Savory Herb And Cheese Pie Food

SAVORY CHEESE AND SPINACH PIE RECIPE

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Set a large sauté pan over medium-low heat, and set out a 9X13 inch baking dish.
• Add the ghee to the sauté pan. Once melted, add the onions and celery. Sauté for 5-8 minutes to soften and release the moisture.
• Next add the spinach. Sauté another 5-8 minutes until the spinach has completely wilted down. Then add the scallions, parsely, mint, and dill. Sauté another 2-3 minutes.
• Move the cooked greens to a fine mesh strainer. Press the greens down to remove as much moisture as possible. Then use a paper towel to press again until the greens seem dry. *Too much moisture in the filling will make it difficult for the pasty sheets to stay crisp.
• Place the dried greens back in the pan. Add in all cheese, eggs, and seasonings. Mix well.
• Prepare a small bowl of melted ghee. Brush a thin layer of ghee across the bottom of the baking dish. Place a filo sheet out on a clean work surface. Brush the top of the filo sheet with ghee. Then lay another filo sheet across the top. Continue to layer and brush the filo until you have 6 sheets stacked. Move the stack to the baking dish.
• Spread the spinach and cheese filling evenly over the pastry sheets.
• Then prepare a second filo stack for the top crust. However, this time overlap the filo sheets so they are wider than the top of the baking dish. You want to have a wide enough stack to be able to create wrinkles in the top crust. Brush and overlap 6 filo sheets with a 2-inch lip on either side, so the final stack is 4 inches wider than the bottom stack.
• Move the filo stack to the top of the baking dish. Tuck the edges into the corners and sides. Gently press the top down, just a little, to create wrinkles in the top crust. Brush the top with ghee.
• Bake the spinach pie for 35-40 minutes, until golden brown. If the crust starts to look brown too early, cover the top loosley with a piece of foil, and continue baking.
• Allow the pie to cool for at least 5 minutes. Then cut into 12 pieces and serve.

SAVORY HERB AND CHEESE PIE

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 400° F
• In a large frying pan over medium heat, heat the olive oil.
• Add the onion and sauté for 8 -10 minutes, without browning.
• Add the chard stems and the celery and continue cooking for 4 minutes, stirring occasionally.
• Increase the heat to medium-high, and add the chard leaves, stirring as they cook for another 4 or 5 minutes, or until the leaves have wilted
• Add the scallion/green onion, arugula, and herbs. Cook for an additional 2 minutes or so. Remove from the heat and transfer the mix to a colander to cool.
• Once the mixture is cool, squeeze out as much water as you can and transfer to a mixing bowl. (I've found a Go to Amazon - Nut Bag works the best when it comes to squeezing out excess water)
• Add the three kinds of cheese, lemon zest, eggs, salt, pepper. Mix well
• Lay out a sheet of phyllo pastry and brush it with some olive oil. Cover with another sheet and continue in the same manner until you have 5 layers of filo brushed with oil, all covering an area large enough to line the sides and bottom of an 8 ½" pie dish, plus extra to hang over the rim. Line the pie dish with the pastry, fill with the herb mix and fold the excess pastry over the edge of the filling, trimming the pastry as necessary to create a ¾" border.
• Make another set of 5 layers of phyllo brushed with oil and place them over the pie. Scrunch the pastry a little to create a wavy, uneven top and trim the edges so it just covers the pie.
• Brush generously with olive oil
• Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 20 minutes
• Uncover the dish and bake for another 20 minutes, or until the filo has turned golden brown. (In the original recipe the dish is baked uncovered for 40 minutes. I found it browns more than I'd prefer, therefore the step of covering it for part of the baking time)
• Remove from the oven and serve warm, or at room temperature.

SAVORY HERB AND PARMESAN ROLLS

Steps:

• Set up your grill for indirect heat. If using a charcoal grill, build the coals on one side only. If using a gas grill, heat one side only.
• For the dough: Heat the milk in a small saucepot over the indirect-heat side of the grill to take the chill off. The milk should be between 110 and 115 degrees F. To the bowl of a mixer fitted with the dough hook attachment, add the warmed milk and yeast. Sprinkle 1 teaspoon of the sugar on top, then let stand for 10 minutes, allowing the yeast to foam.
• While you're waiting, melt the butter in a small saucepot over the indirect-heat side of the grill. When the butter has fully melted, continue to cook until browned, nutty and fragrant. Set aside to cool slightly. When the yeast mixture looks very foamy, add the browned butter and egg yolk and mix.
• In a separate mixing bowl, mix together the flour, salt and remaining 2 tablespoons sugar, then add to the yeast mixture. Mix until the dough begins to climb the hook and pull away from the bowl. Continue to mix until the dough is shiny and elastic, about 5 minutes. Turn out into a greased bowl, flipping once so the top is coated as well. Cover and let rise in a draft-free place until doubled in size, about 1 hour.
• For the filling: In the meantime, make the filling and prepare your pan. Combine the Parmesan, scallions, parsley, garlic and 4 tablespoons of the butter in a bowl and season liberally with salt and pepper.
• Place a 10-inch cast-iron pan over indirect heat and melt the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter, swirling to coat the bottom of the pan. Set aside.
• On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough to a 5-by-15-inch rectangle. Spread the filling mixture over the entire surface, leaving a 1/2-inch clean edge on the side furthest away from you. Begin to tightly roll up into a log, pinching at the seam. Using non-flavored dental floss, slice the log into 6 pieces by first cutting in half and then cutting each half into thirds. This will ensure even sizing. Place the 6 rolls into the prepared pan, leaving some spacing in between. Cover and put in a draft-free place until almost doubled in size, about 30 minutes.
• Place the pan on the indirect-heat side of the grill and cover the grill with a lid. Bake until golden brown, 18 to 20 minutes. Remove from the grill and invert onto a plate. Drizzle with hot honey and sprinkle with flakey sea salt. Serve.

SAVORY CHEESE AND HERB BISCUITS

Steps:

• Notes on how to make STELLAR biscuits:.
• 1) Spoon flour into a dry measuring cup and level off with the straight edge of a metal knife. DON'T use a liquid measuring cup or you'll end up with too much flour and rock hard biscuits!
• 2) I find it easier to incorporate room-temperature butter into my dry ingredients but then put the bowl with flour/butter back into the refrigerator for 10-15 minutes to chill the mixture. The colder your butter is, the higher your biscuits will end up. If you want to work with cold butter, this step is NOT necessary.
• 3) Shake the carton of buttermilk before measuring and make sure the buttermilk is COLD! It keeps the butter cold, and you have a lighter, fluffier biscuit.
• 4) Dust the work surface with All-Purpose flour when rolling and shaping the dough. (Leavening in Self-Rising flour leaves a bitter taste on the outside of the biscuit.).
• 5) Cut STRAIGHT DOWN with a sharp biscuit cutter! Do NOT twist the cutter or you'll be sealing the edges of the biscuits and reduce the rise of them. Ditto on using a glass to cut out biscuits: both sides of the cutter need to be open to allow air to exit as you press down. The glass ends up sealing the edges of the biscuit.
• Directions:.
• Preheat oven to 450-degrees F.
• In a very large bowl combine all the dry ingredients: Flour, Baking Powder, Baking Soda, Sugar, Salt, Black Pepper and Cayenne Pepper. Stir well to evenly distribute the ingredients.
• Drop the cut tablespoons of butter all around the flour mixture. Cut in butter using a pastry cutter until mixture is about the size of peas or very crumbly. Cover and chill in the refrigerator for 10-15 minutes to allow the butter to become hard; this will aid in having a very flaky biscuit.
• Add the cheese chunks and chives to the chilled butter/flour mixture. Stir to coat them well with the flour.
• Stir in buttermilk only until dough holds together very slightly, about 30 seconds. DO NOT OVER STIR! THIS IS THE SECRET TO INCREDIBLY FLUFFY AND LIGHT BISCUITS! The dough should "hold together" but still be very lofty and NOT packed down!
• Turn dough out onto a floured board, kneading dough a few times (about 3-4 times) and then pat into a 5-inch x 9-inch rectangle; Sprinkle top of dough with a small amount of additional flour and fold into thirds like a letter. Repeat entire process 2 more times, beginning with pressing into a 3/4" inch-thick dough rectangle again.
• Press or pat dough into a 1/2 inch thickness on a lightly floured surface; Dip edges of 2.5-inch biscuit cutter into flour and cut out a biscuit.DO NOT TWIST THE CUTTER! JUST PRESS FIRMLY DOWN, ONCE. Transfer to a parchment-lined baking sheet, placing biscuits side by side so they touch. Continue with existing dough. With the scraps, very lightly press dough together to form another rectangle and continue cutting out the biscuits. Caution! The MORE you work the dough and manhandle it, the tougher your biscuits will become so work with a very light hand when pushing the dough back together.
• Brush tops of biscuits lightly with cream.
• Bake for 14-16 minutes or until biscuits are lightly browned. Take out of oven by sliding the parchment paper with biscuits attached, onto table or counter top. Allow to sit for ONLY 1 minute, and transfer to a wire rack to cool for only a couple of minutes before serving. Caution! Moisture really builds up on the bottom of these biscuits, which is why they only sit on the parchment paper for 1 minute. Cooling on the rack for 2-3 minutes allows the cheese to set enough that it does NOT burn a person's mouth when eating it!
• VARIATIONS ON BISCUITS:.
• 1) Feta-Oregano or Marjoram: Stir 4-8 ounces of crumbled feta cheese and 1 teaspoon of either oregano or marjoram into the chilled butter/flour mixture before adding the buttermilk. Proceed with recipe as directed.
• 2) Bacon-Cheddar: Stir 6 cooked, drained, cooled and crumbled slices of bacon into the chilled butter/flour mixture along with 1/2 a cup of cubed Cheddar Cheese. Omit chives. Proceed with recipe as directed.
• 3) Gruyere-Rosemary: Stir in 1 cup of cubed Gruyere cheese and 1/2 tablespoon of fresh, snipped rosemary into the chilled butter/flour mixture. Use 1/4 cup of snipped chives and 1/2 tablespoon of freshly ground black peper. Proceed with recipe as directed.
• 4) Havarti-Dill: Stir in 1 cup of cubed Havarti cheese with 1 tablespoon of freshly snipped dill into the chilled butter/flour mixture. Omit chives. Proceed with recipe as directed.
• 5) Pimento Cheese: Stir in 1 cup cubed Sharp Cheddar Cheese with 1-4 ounce jar of DRAINED and patted dry Pimento into the chilled butter/flour mixture. Omit chives. Proceed with recipe as directed.
• 6) The ONE failure that I had was with Pepperjack Cheese. The actual cheese is too mild to taste in the end results and the remaining hot peppers were too much for the biscuit. Avoid this combination!

TOMATO-CHEDDAR PIE

Steps:

• Make the crust:
• Pulse salt, sugar, and 1 1/4 cups flour in a food processor until well combined. Add butter and pulse until mixture resembles coarse meal with a few pea-size pieces of butter remaining, about 10 seconds. With the motor running, add 1/4 cup ice water and process until dough just holds together, about 30 seconds. Squeeze a small amount of dough between your fingers; if it's very crumbly, add more ice water, 1 Tbsp. at a time (2 Tbsp. maximum). Do not over-process.
• Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and push together to form a rough ball. Knead a few times to combine, then roll into a ball. Flatten ball into a disc with smooth edges (no cracks), cover with plastic wrap, and chill at least 1 hour or up to overnight.
• Make the filling and bake the pie:
• Line a rimmed baking sheet with several layers of paper towels. Arrange tomato slices on prepared sheet, sprinkle with 1/4 tsp. salt, and cover with more paper towels. Let drain at least 30 minutes.
• Position rack in bottom rung of oven and preheat to 350°F. After dough has chilled, lightly flour work surface and roll out dough to a 13" round. Roll dough loosely around rolling pin, then release into pie pan. Trim edges to leave a 1" overhang and crimp as desired. Freeze dough at least 15 minutes.
• Line crust with parchment paper or foil and fill bottom with baking beans or weights. Bake crust, rotating halfway through, 20 minutes. Remove weights, pierce bottom of crust all over with a fork, and bake again until very light brown and dry, about 10 minutes more.
• Meanwhile, heat a large skillet over medium. Add onion, butter, and 1/4 tsp. salt and cook, stirring occasionally, until onion is softened and just starting to brown, 5-8 minutes. Let cool.
• Combine cheese, mayonnaise, herbs, hot sauce, pepper, onion mixture, and remaining 1/4 tsp. salt in a medium bowl. Blot tomatoes with fresh paper towels to remove as much remaining moisture as possible. Arrange tomato slices in pie shell and top with filling; smooth.
• Bake pie, rotating halfway through, until golden brown, 40-45 minutes. Let cool to room temperature before slicing.
• Do Ahead
• Dough can be frozen for up to 3 months; thaw before using. Tomato pie can be chilled for up to 2 days.