Impossible Leftover Pie

This past week I made a massive batch of sloppy joes for work. I thought they were delicious, with great flavor and loads of veggies. I based them off of this recipe and received some compliments, though they were apparently not to everyone's taste. Regardless, there were leftovers. So I brought some home and since it is Pie month, decided to use them to make a pie. Sound impossible? Ha! Just kidding--I'm using them to make a pie in the style of Bisquick's many Impossible Pies. I based it loosely off of a recipe from a cookbook for a broccoli pie. I just added spinach, the sloppy joe mix, ricotta, shredded cheese, and poured the bisquick/egg/milk mix on top.

Having just finished off a bunch of it, I can tell you there are two real impossible things about this pie--one is figuring out how long it needs to bake, and the other is eating just one piece! The recipe I used said to bake it for 30-35 minutes, but it ended up taking more like 50 minutes and even then it was a little on the soft side. As a leftover pie, this is a really loose concoction--more an outline than a recipe.

Ingredients:

3/4 c heart smart bisquick
3/4 c milk
1 cup egg substitute
1/2 c ricotta
1/2 c shredded reduced fat cheese, plus more for sprinkling on top
8 oz frozen spinach defrosted and drained
8 oz shredded broccoli stems
3/4 c leftover sloppy joe mix
salt and pepper
steak seasoning

Basically the pan is sprayed with oil and then the ingredients mixed--I'd mix the bisquick first with the egg and milk to get out the lumps, and then add the rest. That goes in the pan, and cheese sprinkled on top, then it goes in the oven until it is done--at least 50 minutes. It needs to set in the middle and a crust forms on top. It was delicious--eggy, cheesy, with a good amount of veggies. I was surprised how little I could taste the sloppy joe meat. It probably could have used a little more of the steak seasoning and salt. Still a fun way to use up some leftovers!

Spinach, Onion, and Mushroom Whole Wheat Pizza

 So I was trying to decide what to do with my leftover caramelized onions, and I realized that with all the bread books I've checked out from the library, I cold combine the onions with baking and make a pizza. Of course I had this brainstorm at work on Friday, when I wouldn't have time to throw together a crust for dinner that night. But on Saturday I got up first thing and threw one together--I selected the recipe from the Cooks Illustrated Baking Illustrated book, because it had an option for whole wheat and had instructions for kneading by hand.

Dough Ingredients:

1/2 c warm water (110 degrees)
1 envelope instant yeast
1 1/4 c room temperature water
2 tbs olive oil
11 oz bread flour
11 oz whole wheat flour
1 1/2 tsp salt

The warm water and yeast is combined in a large measuring cup and left to sit for 5 minutes until it had foamed and activated. Then the rest of the water and oil are added in to combine. Add half of the flour and salt to a large bowl and all of the liquid ingredients and using a large spoon combine. Then add the rest and mix until all the flour is absorbed, then dump the dough onto a lightly floured work surface. Then knead the dough until smooth, about 7 minutes.


 The dough goes into an oiled bowl and rises for about 2 hours, or until doubled. At this point it can be divided into three portions and refrigerated or frozen or baked into a pizza! I froze two portions, and put one into the fridge for pizza!

Before I got to making my pizza, I put my pizza stone in the oven and cranked the temperature to 500 degrees. It needs time to preheat so the stone will have the heat to get a crispy crust. The dough also needs to come out of the fridge and come to room temperature.

Toppings:

1 1/2 c chopped frozen spinach thawed and drained
8 oz  brown mushrooms chopped
1 c caramelized onions
3 cloves garlic finely diced
red pepper
thyme and rosemary
salt and pepper
1/4 c lowfat ricotta
1/3 c 2% Italian cheese blend

The minced garlic, red pepper, and mushrooms go in a frying pan and are cooked until fragrant and the mushrooms start to brown. Then the onions and spinach are added, with the rosemary, thyme, and salt and pepper to taste. This cooks for a bit to get the flavors into the onions and mushrooms.

While that is cooking, the dough which has to be brought to room temperature before being used, can be spread. I put some flour on the counter and used my hands to spread it--the Baking Illustrated has a really nice illustration of how to do this.

It goes on a cornmeal dusted surface--I don't have a pizza peal, so I used the back of a sheet pan.It didn't work well for transferring to the oven. Once the dough is spread the spinach mixture is added to the top of the dough, leaving an edge around. I dotted the top with ricotta and transferred the pie to the stone, which is easier said than done, and let it cook for 12 minutes. My nicely shaped pie got all distorted, but it still tasted good! Once it was out of the oven, I sprinkled on the mixed Italian Cheeses.

The Verdict: This is a delicious pizza, with a nice crispy crust, and a good balance of toppings. When I make the next one I think I'll add some olives to give it a bit of a salty kick. It is nice to have the two balls of dough in the freezer, so I can pull them out and have pizza that evening.

Picking up Picadillo

This is one of those recipes that people grew up eating--though my American Century Cookbook said it only came to the United States in the 50s and 60s, it is very traditional dish in Latin America. Different countries, regions, and families have their own ways of serving it and their own twists on flavors they like to add. However, it is not a dish my family has ever made, and I had never even heard of it until I was looking through the Skinnytaste blog and found her recipes for it. I love the flavors of olives and capers, and this just sounded so delicious and hearty. The interesting this is that I have at least two cookbooks with recipes for this dish, but the skinnytaste one is what I went with, since I had everything and the others seemed more like sloppy joe recipes, with less developed flavors.

Ingredients:

2 lbs 93% lean ground beef/ground turkey (I used half and half, because that is what I had in the freezer)
1 cup minced onion
1 diced red bell pepper (about a cup and a bit)
3 cloves garlic, (or two enormous cloves)
1 can diced tomatoes
8 oz can tomato sauce
1/4 cup olives, pimientos, capers, with brine
2 tsp ground cumin
1/4 tsp garlic powder
2 bay leaves
kosher salt and fresh pepper, to taste



Brown the ground meat, breaking up into small pieces as it cooks. Doing this brought back so many memories of growing up--pretty much every recipe I made as a kid involved a container of ground beef, some kind of canned sauce, and a carb. So even though this isn't a family tradition, the meat reminds me of trying to cook the half frozen meat. This meat was all the way defrosted, and while that cooked I minced the garlic, onion, and red pepper, which is probably three times the veggies I cooked with as a child. There was only one dish growing up that my mom ever made with fresh garlic, and she would swear her hands smelled like garlic all day after that. If the garlic she used was like this garlic, I can believe her. These were monster cloves--each one was the size of three regular cloves--so I just used two, and the smell was super strong.

Once the meat is browned, I drained it really well and added the chopped onions, peppers, and garlic and let that cook for a few minutes, until they had softened somewhat. This helps break down the veggie, so they release some of the flavor and brown. The mix goes into the crock pot along with the olives, capers, and pimentos--I also added some of the brine. Into the pot also goes a can of diced tomatoes, a can of tomato sauce, and all of the seasonings--the cumin, garlic powder, and the bay leaves. It didn't seem like there was enough liquid for the mix, so I added another can of tomato sauce and some broth. I added salt and pepper as well.

I cooked it on high for about four hours, with the lid off for the last little while to cook down. The original recipe calls for serving over rice, but I'm not a fan of starchy carbs for the sake of starchy carbs. So I served it with a variety of vegetables. It makes about 12 half cup servings--and I ate every single one over the course of a whole week. I'd thought to freeze some, but it is very versatile. I mixed a lot with chopped and defrosted and drained spinach, and served it stuffed in veggies, as a quesidilla, mixed with eggs, with squash, over cauliflower patties, with pop-overs, with cornbread, alone. Really there is no end of ways to eat it--I find it is really good mixed in with veggies, because it will flavor all of the vegetables and provide a larger serving size for the calorie content!


The Verdict: This is a great flavor profile for me--the capers, olives, and cumin are perfect with the ground meat and tomatoes. It is rich and savory, without being overwhelming, and not too fatty. It does make a lot of food, but I liked that I only had to cook once the whole week and could use it to make so many different kinds of dishes. This is absolutely something I'd make again, and can think of even more things this would be good with! Even though this isn't a recipe from my childhood, it has a lot of the flavors, and I think my parents would enjoy it as well!

A Few of my Favorite Things: Or Leftovers!

 So this is one of the yummy dishes I sometimes throw together and then regret that I don't remember what I did so I could make it again later. It is leftovers--but completely different than the original dishes. I had leftover chicken breast, left over jalapeno, part of a bag of frozen spinach, an onion, and a bunch of mushrooms--along with a couple of portobello mushrooms.

There is a local food co-op nearby that buys food in bulk and sells it out of a warehouse at low prices. The veggies are of mixed quality, sometimes good, sometimes bad--but one thing they do very well is local foods. They have a variety of meats, cheeses, dairy, eggs, and these mushrooms--all from local growers. Unlike most of the other locally grown products, these mushrooms are actually a LOT less expensive than what you'd find in the store. These mushrooms were 62 cents each--as compared to 2$ for one at the grocery store. Plus local and fresher!

So I diced the onion and set it all to fry in a skillet sprayed with cooking spray--once it had started to soften I tossed in the diced mushrooms, and leftover jalapeno. I added chili powder, cumin, garlic, and salt and pepper--along with some red pepper. I chopped some leftover shredded chicken and added it to the pan. That sauteed while I defrosted and drained the frozen spinach, which was stirred in. The portobellos were grilled on the George Foreman grill one at a time and tossed in the oven to keep warm after. While the mushrooms cooked, I stirred in some cream cheese to the saute pan.

Once the mushrooms were grilled, they were topped by the sauteed vegetables, with chopped avocado sprinkled on top.

The Verdict: A quick and healthy meal--heavy on the veggies, with some lean protein, healthy fats, and a good dose of heat! Stuffed portobellos are among my favorite foods--and I'm so glad I found a source for them on the cheap so I can eat my fill without feeling guilty! I made enough for dinner tonight and lunch at work tomorrow, which makes this a success in my books. Plus there was some extra topping that I'll put in my breakfast eggs. This is where the good eating is at!