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"!

Two "Chicken" Pot Pies and an Apple Tart

Last week my friend Jon made some delicious chicken and "chicken-less" pot pies and shared it with some friends and I for dinner on a rainy spring evening in Carrboro. The chicken-less pie (above) had quorn patty chunks and the chicken pie (below) had gen-u-ine chicken (and an overflowing crust).


Both pies had the same vegetable ingredients of pearl onions (an excellent addition), peas, corn, carrots, and potatoes in gravy. The folks who tried both said they couldn't really tell the difference between the two.


I contributed a free-jazz apple tart I made, drawing from a combination of past attempted apple tart recipes.


The recipe I made up was approximately as follows:

Free-jazz apple tart

Ingredients:
3 tart apples, cored and very thinly sliced
1/2 c. homemade apple butter
1/4 c. homemade apple-rosemary jelly
juice of 1/2 lemon
raw sugar for sprinkling
nothing-in-the-house pie crust recipe, halved (bottom crust only)

Prepare crust with recipe found here. Refrigerate. Core and thinly slice 3 apples and place in a bowl. Squeeze juice of half of a lemon over the apples and stir. Roll out dough and place in a greased and floured tart pan. Spread apple butter on crust and place apple slices in concentric circles over the apple butter. Sprinkle with raw sugar and bake at 375 for approximately 35-45 minutes. Cool. When tart is still warm, heat apple-rosemary jelly and drizzle over the tart. Slice and serve with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream.

I brought the tart over in the double-decker Amish pie carrying basket my parents gave me for Christmas last year.


After a full-day in the library working on my thesis, this pie dinner was just the perfect treat.

Baltimore Birthday Pies

My friend Justin in Baltimore send in these birthday pie photos from our friend Anna's 30th birthday party. He said,

Here is some pie porn for you. I think Anna sent you a picture from this same occasion, her 30th birthday dinner in Baltimore. Needless to say, your pie day put us to shame, but here we have two delicious pies that are sorely missed, my savory vegetable with the birthday engraving, chickpeas, green beans, potatoes, carrots, onions, and assorted spices including fresh oregano and thyme...


as well as Bob's take on shepherd's pie featuring sweet potatoes, bleu cheese, peas, and I believe the meat was from a turkey.


Wish I could have been there! He also asked if I had a recipe for a vegan pecan pie. Anyone have a good one?

Baltimore Pie Party (People)!

Last month we had a pie party at Jamie, Anna, and Dana's house in Baltimore. We decided to make an Apple-Rhubarb-Pear-Basil pie after viewing this post on feeding maybelle. We tweaked it a little and I wrote down our recipe, but now cannot find it, alas. Basically, I made the crust using the standard Nothing-in-the-House crust recipe. Then, Jamie cut the apples and pear (about 2 cups, and acquired at the Baltimore Farmers' Market):and picked the basil in the backyard: Anna cut the rhubarb (about 2 cups): and made the basil simple syrup with one leaf basil, sugar, and water: (I like how the filling bowl looks like fluted crust!)

We combined the fruit, simple syrup (added no additional sugar), spices (cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger & cloves), put it in the filling, topped with a crust, designed with basil leafs cut out and in relief:
Then we invited friends. and pies. Bob made a delicious vegan savory pie, topped with mashed potatoes and filled with TVP, and an assortment of fresh veggies. He's seen happily cutting it here: Justin and Becca also brought a gourmet vegan savory pie, my favorite of the night. With a gravy and all sorts of yummy veggies. It's pictured here on the left, with Bob's pie on the right, and a can of National Bohemian (NattyBo, Baltimore's beer) in the corner: For dessert we had the rubapple pear basil pie, which turned out great, with the tang of the rhubarb, sweet of the syrup, and a pleasantly subtle basil flavor, and a scrumptious pumpkin pie brought by Katie and Katie from their excursion to a nearby orchard.
Here's Justin and Becca in the post-Pie Enjoyment Zone:and Jamie, who Nothing-in-the-House photographers caught licking his plate: We ate 4 pies, listened to Fleetwood Mac, and made lots of jokes. Baltimore Pie Party, People! (who want to know what kind of pie you are making for the biggest pie party of all, Thanksgiving)!?!

Saturday Dinner Pie

Mandy, Greg, Matthew and Ginevra came over for veggie pot pie tonight. This photo is from its soupy state, fresh from the oven. It did set after it cooled, but even wet and sloppy, it still tasted great. I made it in my extra-deep dish, so there was plenty of extra filling...and leftovers for tomorrow!

The great thing about savory pies is that they are a complete meal in one dish! We drank wine and had vegan cookies (made by Mandy) and Tulsi tea for dessert.

Here's my approximate recipe (I kind of freestyled it):


Veggie Pot Pie
Saute in butter:
1 small rutabaga
6 red potatoes
1/2 celeriac
2 carrots
1 onion
1 bag frozen peas

Add garlic, thyme, pepper, and salt, plus enough veggie stock to cover the veggies. Bring to boil, then simmer to evaporate stock (most of it). Make a roux/gravy with butter and flour. Add garlic, thyme, 2 leeks, and heavy cream until a bechamel/gravy sauce is formed. Combine with veggies, and ladle into pie crust. Bake for approx. 45 minutes- hr. at 350 degress F.

Dede's Savory Pies

Jamie just sent me this e-mail about his latest great pie experience...

oh man
we made the best savory pies the other day!!
my friends build a "brick oven" outside and we cooked em up in there.
oh man

the pies were of two varieties:
AMERICAN pie
and CURRY pie

both were vegan (my friend justin ruined the fun for the rest of us)
but were so tasty that i couldn't fault him this night for his overly
ascetic habits.
one pie picture should be included with this email, but more are
available at www.flickr.com/photos/annamessing

hope all is sweet and savory with you!

JAS

a subsequent e-mail added more detail...

crust used a product called "BUTTERY STICKS." it might have been made by earth balance. can't remember though. the crusts were actually excellent. the innards were, potatoes, carrots, onions, seitan, garlic, green onions, for both, and the seasoning was adjusted to render each either "AMERICAN" or "CURRY." a pie in my eye!

(Pie Enjoyment Zone)

Let's Talk About Root Crops...

Veggie Pot Pie

For a Christmas dinner side dish, I made roasted root vegetable/goat cheese packets (wrapped in phyllo dough), adapted from the Williams-Sonoma cookbook, Cooking from the Farmer's Market. They were a big hit, but I had a lot of roasted root veggies left over, so we put them into pot pies! I made a veggie pot pie, and my parents made a chicken pot pie. 

The roasted root veggies included:
1 yellow onion
3 leeks
3 turnips
1 rutabaga
4 potatoes
3 parsnips
4 carrots
You could also use 1 bulb fennel or 1 celeriac, though they didn't have it at the grocery store!

Marinate in olive oil and sprinkle with thyme, rosemary (or herbs de provence) and salt and pepper. Let sit until pie crust and gravy is ready.

Veggie gravy:
Make a rue with butter and flour. add veggie stock and thyme & rosemary or herbs de provence.
Put root veggies into the pie crust and mix in gravy. add top shell and bake for about 45 minutes at 350.


ENJOY (with white wine and a fireplace, if possible)!

Da DEEP Dish

A few weeks ago some friends and I made our way to Rokeby for the Superior Concept Monsters puppet workday--to help build puppets for the Greenwich Village Halloween Parade and to make food for the people who help build puppets.

Sara, Heather, and I were on kitchen duty, and in one mad hour of aproned girl talk, loud dance music, and cooking, whipped out a chicken pot pie, vegetable pot pie, chicken stew, chard, salad, and apple pie. Since both pie plates were being used for the dinner pies, the apple pie had to be made DEEP dish style. The deep dish, folks, is not a poor man's pie. It requires plenty of heaping fruit.

But the deep dish= deep delish= deep daze. just ask Brodie:



Unfortunately, no pictures were taken of the savory pies.