Haedrich - Dinner pies: from shepherds pies and pot pies to tarts, turnovers, quiches, hand pies, and more, with 100 delectable and foolproof recipes

The Harvard Common Press

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Copyright 2015 by Ken Haedrich

Photographs 2015 by Melissa DiPalma

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

The Library of Congress has cataloged the print edition as follows:
Haedrich, Ken, 1954

Dinner pies : from shepherds pies and pot pies to tarts, turnovers, quiches, hand pies, and more, with 100 delectable and foolproof recipes / Ken haedrich.
pages cm
Includes index.

ISBN 978-1-55832-851-8 (hardback)

1. Potpies. 2. Casserole cooking. 3. stews. I. Title.

TX693.H25 2015
641.82'1--dc23
2015018097

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eISBN 978-1-55832-852-5
v1.0915

For my wife, Bev, who, when she said shed marry me because I promised one day wed be rolling in the dough, never suspected that this (my third pie book) was what I had in mind

Hello, my name is Ken and I am hopelessly addicted to crust. Ive been this way for decades. In fact, I can scarcely remember eating a meal that I felt could not have been improved by putting some sort of crust over, under, or around it. Serve me a thick soup or a hearty stew, and all I can think is how much better it would have been as a pot pie. A platter of plain vegetables leaves me reimagining them in an open-faced galette, enriched with a bit of cream and cheese. That braised kale and sausage? Shame they werent cozied up together in a hand pie with some provolone cheese, and a dish of tomato sauce on the side. (And I wonder why I never get invited over for dinner.)

Dont even get me started on crustless quiche, a notion I find just plain disturbing.

I am, in short, what you could call a dinner pie fanatic. It doesnt matter to me if its filled with a savory custard, like a quiche, or if its handheld, big, small, saucy, meatless, or chock-full o beef. Were just one big, happy, extended crusted family in my bookliterallyand we all get along beautifully.

If any of this resonatesif you, too, have a lust for crustyou have found a comrade in the kitchen. I welcome you with open arms. In the pages that follow I promise to indulge your passion for dinner pies with unmitigated zeal.

Even if you dont share my extreme appetite for a dinner pie universe, however, I sincerely hope you will join me on this exploration of crusted cuisine. How could you not? Indeed, how could anyone ignore a category so ripe with potential, so picturesquecould there be a dish more fetching than a free-form tomato tart baked to golden perfection at the peak of summer?so versatile, and so perfectly suited for special occasions.

Wouldnt you prefer to flatter your guests with, say, a Caramelized Onion, Bacon, and Swiss Cheese Pie (), homemade crust flaking into a thousand buttery shards, than issue forth something mundane in an anonymous frozen pie shell? Its a no-brainer, isnt it? This is cuisine that lets you strut your stuff in the kitchen, capture the essence of the season in a crust, and score bigtime with family and guests.

Being something of a mind reader in matters of pastry and crust, I know what you might be thinking (if, that is, youre not already sprinting toward the car, shopping list in hand). Youre thinking you couldnt make a homemade pie pastry even if your life depended on it. Youve tried. Youve bungled. Youve failed. Youve more or less given up. You werent born with the pie dough gene. And you havent gotten over the dreadful memory of your dough flying apart in midair while your boyfriend (spouse, mother, brother) laughed like a hyena, scarring you for life. (I agree: He or she is a jerk.)

Well, Ive heard it all before, in spades, and I can help. I know this because when Im not writing cookbooks, Im the dean of ThePieAcademy.com, where I teach folks just like you how to make great pies, both sweet and savory. These folks arrive at my virtual doorstep, unload their pie pastry baggage, and let me know, in no uncertain terms, that they are hopeless.

They are not. And neither are you.

Which is to say Ive done my best to anticipate the questions youre likely to have about making pie doughs and dinner pies, and I have filled these pages with useful advice, tips, and techniques that will help you overcome your fear of pie making. Ive included discussions about my favorite dinner pie tools and equipment, the best methods for rolling your dough and getting it into the pan, and instructions for how to prebake your pie shell when youre making a quiche. All this, plus my thoughts on pantry ingredients, and a guide to shopping for produce, too.

And now, its up to you. Youre holding the manual, the ingredients you need are within easy reach, and now you simply have to find something that looks good and get busy. If youre an old hand at dinner pies, I think youll discover plenty of new ideas to get you excited about your craft. If youre a relative newcomer, I hope youll embrace your dinner pie beginners mindthat Zen quality of openness, eagerness, and curiosity that comes with new exploration. Proceed with confidence and savor the outcome of your efforts with those you love. And if you do happen to run into any obstacles, just send me an email (), and Ill do my best to help you find a solution.

KEN HAEDRICH

The Coastal Carolinas

ONE

But what tools do I need? Are there certain ingredients I should have on hand or be familiar with? And what if I am not an expert at working with dough?

You have come to the right place: In this chapter, I will tell you all about the tools and ingredients that make for perfect dinner pies. At the end of the chapter, Ill reveal the simple tricks Ive learned over the years that make working with doughs and pastries relatively trouble-freeand much easier than you might have thought.

TOOLS OF THE TRADE: THE DINNER PIE MAKERS BATTERIE DE CUISINE

Part of the fun of making pies, whether savory or sweet, is collecting the tools that make the process more enjoyable and the outcome more fetching. Some of this gear you probably have already; the rest of it you can acquire over time. Either way, I recommend that you spend a little more and buy quality stuff that you wont have to replace every couple of years. Lets look at some of the dinner pie makers basics.

Pie Pans

Quite a few of the pies in this book are baked in everyday pie pans (also known as pie plates or pie tins), with sloping sides, and many of the quiche recipes that call for a tart pan can successfully be baked in a pie pan as well. My collection of pie pans numbers more than 50not because I need that many, but because Im constantly trying out new ones, with different designs and materials, to stay up to date on any improvements or innovations that might benefit the members of my pie-baking community, ThePieAcademy.com. Plus, I just like pie pans.

If a hurricane were on the way, always a possibility here in the Lowcountry of South Carolina, and I could grab only four pie pans on my way out the door, Id choose one metal pan, one clay pan, one Pyrex pan, and one stoneware pan.