PI Day!!!

Yes!  The holiday for nerds like us has finally come. What was on the menu you ask? Well, PI(e)! I didn’t have a Pi day party this year, but I did make a pie. Key Lime pie to be exact. I found a recipe that looked incredibly easy and delicious, it ended up tasting AMAZING.

Via Allrecipes.com:

• 1 (9 inch) prepared graham cracker crust (Or make your own! Finely crush a whole rectangle of 9 graham crackers, mix with 1/3 cup sugar and 1/3 cup melted butter and mold into pie pan. Then bake for 5 minutes at 350 degrees F until golden and set.)
• 2 14 oz. cans sweetened condensed milk
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 3/4 cup key lime juice
• 1 tablespoon grated lime zest

Note: We actually found Key Limes at our produce market (score!) but regular limes are just fine.

DIRECTIONS!

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F
2. In a medium bowl, combine condensed milk, sour cream, lime juice, and lime rind. Mix well and pour into graham cracker crust.
3. Bake in preheated oven for 6 to 10 minutes, until tiny pinhole bubbles burst on the surface of pie. DO NOT BROWN! Chill pie thoroughly before serving. Garnish with lime slices and whipped cream if desired. (Note: the tiny bubbles are hard to notice, but look closely and they will appear. I was really worried this pie would not set because there are no eggs or other binding agents, but it turned out just fine cooking it for 10 minutes.)

 

Ok so Pie for dessert is obvious, but what about pie for DINNER? What about SHEPHARD’S PIE for dinner?!

HORRIBLE pictures. Sorry. They do NOT do this dish justice at all. It was the best dang shephard’s pie I’ve ever tasted! The trick was making a sort of gravy with the residual fat in the browned meat, an idea inspired by a recipe we found online, and improvised by Micah. He is the meat master!!  Mind you, this is what you might call “super comfort food,” meaning, is you’re on a diet, don’t come to my house.

Let’s start with the mashed potatoes portion of the pie.

 

Betsy’s MASHED POTATOES:

• 5 large potatoes, peeled and cubed
• 6-8 tablespoons salted butter
• 1/3 cup sour cream
• 2 tablespoons milk or cream (I give you so many naughty options, don’t I?)
• 1 tablespoon chives
• 1/2 tablespoon lemon pepper
• salt and pepper to taste

HOW:

Boil potatoes in salted water until they are very tender. Drain and put in a bowl with cubed up butter. Mash (but don’t over-mash! It will get gluey.) until smooth, fold in sour cream, milk, chives, lemon pepper, and salt and pepper. Remember to be gentle as you add other ingredients.

 

Micah’s MEAT AND VEGETABLES:

• 1/4 of an onion, chopped
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 1 tablespoon Worstcheshire sauce
• 1 pound lean ground beef (Or 1/2 pound of beef and 1/2 lb. ground pork)
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon ketchup
• 3/4 cup beef broth
• 1 teaspoon steak seasoning
• Frozen green beans (or any other vegetable you like – carrots, peas, etc.)

 

Heat oil in a large frying pan. Add onion and cook until clear. Add ground beef and Worscheshire sauce and cook until well browned. Pour off excess fat, then stir in flour and cook 1 minute. Add ketchup and beef broth. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes. Add steak seasoning and frozen vegetables until all is cooked through.

To assemble this pie, you can put the meat on the bottom and mashed potatoes on top, or use my method and put the meat in between two layers of mashed potato. In the end, mashed potatoes should be on top so you can sprinkle grated cheese on top. Bake in the oven at 350 for 10-15 minutes.

 

A good day for food over at our house.