Potato Pies

 

When making dinner, think about lunch. What can be eaten as leftovers? Can you make a little extra and cook it in portable portions?

This skillet supper can work wonders for lunchtime in a smaller mold. I'll give you the instructions for a full skillet dinner and tips on how to miniaturize it.

Potato Skillet Pie

Preheat oven to 350 F.

Crust

In a food processor, shred:
1 pound baking potatoes, scrubbed

Immediately plunge potatoes into cold water, stir, and let soak for ten minutes. Drain and place potatoes on dish towel, blot dry. Put into emptied bowl and mix with salt and pepper to taste.

In a large, hot skillet, heat 1 tbs. olive or peanut oil, swirling to coat the bottom and the sides. Sprinkle the potatoes over the skillet in an even layer. Let cook 2 minutes, then cover the pan with lid and steam until potatoes are semi-translucent on top and browning on the bottom. Use a spatula to press the potatoes down into the pot and against the sides. Place skillet into oven and bake 30 minutes, or until the top part of the potatoes is golden and crispy.

Filling

Heat a large skillet on medium-high on the stovetop. Add and sautee until fragrant and semi translucent:
1 small diced onion
1 rib celery, diced
1 clove garlic, pressed
1 red or orange pepper, diced

Add and cook, stirring frequently, until fragrant, about one minute:
1 tbs. curry powder

Add and cook, stirring frequently, until cooked through:1 pound ground beef, turkey or lamb
1/2 cup chopped spinach, thawed and drained

Stir into beef mixture until just melted:
1/3 cup Swiss or Provolone cheese, shredded
1/4 cup plus 2 tbs. frommage blanc or sour cream or cream cheese

Turn beef mixture into potato crust. If you like, you may put the combined dish back into the oven to heat it through, especially if your crust has cooled. Serve at table in the skillet, or you can try to turn it out onto a plate -- a sort of potato surprise, with the filling in the center. Sprinkle with parsley and diced red peppers for colour.

The pies I made are in small, deep tart molds. You can make your mini-servings in muffin pans, tart pans, any smaller sized pan. There's no real reason why you can't just slice a piece of the big skillet pie and pack it up for lunch, but part of the appeal for little kids is a pie just their size. Did you notice all the vegetables we managed to slip in?

If you are going to make small pies, you are going to need more potatoes. Spray your mold/tin with cooking spray, bottom and sides. Follow the instructions for the crust. When the potatoes are translucent and the bottom is browned in the pan, use a spatula to cut up the potatoes into large squares bigger than the mold you're using and drop the potatoes in. Use a spoon to press the potatoes into the bottom and sides, using any extra to patch any holes. Then carry on with the recipes, baking the potatoes, adding the filling, etc. They will turn out beautifully from the molds/muffin tins, and offer a perfect size for hungry tummies. 

Flourless Chocolate Decadence

 

Sometimes, "conventional" cookbooks offer up wheat and gluten-free gems like this amazing cake I made for my belle mere's birthday. My son got to sing Happy Birthday to his mami and eat her cake. He was thrilled. It's such a rich, gorgeous mouthful of chocolate that you'll never miss your chocolate cake again.

Flourless Chocolate Decadence from The Joy of Cooking

Have all ingredients at room temperature. Grease an 8 x 2 inch cake pan and line bottom with wax or parchment paper. Preheat oven to 325 F.

In a large, heatproof bowl, combine:
1 pound bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
1 tbs. instant coffee, disolved into 1 tbs warm water (optional, my addition)
10 tbs. butter, unsalted, cut into ten pieces

Set the bowl in a large skillet of barely simmering water and stir often until the chocolate and butter are warm, melted, and smooth. Remove from heat and whisk in:

5 egg yolks

In another large bowl, beat on medium speed until soft peaks form:
5 large egg whites
1/4 tsp. cream of tartar

Gradually add, beating on high speed:
1 tbs. sugar

Beat until the whites are stiff, but not dry (they should have a shiny, glossy look to them). Use a rubber spatula to fold 1/4 of the egg whites into the chocolate mixture, then fold in the remaining whites. Scrape the batter into the pan and spread evenly. Set the pan in a large, shallow baking dish or roasting pan, set the pan in the oven, and pour enough boiling water into it to reach halfway up the sides of the cake pan. Bake for exactly 30 minutes. The top should have a thin crust and the interior will still be gooey. Set the cake pan on a rack to cool completely, then refrigerate until chilled, or overnight. To unmold, run a thin bladed knife around the interior edge of the cake pan, set a plate on top, and invert. Peel off the paper, and then reinvert the cake onto another plate.

Now, I know not everyone 'knows' how to cook. Are you wondering about some of the techniques?

Soft peaks in your egg whites means when you pull the beaters out of the whites, the whites pull to a point and flop over. Stiff peaks are when you pull the beaters out and the whites stand at attention like Hershey's Kisses tops.
Folding the egg whites into the chocolate mixture is the most important step of the recipe, really. It's not stirring. You want to keep the eggwhites fluffy and light, so they can impart that quality to the chocolate. Adding a quarter of the whites first helps lighten the chocolate mixture enough that the rest of the whites don't get crushed by the weight of the chocolate. To fold an ingredient into another, you use your spatual at an angle, trying to come in as perpendicular to the table as you can. With a rolling, circular motion, you pull the chocolate mixture up from the bottom of the bowl and drape it over the eggwhites. You repeat this gentle motion until all the white colour has disappeared. Gently does it.

Serve this with a fresh raspberry couli or whipped cream if you need that final dollop of decadence.