Anything Pie and Roasty Toasty Potatoes

Anything Pie

You should make this pie when:

You want to impress

Uninvited guests

Mother-in-law

You just got home from work

The cupboards are bare.

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You can put whatever you want/have on hand into this pie.

But this is what I did...

I started with the same sauce that I used for the Salmon en croute

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Some cream cheese, spinach, dried onions, dill, salt and pepper and a little cream.

Blended up.

I used the Secret Family Recipe for the crust.

1 cup flour

1/2 cup butter

1/4 cup filled with 1 egg and a little white wine

See Here again for more info.

Rolled out the dough.

It will make a top and bottom crust.

Roll it out really thin.

I used a greased round cake pan as my pie pan.

Leftover Roasty Toasty potatoes and 1 cup of frozen veggies.

Roasty Toasty potatoes are a double leftover.

I started with leftover baked potatoes - sliced them up and soaked them in 1 cup of fig infused vinegar.

Pre-heated the oven to 400 F.

After 15 mins I tossed the potatoes with savory, thyme, oregano, salt and pepper and a little olive oil.

Baked for 20 mins.

Added spinach sauce.

Covered with top crust and washed with egg wash.

Baked at 350 F for 20 mins.

Just until the crust was brown.

DC's Challenge - Salmon en Croute

The 2009 Daring Cooks challenge was hosted by Simone of Junglefrog Cooking. Simone chose Salmon en Croute (or alternative recipes for Beef Wellington or Vegetable en Croute) from Good Food Online.

This was a fun recipe.

I enjoyed making and eating it.

It's also something I would make again.

Yay! Three out of three!

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So basically it is salmon with a cream/spinach sauce in a pastry crust.

Now....I'm going to share a secret family recipe.

For crust.

3 ingredients

1 cup of flour

1/2 cup of cold butter

1/4 cup - with one egg

and if their is room in the cup measure liquid of your choice

I used orange juice this time, but I've used wine, other juices and milk in the past.

Grind your flour and butter together. Mix your egg and liquid together.

Mix egg/liquid into flour/butter. Form into a ball and refrigerate for at least an hour.

Roll out the dough.

This dough is very nice to work with and can be rolled out paper thin, if you want.

Cutting out some shapes for the top of the salmon packages.

I made this in November, so leaves seemed appropriate.

$1 fillet of salmon topped with cream cheese, spinach, dill, a little onion, salt and pepper.

Egg washing pastry cut outs on to the salmon packages.

Pastry leaves.

More egg washing.

After baking.

Yummy!

Looks fancy.

Was cheap.

Tasted great!

A++

Everyday Pizza

I love, love, love pizza!

Homemade pizza is the best, but when I'm working I want something easy to grab and heat.

So, I buy frozen pizza, but I'm on a spending diet.

-I haven't bought groceries (excluding milk) in over 2 months!-

This is my recipe for Everyday Pizza.

Make up a bunch and freeze them or have a party and eat them all.

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Everyday Pizza

Ingredients:

1 egg

1 cup water

2 1/2 cup flour (plus 1/2 to 1 cup more - see recipe)

3/4 cup white or yellow corn meal

2 Tbs olive oil

2 tsp yeast

1 1/2 tsp salt

Add all ingredients to your mixer.

Mix together.

If you are making this in the winter you will not need to add the extra flour, because the air in your home is dry.

However, if you are making this in the summer or in humid conditions you will

need to add the extra flour.

Slowly add 1 Tbs of the extra flour until you have a moist, but cohesive ball that pulls away from the wall of the mixer bowel.

Your dough should look like this.

It will be quite sticky.

Scrape the dough from your mixer and with wet hands make the dough into a ball.

Place the dough ball into a greased bowl.

Cover the bowl and place it in a warm place.

Let it rise for 30 mins.

After it rises it will look like this.

Pre-heat your oven to 425 degrees.


With wet hands pull the dough apart into 6 separate balls.
Place the dough balls on your greased or silpat covered baking pan.
Let the dough rest for 10 mins.




With wet hands shape/flatten the dough into pizza shape.

Spread 1/4 cup pizza sauce/tomato paste into the center of each pizza.

Bake pizza crusts for 15 mins.

Remove from oven.

Now 2 choices:

A. Let cool, wrap in foil and freeze.

B. Add cheese, spices and toppings.

Return to the oven and cook an additional 15 mins.

To cook frozen Everyday Pizzas -

Add toppings and cheese (you can also add these before freezing).

Bake at 400-425 degrees for 10 -15 mins

until cheese is bubbly.

Yum!