Summer Supper Pie

I think that a lot of people, the baking-inclined anyway, get excited about summer in part because it means they can now make pies using fresh summer produce.  Most of these people are probably thinking about berries, cherries or stone fruit when they think of summer pie.  Me though, I'm thinking about tomatoes.  

Tomatoes are a fruit after all - but this is decidedly a savory dinner pie.  Think of it as American quiche, only without any eggs.  That is how the great James Beard once described this dish.  This is supposedly a classic Southern recipe, although I discovered it through magazines, and have found that none of my Southern friends have ever heard of it.  

A note about the tomatoes - the key to this recipe is to use the very best tomatoes you can find.  If you can get heirloom beefsteak tomatoes from a farmer's market, those would be best (you need 4 to 5 large ones).  If the grocery store is all you've got, go with a full container of campari tomatoes.  The ones in my grocery store are from Canada, which makes me unhappy, but the flavor of camparis is pretty great.  You could also try the "vine-ripened" tomatoes at the store, although the quality of these varies a lot.  Just please don't use run-of-the-mill grocery tomatoes, as they are too mealy and don't have enough flavor.  The filling would just turn to mush with that kind of tomato.  And I'm serious when I say that as much as I love this pie, it is reserved for summer only.  Do not try this at home with off-season tomatoes.

As for the pie crust, I recommend Pillsbury "Just Unroll" crusts, which are in the refrigerated section at the grocery store.  There are 2 crusts to a package, so you need 1 package.  For bonus points, you could always make your own crust, but this is something I'm not good at - and as Alton Brown says, better that you make your own pie with store bought crust, than to not make your pie at all. 

And lastly, the mayonnaise - always use regular (i.e. full-fat), not reduced fat and for God's sake, not fat-free.  With so few ingredients, the quality of each one matters, and plus you are going to cook it, so the fat has an important role to play in keeping it together.  I generally use Hellman's, but since this is a Southern recipe, Duke's brand is the most authentic choice, and very tasty (Harris Teeter carries it, amazingly enough). 

Summer Tomato Pie

Adapted from Cook's Country & Southern Living magazines

Ingredients:

• 2 pie dough rounds, 9-inch pie size (such as 1 package Pillsbury "Just Unroll")
• 2-3 pounds tomatoes (see note above)
• 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt (reduce to 1/2 teaspoon if using regular table salt, or increase to a full teaspoon if using a flaky sea salt)
• 1/4 cup regular mayonnaise
• 4 teaspoons cornstarch
• 1 1/2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese - okay, sometimes I use up to 2 cups
• 4 scallions (or green onions, same thing), very thinly sliced 

Procedure:

1.  Prepare the dough.  If using refrigerated Pillsbury crusts, take them out of the package and let them come to room temperature first, about 15 minutes.   Unroll one crust and press into a 9-inch pie pan, letting any excess hang over the edge.  Cover with a piece of plastic wrap.  Unroll second crust and drape it over the plastic wrap in the pan.  Put the pan into the refrigerator while you complete the other steps.  If using homemade dough, roll 12-inch discs, then place into pie pan and chill as described above.   
2. Drain the tomatoes.  Slice the tomatoes into ¼ inch thick slices.  Discard the tops and cut out any thick cores.  Cover a large baking sheet with paper towels, and arrange your tomato slices in a single layer on top of the paper towels.  Sprinkle the slices liberally with salt.  Let drain 30 minutes, then press tops of tomato slices gently with additional paper towels to get rid of surface moisture. 
3. Heat the oven.  Adjust oven rack to lowest position.  Place an empty baking sheet (a second baking sheet, not the one holding your tomatoes) on the rack.  Heat oven to 450 degrees. 
4. Prepare the filling.  In a bowl, combine the mayo, cornstarch, and most of the shredded cheese (reserve ½ cup of cheese for next step).   Gently mix until well combined. 
5. Assemble the pie.   Retrieve pie plate from refrigerator.  Using the plastic wrap, lift off top crust and set aside.  Line bottom crust with about ½ cup shredded cheese.   Arrange about one-third of the tomato slices over the cheese – you can keep this layer flat, or overlap the slices a bit, depending on how many slices you have to fit in.  Dollop about half the mayo mixture over the tomato layer, then spread it as evenly as you can (it will be a bit thick, so will resist spreading.  Just make sure it has a somewhat even distribution).   Sprinkle with half the sliced scallions.  Layer another third of the tomatoes, then the last half of the mayo mixture, then the last half of the scallions.  Top with the last third of the tomato slices. 
6. Top the pie.  Drape the top crust over your assembled pie.  Press the top crust around the edge of the pie pan, joining together with the overhang from the bottom crust.  Trim any serious excess that extends beyond the edges of the pie plate.   Fold the remaining crust edge under itself to create a double thickness, and crimp it with your fingers so it holds together and looks decorative (if you’re fancy.  Mine usually looks “interpretive” at best).   Use a paring knife to cut three to four oval-shaped vent holes in the top crust, approximately 2 inches long.    
7. Bake.   Place the pie onto the pre-heated baking sheet in the oven.  Bake at 450 for ten minutes, then lower the oven temperature to 325 degrees and bake until the crust is a nice golden brown, about 30 more minutes if using store-bought crust (about 40 for homemade crust).   
8. Cool.  When pie is done, remove from oven and place the pie plate onto a wire cooling rack.  Here is the hard part – allow it to cool to room temperature, about three hours, if you want to be proper about it.  I admit that I sometimes crack into it before the three hours is up, but I do try to give it at least two hours – you don’t want to slice into a hot pie, or the filling won’t set properly.   The original recipe said to serve the pie at room temperature, and it is good that way.  I actually prefer my slices warmed back up (microwave for 30 seconds), but that’s personal preference. 
    

As this is a savory pie, I do not recommend serving with ice cream.  That would be gross.   

Even More Summery Variations:     

• Tomato-Basil Pie:   reduce the number of diced scallions to 3.  Finely mince 3-4 fresh basil leaves and mix those in with the diced scallions.  Proceed with recipe as directed, using this mixture in place of just the scallions.  I really like this variation- the pie ends up with a nice herb flavor somewhat reminiscent of caprese salad.

• Tomato-Corn Pie:   cut the kernels from one ear of fresh corn (I would not recommend frozen or canned corn for this).  There is no need to pre-cook the corn.  Scatter the kernels over the interior tomato layers when building the pie. 

Winter Repertoire

So I suppose it's safe to say that I suck at this consistency thing.  I can't even really blame the job - apparently I'm just lazy at posting stuff, and it generally takes federal snow days to make me do it.  As we enter Day Four of Snowmageddon 2010, it occurs to me that I should really share the recipe for the dinner I made on Friday, as the snow began to really pile up outside.  It's a newer addition to my winter repertoire, but it is really, really comforting, as winter food should be.  Think of it like metaphorically wrapping up in a beefy, sour-creamy duvet.  Or taking a warm bath in salt and egg noodles.  What?  I think those things sound awesome.  Does this dish sound sort of tacky?  Yes.  But it's like all the best things about the 1950s, simmered in one aromatic saucepan.

Hamburger Stroganoff
Adapted from Cooking Light, November 2008

• 8 oz uncooked egg noodles (about half a large package)
• Approx 1 tsp olive oil - use regular, not extra virgin, unless that's all you have
• 1 pound lean ground beef (I use 90% lean)
• 1 largeish white or yellow onion, chopped up
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 (8 oz.) package mushrooms - cremini are best, but you can use white button too, sliced
• 1 Tbsp all-purpose flour
• 1 cup mushroom broth (we use Better Than Boullion Mushroom Base - 1 teaspoon plus 1 cup boiling water = awesome.  But you can also use 1 cup beef broth)
• 1 tsp kosher salt (approx - salt to your taste)
• 1/2 tsp ground black pepper (or to taste - this is fairly peppery, which we like)
• 1/2 cup light sour cream - you could also use full-fat, but you might want to reduce amount to 1/3 cup if so because the fat dulls the other flavors to some extent.  Don't use fat-free, which is just awful.  
• 1 Tbsp sherry - we use cream sherry, which is what we happened to grab at the store, and it works fine, but the original recipe calls for dry sherry, so by all means use that if you've got it.

Procedure:

1. Prep all your ingredients - chop your onion, mince your garlic, slice your mushrooms, prepare your cup of broth (if you are using the kind of base that needs to be constituted in boiling water).
2. Put a large pot of very salty water on to boil for the egg noodles, then continue with the recipe.  Whenever the water finally boils, pause to add the egg noodles to the pot and give it a good stir so they don't stick.  Boil until you like the consistency of the noodles, testing them occasionally.  When they're done, kill the heat, drain in a colander, then return to the pot to wait until you're done with the sauce.
3. For the meat sauce:  Pour a dollop of olive oil into a large skillet or saucepan, ideally one with high sides, and swirl to cover the bottom of the pan. If it's a larger pan, go ahead and use more oil.  Heat the pan over medium-high.
4. Add your ground beef and stir occasionally until it is no longer pink, breaking up chunks as it cooks.  While it is cooking, sprinkle about half the salt over the meat and stir it in.
5. Once the meat is no longer pink, but before it gets at all dry, stir in the chopped onion and garlic, the rest of the salt, and the pepper.  Once that has cooked a minute or two, stir in the sliced mushrooms.
6. Continue cooking, stirring occasionally, until the onion is translucent, the mushrooms are dark and silky, and the liquid it's all given off has started to reduce (approx 6 minutes, depending on your heat).
7. Sprinkle the flour over the pan and stir it in, which should make the mixture look just a bit thicker and more viscous.  If there's still a lot of liquid, you can add a pinch more flour. 
8. After the flour is absorbed, stir in your broth, and bring to a boil.  Then lower the heat slightly and let it simmer another minute or so, until it reduces to a slightly thicker consistency. 
9. Taste the meat mixture at this point and add more salt and pepper if you desire.  Then turn off the heat and sprinkle the sherry over the contents of the pan.  Last, stir in the sour cream.  
10. Serve bowls of egg noodles with the creamy meat sauce ladled over the top. 

Note:  the sherry we use is a bottle of Harvey's Bristol Cream, which is a "cream sherry," but there is nothing "creamy" about it, actually.  It's a fortified wine just like dry sherry, but supposedly "cream" means it's slightly sweeter.  It also works really well in bisques and the like.  You could actually make this recipe without sherry altogether and it will still be really good, the taste will just be slightly less complex.  Me though, I really love that distinctive something that sherry adds.  (I think my palate probably became attuned to the taste of sherry from my vast experience eating lobster bisque, with which I am slightly obsessed).