National Pie Day 2014

I learned about National Pie Day (not to be confused with Pi Day) last January and threw together a pie baking contest with my co-workers. The prize for the best pie was a diet book that we were going to sell in a garage sale. When we moved to Florida I thought it would be a great idea to continue the tradition with my new co-workers. This year we had prizes in 5 categories: Best Dessert Pie, Best Savory Pie, Best Healthy Pie, Most Visually Appealing Pie, and Pie of the Year. While we only had 4 official contestants (store-bought pies were ineligible), my co-workers didn't disappoint. I found an apple pie recipe on the Food Network website. I was going to make Alton Brown's apple pie, but it was a little complicated and required to many ingredients that we didn't have on-hand. Ning brought in an Oreo ice cream pie, Ronald made a shepherd's pie, and Jennifer made a sweet potato casserole in pie form. Elias planned to make a pizza, but he ran out of time Wednesday night. Ronald's shepherd's pie was the clear winner of the day taking home the Best Savory Pie, Best Healthy Pie, and Pie of the Year awards. I'll admit, the healthy pie award was a bit of a stretch, but the shepherd's pie was the closest thing we had to healthy. I took home the Most Visually Appealing Pie and Ning won the Best Dessert Pie. The prizes this year were pie servers.

All the ingredients assembled.

Fresh out of the oven.

All of the pies assembled for the tasting.

The prizes.

The aftermath.

Shepard's Pie

When my mom visits, she always brings a stack of magazines that's she's saved for me.  Most of the time I don't find that much in them, but it's nice to have something new to look at...

In one of the issues of Country Living she brought me, I saw a recipe for shepard's pie (here).  The picture looked amazing and it seemed pretty easy enough.  I ran it by Kevin and he thought it was do-able, so we gave it a go.  O. M. G.  It was AMAZING!  And so easy!  It's now a regular in our recipe rotation.  If you have some left over mashed potatoes, some veggies and ground turkey, you should totally try this.

Cheers!

Shepard's Pie

2 tablespoons EVOO

3 small carrots, chopped

1 cup frozen pearl onions (we just chop up an onion)

1 pound lean ground turkey

1 tablespoon flour

1 cup frozen peas

2 1/2 teaspoons of rosemary

Salt

Freshly ground pepper

3/4 cup low-sodium chicken broth (we make this using the powder)

3 cups mashed potatoes

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. In a large pan, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add carrots and onions and cook until soft, about 5 minutes. Add turkey and cook, breaking up meat with a wooden spoon, until browned, about 6 minutes. Stir in flour and cook 3 more minutes. Stir in peas and rosemary. Season with salt and pepper. Pour in chicken broth and stir. Bring to a simmer and cook until slightly thickened, about 5 minutes. Season with more salt and pepper. Transfer to a 9- to 10-inch deep-dish pie pan. Spread mashed potatoes atop turkey mixture. Bake until golden on top and heated through, about 25 minutes.

*Kendi Haus suggestion:  use a bigger dish than you'll think you'll need.  Cooking this can get messy and if you have a bigger dish, you'll lose less.

Stats:
Servings:  4+
Leftovers:  yes
Time:  ~ one hour
Cost:  ~ $5