Picnic Pie, Mexican Casserole, Salmon Rissoles, Irish Supper with Soda Bread. extra credit

Picnic Pie
We've been watching the Britcom crime series Pie In The Sky, which features a detective (famous for his savory pies)  who is trying to retire from the polis and run a restaurant.  It inspired me to create this vegetarian "picnic pie" in the British style -- with a hard-ish  "short-crust" pastry crust which allows the pie to be free standing, not the soft crust of American fruit pies which have to be kept in their baking tin to avoid collapsing.  In the UK, such pies are often a feature of summer picnics "on the lawn" hence the name Picnic Pie.

Short Crust Dough
Simple as it can be.  Keep everything cold!

2 cups AP Flour
8 oz Butter, cold, sliced into pats
1 tsp Salt
2-4 Tbsp Ice Water
2 Eggs, beaten separately

Cut the butter into the flour & salt mixture.  I prefer to use my hands.  Add 2 Tbsp ice wter and stir with a fork.  Add another 1 or 2 Tbsp of water until the dough barely comes together.  Drop in onto a floured surface and knead a few times to form a ball.  Wrap in cling film and put the dough in the refrigerator for half an hour to chill.

Roll 2/3rd the dough out 1/4" or thicker, into about an 18" circle. 

                                           

Drape the disk over your floured or sprayed springform pan and tuck the dough into the pan, smoothing things out across the bottom and up the sides.  Let any excess flop over the outside edge. 

If you don't have all your filling ingredients cooked and cooled, put the pan and the remaining dough back in the fridge. until you have enough goodies to fill the pie.

Filling
Literally the sky's the limit here.  There are some Brit standards such as steak and mushroom, steak & kidney, cheese and onion, etc.  The "trick" is to use pre-cooked ingredients.   This is where your microwave will come in handy.  I used about a dozen small smashed new potatoes, some leftover rice, mushrooms, carrot coins, sauteed onion, sweet potato, sugar snap peas, and Garam Masala spice blend for a bit of"curry" flavor.  Only the snap peas were raw.     You can also "cheat" by using thawed and drained bags of frozen mixed vegetables.   Toss the ingredients with a beaten egg.  You can, if you choose use a small -- less than a cup -- amount of thick gravy (jar, powder mix or handmade) to help flavor things and hold things together.  Not too much or too thin of gravy mind, you want to serve nice slices of pie, not falling apart wet wedges...  

Fill the chilled crust, then roll the remaining dough out and cut it out a circle that just fits inside the top (set the filled pan on top of the rolled out dough and trace aound the bottom). 

 Pinch the top and side together all around, then cut a couple 1" slices in the center of the top.  Brush with another egg (beaten).

Bake the filled pie about 45 minutes at 450F until you get a golden brown crust. 

 Let it rest for 15 minutes or so before removing the springform side and slicing into wedges.

Mexican Casserole
I wanted something "Mexican" flavored, but not the usual tacos, enchilandas etc.  This fit the bill perfectly.  Great flavor!

1 Onion, sliced thin
1 Red Bell Pepper, sliced thin
3 cloves Garlic, minced
1-1/2 cups Corn kernals
1 can Black Beans, drained & rinsed
2 large Sweet Potatoes, shredded large or spiralized
1/2 cup Medium Salsa
2 cups Shredded Cheese, divided
Taco Seasoning
Sazon Tropicale spice blend
Optional toppings -- diced tomato, green onion, avocado, sour cream, etc

Saute the onion, bell pepper and garlic with Taco Seasoning to taste, until just tender.  Reserve.   In the same skillet saute the corn with Sazon Tropicale until it's turning golden brown.   Combine peppers, onions, corn and salsa.

In a baking dish alternate layers of shredded (raw) sweet potato, sauteed veg and cheese.  Repeat.

Bake covered at 400F for 30-35 minutes. 

Rest for 10 minutes before plating.  Add toppings as desired.

Gourmet Salmon Rissoles
For Christmas I got this wonderful gourmet smoked salmon from our friends Susan and Patrick.  Fabulous stuff!  Just had to make these gourmet rissoles for a Sunday Brunch.

14 oz Smoked Salmon, fresh or canned
1 cup Panko
4 Green Onions, sliced, including tops
1 Tsp Lime Juice
1/4 cup Parmesan
1/4 cup Bleu Cheese Dressing
1/4 cup diced bell pepper
1 Egg

In a laerge bowl combine everything bove except the egg, bleu cheese dressing and fish.
Drain and flake the salmon if using canned,  Chop the fish fine if using fresh.  Add the fish, dressing and egg to the other mixture and stir to combine well. 

Mold into 2/3 cup patties and fry in a splash of oil for 6-8 minutes per side. 
 10 minutes or so, then slice and slather with butter!

Irish Roasted Supper 
Contrary to popular belief, the ordinary Irishman/woman didn't eat beef -- corned or otherwise.  It was just too expensive.   Beef was the provenance of the English/Irish overlords. This one-pot dish is more representative of what the commoners ate, although I've tarted it up with oregano,  black pepper and a squirt of lemon juice.  Take away the potatoes from potato-blight, and you can see how/why so many Irish starved during the Great Famine of 1845-52!

Cabbage, sliced into 1" wedges
New Potatoes, quartered
Salt
Pepper
Lemon Juice

Spread everything out on a baking tray, spritz with oil, season, and bake/roast @400F for 30-45 minutes until starting to brown a bit. 

It may not look like much in the photo, but it sure is filling, and tasty in a simple, clean way!

Irish Soda Bread
It wouldn't be an Irish celebration without soda bread.  I made my first loaf back in 2016.  Although whole meal flour would be the most common, I made this one with half Whole Wheat and half AP flour.

2-1/2 cups AP Flour
2-1/2 cup Whole Wheat Flour
3 tsp Baking Soda
1/2 tsp Salt
2 cups Buttermilk or whole milk with the juice of a lemon

Preheat the oven to 425F.

Let the milk and lemon juice curdle while you measure the dry ingredients together in a bowl. Make a well and begin adding the 'buttermilk' while stirring with a fork.  When it's all incorporated, dump out onto a floured surfce, and knead the dough a couple minutes into a shaggy loaf, adding a bit of flour if necessary. 

Form into a ball and plop it onto a baking sheet, letting it flatten.  into a dome shape.  Us a sharp knife and cut a 1/2" deep X across the center of the dome, to help with the expansion as the loaf cooks.    Bake about 45 minutes until the internal temp is 190-220F and the crust is nicely browned.  The loaf should 'thump' hollow if you don't have a thermometer.   

Let it cool a bit before slicing.

Extra Credit Recipe
Take the leftovers from your  Irish Roasted Supper, chop them up.  Add a little bit of everything, plus about 67 cups of water and some Bistotm Gravy Crystals to thicken, and make this  Potato & Cabbage Soup!