Savory Pies

Homemade chicken soup may be a comfort for body and soul, but tuck that beautiful stock, chicken and vegetables under cover of a flaky pie crust and you’re going one better! Fabulous hot from the oven, and just as good chilled, sliced and reheated the next day with a bit of cheddar, savory pies are a favorite of mine. My corn pie is a summer wonder. I love curried lamb pie with some silky whipped turnips served alongside. Piquant picadillo empanadas and Louisiana-style Natchitoches porkpies (a recipe I need to put up for you! ) are also so good. The list goes on : )

But for the fall and winter, with family coming home, this is a great dish to have on hand. Continue Reading…

This recipe search started with a request from a reader looking for a meat filling that included raisins, spices and olives. Picadillo! Popular in several Latin countries, this very flavorful, piquant filling can fall anywhere on the sweet/tangy/salty/spicy continuum. This one’s on the spicy side. Some versions include tomatoes and sweet green peppers in the mix; others have minced hard-boiled egg in them. Whatever the exact mix, the filling tastes delicious rolled in a tortilla, or, as we’ve done here, spooned into dough and fried to make a little hand-held pie.

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Born and schooled in Texas, I ate traditional Frito-Chili Pie with the best of them (aka bag-o-corn-chips with chili ladled in.) But by comparison? This Frito-Chili Pie kicks butt! It’s a real pie, for one thing–with an easy, press-it-in-the-tin piecrust that includes corn-chips and cheese. And even though the chili has some beans in it (anathema to Texans) it’s also got a pile of fresh peppers, melted cheddar, sour cream and fresh snipped oregano. I’m including this vintage-made-better recipe as an example of 120-more that pastry-chef and Hoosier Mama Pie Company owner Paula Haney has included in her “Hoosier Mama Book of Pie“.

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