly. Serve warm.

Related recipes:

Abra Berens' Celery Ham Tart aka Pissaladière

Gordy's Cherry Pepper Spread Galette

Hoosier Mama's Hoosier Sugar Cream Pie

Tri-color potato, Caramelized Onion, Goat Cheese, and Rosemary Galette

Update: Thank you to Food52 for featuring this in their "8 Food Blog Links We Love"!

Abra Berens' Celery Ham Tart aka Pissaladière

I'm very excited to have this guest post and recipe from my friend Abra Berens, a talented chef and farmer who splits her time between Chicago (where she's worked in some of the city's top bakeries like Floriole and Hoosier Mama Pie Company) and Bare Knuckle Farm in Michigan's Leelanau Penninsula. I've always loved being a guest at Abra's dinner table ever since we became friends in college, so I'm glad to be able to share some of her work here with this Celery Ham Tart. From Abra...

Years ago I worked at Zingerman's Deli in Ann Arbor, Michigan. I have a vague recollection of Rodger Bowser making these tarts for a daily special. When I asked him why he made it, he said, "Celery is really good right now and it is what I wanted for lunch."

When our friends Matt and Carissa showed up next to us at the Sutton's Bay market with beautiful, dark green celery, I knew what I wanted for dinner. Then work got busy, I forgot I had tomatoes that needed to be roasted that day and I never made my tart. Luckily that Sunday, our neighbors Gene and Kathy Garthe were having a party and asked me to bring an appetizer. "Aha, I'll make the tart and cut it smaller!" I thought. There was also an avid mushroom forager at this party, so I made one tart vegetarian, substituting our recently harvested wine cap mushrooms for the ham. Any sort of rich mushroom would work.

I like taking regular pie dough, which I try to keep in the freezer at all times, and treat it like puff dough to make a slightly different texture. It won't puff like true puff pastry, but it is nice and makes me feel like I'm doing something extra for my friends.

The only nerve-racking part of this recipe is inverting the tart onto the platter. The tart is usually greased enough with lard to avoid sticking, but if some sticks, just scrape it out and add it back. No one will be able to see the difference.

Celery Ham Tart aka Pissaladière
From Abra Berens of Bare Knuckle Farm

Ingredients
Nothing in the House pie dough, halved
1 head celery*
1 long leek
1 teaspoon thyme leaves
1/2 cup white wine
5 strips unsmoked ham of bacon**, smoked is okay but can overpower the delicate leeks
2 Tablespoons lard or butter
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions
1. Prepare half of Nothing in the House pie crust as per the directions (freeze the other half for a future pie, or make two tarts!). Once chilled, roll the pie dough into a rectangle and fold into thirds like a letter. Roll it to the same size as the original rectangle and fold into thirds again. Repeat one more time to mimic puff pastry. You could also use puff pastry if you like making your own.

2. For the final rolling, roll pie crust into a circle about the same size as your cast iron skillet (slightly larger is okay, but you don't want it smaller). Chill the dough for at least 20 minutes after all the rolling.

3. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Thinly slice the celery and leeks and wash them in cold water. I like to slice them on a long bias so that the leeks are in long ovals and the celery doesn't look like it came out of a can.

4. In a large cast iron skillet, heat the lard or butter until melted. Add the leeks, celery, and thyme with a hefty pinch of salt and black pepper. Let sweat until the celery is softening. Add the white wine and allow to reduce until syrupy.

5. Lay the ham strips over the leek mixture. Then lay the dough circle over the whole lot and bake until the dough is golden brown and crispy, about 25 minutes.

6. Remove the pan from the oven and let sit for 5 minutes. Now your ready for the flip. Place your serving platter over the skillet and invert, flipping the tart out of the pan. Scrape any clinging celery bits from the pan and place on top of the tart. Slice and serve warm.

Recipe notes: *Abra recommends using local celery for this recipe, available in late summer/early fall in most places of the country. But I made mine in winter with grocery store celery and it was still delicious. **To make this tart vegetarian, substitute any rich mushroom for the ham.

Related posts:
Floriole's Milk Chocolate and Salted Caramel Hazelnut Tart
Hoosier Mama's Hoosier Sugar Cream Pie
Peach Apricot Raspberry Wedding Pie