Tag Archives: pie

Hardcore Hobbit: Vegetable Pot Pie

Posted on February 11, 2013 | 4 comments

I am back and as requested I have made a recipe featuring root vegetables. I absolutely had to make a pie, what is hobbit life without pie? This pot pie doesn’t have much of a topper but as we have found in the past a topper is not needed to make a delicious pie. I had a lot of fun wandering around the produce section picking out root veggies to put in this. I have found that this recipe can work with whatever veggies appeal to you most. In the game this pot pie is made with rye flour, leeks, turnips, carrots, butter, and milk. I skipped the milk but it’s still creamy! There was a part of me that wanted to save posting this for Pi day, being a root pie and all.

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Herb Savoury Crust

  • 125g flour
  • 100g rye flour
  • 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 1 tbl poultry seasoning
  • 1 tbl dry mustard powder
  • 1/4 cup rice bran oil
  • 4 tbl cold water
  • 1 tbl butter
  1. Sift together flour and baking powder.
  2. Add seasonings to the flour mixture and stir.
  3. Combine the water and oil in a measuring cup. Beat with a fork until emulsified.
  4. Image
  5. Drizzle over the flour mixture and add the butter. Combine until you get a good dough, do not overwork though. You may need to add water if this is too dry.
  6. Roll out and place in pie dish.

Filling

  • 1 Purple Sweet Potato, peeled and cubed (which is not purple inside as I had hoped, boo)
  • 2 Parsnips, peeled and cubed
  • 1 Carrot, peeled and cubed
  • 1 Celery Root, peeled and cubed
  • 1 Leek, thoroughly rinsed, sliced white part only
  • 1 Garlic clove
  • 2 tbl Rice Bran Oil
  • 1 Rosemary sprig, chopped
  • 1/2 cup white wine
  • 2 tbl flour
  • 1/2 cup water
  • salt and pepper to taste
  1. Heat oil in a pot, add garlic, stir and quickly add veggies and seasonings. Stir again and add wine. Cover and cook for 15 minutes.
  2. Combine water and flour in a separate bowl until smooth. Add to vegetable mixture and stir. Cover again and cook for 20 minutes.
  3. Pour veggies into the prepared crust. Top with leftover dough cut into nice shapes.

Pie (the easy part)

  • Egg white (optional)
  1. Preheat oven 350F.
  2. Assemble pie, brush topper pieces with egg white (optional)
  3. Bake pie for 30 minutes.
  4. Allow to rest 5 minutes, cut and enjoy!

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Makes 8 servings. Each serving contains 226 calories, 9.4 grams fat, 30.5 grams carbs, 4.9 grams fibre, 4.7 grams protein. So filling, so creamy, so warming! I think this might be my go to savoury pie crust this season. It’s flaky and sturdy. Even stays together when you reheat leftover pie in the microwave. Yes, the hearts are there because February is heart health month and they are tasty! This crust puffs them up a bit like a biscuit. Nummy!

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Posted in Dinner, Lunch, The Hardcore Hobbit

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Toasted Coconut Pie

Posted on June 20, 2011 | Leave a comment

No hardcore hobbit today, but really, what hobbit would say no to pie? We had this tasty pie this weekend and I just had to share. For years I have been buying all sorts of coconut cream pies for my husband. It’s his favourite but I’ve never tried to make one because I just didn’t trust myself to get it right. Each store bought pie I got for him was a store bought disappointment. We just weren’t achieving an acceptable level of coconut flavour. So, it’s time I gave it a go. To us the best kind of coconut is toasted coconut. If making it on our own is the only way we can make this happen, then we are going to bring it! I did…and epic coconut flavour was achieved.

  • 10 reduced fat oreo cookies, crushed (creamy center and all)
  • 1/2 unpacked brown sugar
  • 1/4 cup splenda
  • 2 egg whites
  • 370 ml can evaporated skim milk
  • 1 tbl cornstarch
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 2 tsp coconut extract
  • 1/4 cup toasted coconut
  1. Press the crushed oreos into a pie pan to from your crust.
  2. Mix together the cornstarch, splenda and brown sugar in a pot. Slowly add the egg whites, vanilla extract, coconut extract and milk while whisking to keep smooth.
  3. Heat the mixture on medium heat, whisking frequently, until it thickens.
  4. Stir in the toasted coconut, reserving some of it to sprinkle on top of the pie.
  5. Pour carefully over the crust. Top with remaining coconut and allow to cool.
  6. Best if left in the fridge overnight.

Serves 8. Each serving contains 147 calories, 2.5 grams fat, 30.4 grams carbs, .5 gram fibre, and 5.8 grams protein. I have figured out where they were hiding all the coconut flavour in all those store bought pies….it was in my cupboard all this time.

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Hardcore Hobbit: Perfect Pie

Posted on June 1, 2011 | Leave a comment

In LOTRO “it may be possible to improve upon this pie, but you can’t think of how.” this pie takes blackberry pie filling and pie crust. The blackberry pie filling itself is blackberries and fresh cream. So, I had my basic ingredients outlined for me. So I thought about the types of things I love from pie. I love the creamyness and tartness of a key lime pie. I love the ultimate fruityness of a harvest pie that has whole chunks of berries and other fruit inside it. I love the ease of a cooled pie. To combine these things would be the perfect pie right? OH yes, it is indeed a great pie. It is creamy, it is fruity, it is easy! Perfection! I am also amused that all my fussing did not yield a perfect looking pie. Then I realized that my perfect pie is not a fussy looking thing, it is indeed a home cooked rustic wonder. Remember, rustic is pretty too! There are no mistakes, just rustic beauty. Anyways, enough chatter, on to this easy tasty pie!

  1. Pour the condensed milk into a bowl, add the cinnamon and stir thoroughly.
  2. Add the blackberries and carefully fold in so that they keep their shape. Crush one or two if you want the juice to marble into the milk. Do not over stir, if you want the slight marbling effect that I had. I gave it two stirs, that’s it!
  3.  Pour into the prebaked pie shell and chill in the fridge for atleast 4 hours, best if left overnight.

Serves 8. Each serving contains 240 calories, 4 grams fat, 1.4 grams fibre, 44 grams carbs, and 6.2 grams protein. This is not your everyday pie, after all if you enjoyed perfection everyday would you truly appreciate it?

psst…want a closer peek?

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Hardcore Hobbit: Hornblower’s Pie

Posted on March 14, 2011 | Leave a comment

Holly Hornblower certainly does make one tasty pie. In the game she uses that fabulous pie crust and blueberry pie filling. Blueberry pie filling takes honey and blueberries. Well, I decided to add a bit of naughty to this pie. Blueberries are awesome with a bit of spice so after taking a sniff of the chai tea I was thinking of having with this pie, I added some chai inspired spices right in that filling. The end result is a tasty venture away from the same old blueberry pie…perhaps this is why those Hornblower pies are in such high demand! The unspoiled ones ofcourse. I had a lot of fun making the topper design for this pie too. We figured it takes a village to make a pie this tasty…so we put the village on the pie. Buahaha. More fun than lattice work and my husband came up with scandalous stories for some of the residents of this pie. Tsk, tsk some hobbits.

  • 1 Hardcore Hobbit Pie Crust (instead of vanilla extract use lemon extract if you can)
  • 2 1/2 cup blueberries (frozen works just fine too)
  • 2 tbl honey
  • 2 tbl cornstarch
  • 1 cardamom pod, ground
  • 5 cloves, ground
  1. Prepare crust, roll out and place in pie pan. Cut off excess. Use the excess to make a cute topper for the pie.
  2. Combine the blueberries, honey, cornstarch and spices in a pot. Heat on low until the honey melts and coats the blueberries easily. Do not let those blueberries lose their shape!
  3. Pour the filling into the pie shell. Top with topper of your choice. Bake at 375F for 40-50 minutes.

Isn’t pie just fantastic? Especially a healthy pie like this. This pie serves 8. Each serving contains 147 calories, 3.7 grams of fat, and 1.7 grams of fibre. The filling itself is just 98 calories, no fat, and 1.2 grams of fibre for those who decide to use a different crust.

Oh the humanity! Especially delicious with a low fat whipped cream topping of choice. Sooo good.

 

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Posted in Comfort Foods, Dessert, Ingredient, Snack, The Hardcore Hobbit

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Chocolate Banana Pudding Pie

Posted on January 26, 2011 | Leave a comment

My dessert pie for national pie day. I was inspired a bit by Develyndeskyes response to my twitter. She had suggested a chocolate silk pie…so while I was thinking about chocolate silk in my kitchen some bananas caught my eye. Ha! Get some fruit in there make it tasty and healthy. This is a gooey pie simply because that is what I wanted, a pudding pie. If you want a firmer pie you can always fold in some fat free cool whip or something. It does hold shape somewhat but not much. Just messy good times.

  • 1 1/2 cup skim milk
  • 1 pkg fat free chocolate pudding
  • 2 bananas
  • 8 almond cookies, crushed
  • 1 tbl margarine melted
  1. Combine the cookies and margarine. Press into the bottom of a pie plate to cover the bottom.
  2. Whisk together chocolate pudding mix and 1 cup of skim milk until it begins to thicken usually about 3 minutes.
  3. Puree 1 banana and 1/2 cup of milk. Add the puree to the pudding.
  4. Cut the remaining banana into slices, break apart the slices where the banana naturally segments. Usually into three pieces per slice.
  5. Stir the banana chunks into the pudding carefully.
  6. Pour the pudding mixture over the pie crust and refrigerate atleast 4 hours or overnight.

Serves 8. Each serving contains 124 calories, 1.6 grams of fat and 1.2 grams of fibre. This tasty pie sure didn’t last long in our fridge!

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Hardcore Hobbit: Mushroom Pie

Posted on January 24, 2011 | 4 comments

Yesterday, I logged on and found out it was national pie day. Well, being the obedient gamer that I am I have to make pie. The first thing that leaps to mind when I think pie is definitely a dessert, and I’ve made one of those too. Since today is hardcore hobbit day though I figured I should post what I think is a most hobbit of hobbit pies, the mushroom pie ofcourse. In the game the pie is made simply with mushrooms and pie crust. Pie crust for this pie was a phyllo dough, I had some leftover from a strudel craving…don’t worry I’ll post that another day. I made my pies as tarts but you can make a full on pie using the same method. I just like the portion control and epic cuteness of a hobbit tart.

  • 8 oz crimini mushrooms (any kind will do, this is the type I used), sliced
  • 4 sheets phyllo dough
  • 1 can reduced fat cream of mushroom soup
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 egg white
  • 1 sprig rosemary
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • cooking spray
  1. Lay out a sheet of phyllo dough. Spray with cooking spray and top with another layer of phyllo dough. Repeat until all layers have been sprayed.
  2. Carefully cut the phyllo dough with a knife into 12 squares. Spray a muffin tin, place each layered square into a muffin cup forming a crust.
  3. Heat a pan to medium and saute garlic and mushrooms. Pour into blender. Add mushroom soup, rosemary, egg white, salt and pepper. Blend to desired consistency.
  4. Divide the mixture into the 12 phyllo cups. Bake at 400F for 20-25 minutes.

Serves 12. Each mushroom tart contains 37 calories, 1 gram of fat, and .5 gram of fibre. If you have extra calories and fat to spend that day I highly recommend topping the pies with a bit of cheese in the last 5 minutes of cooking. My husband said his mozzarella topped one were nummy. I recommend goat cheese…but then I just love goat cheese on everything. These would be great to serve at a party or keep to yourself omnomnom. If you are making this as a pie all you do is fit the sheets into a pie pan instead of cutting them up, the cooking time is increased by 5 minutes. Pair this with a salad and you have dinner!!

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Posted in Comfort Foods, Dinner, Lunch, Snack, The Hardcore Hobbit

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Turkey Smokie Spaghetti Pie

Posted on December 1, 2010 | Leave a comment

I’m not the hugest of pasta fans but sometimes, you need that pasta pick me up. Instead of doing the same old pasta with tomato sauce though I thought I’d liven it up with a bit of pie action. There is just something about cold weather that says “hey. lets make a pie” to me. It definitely made for a pretty pasta presentation…hehe…took me a few tries to say that one quickly. I definitely think I will be making this one again sometime. The turkey smokies in this really give it an awesome kick.

  • 4 ounces whole wheat spaghetti, uncooked
  • 4 egg whites, divided
  • 1/3 cup grated parmesan cheese
  • 1 cup fat free cottage cheese
  • 1 tbl italian spice
  • 4 ounces italian turkey smokies, hot or mild depending on personal taste
  • 3/4 cup tomato sauce
  • 1/2 cup skim mozzarella cheese
  • 1/3 cup chopped red peppers (optional)
  1. Cook the spaghetti according to the directions for al dente pasta. Drain. Transfer the pasta to a bowl and combine with 2 egg whites and parmesan cheese. Press the pasta mixture into the bottom and sides of a 9″ pie plate.
  2. Blend the cottage cheese until smooth. Stir in the remaining egg whites and italian seasoning. Spread the cheese mixture into the bottom of your spaghetti crust like so:
  3. Dice the smokies.
  4. Heat a skillet to medium. Add the sausage and red peppers (if you choose to use them). Cook and stir the sausage until no longer pink and a bit browned. Stir in the tomato sauce and heat thoroughly, stir occasionally. Spoon the tomato sauce on top of the cheese filling:
  5. Bake at 350F for 20 minutes. Remove from the oven, top with the mozzarella, put back in the oven for another 5 minutes. Let stand a few minutes before serving. Should look a bit like this:

This pie makes four servings. Each serving contains 293 calories, 9 grams of fat and 4 grams of fibre. With a side salad you have yourself one filling and comforting meal full of veggie servings too!

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Hardcore Hobbit: Spiced Apple Pie

Posted on November 29, 2010 | 4 comments

Apple season lives on and what better way to continue celebrating than to make a nummy apple pie. In the game this spiced apple pie is made from a pie crust and apple pie filling. The apple pie filling is made of apples and cinnamon. So very simple! I made this one snowy day, it sure did the trick of bringing a smile to my husband’s face after having to spend an hour and a half in traffic getting home on the snow day. Hurray for apple pie!

  1. Roll out the pie crust dough and place in a sprayed pie plate. Snip off any excess from the edges.
  2. Combine the sliced apples with the remaining ingredients and pour into the crust. You can take the time to arrange them all pretty but…rustic!!! Optional to use a cookie cutter on the remaining dough to add a topper. I added hobbits to mine:
  3. Bake at 425F for 40 minutes. Allow to sit for 10 minutes before slicing and serving.

Makes 8 servings. Each serving contains 175 calories, 4 grams of fat and 3.1 grams of fibre. Opting out of a top crust really saved me a ton of calories and fat. If you are not watching your hobbit figure then go ahead and make yourself a top crust, just add about 10 minutes to your cooking time. Although I have to say, I didn’t miss the top crust at all. More apple flavour without it! Want to see my adorable hobbits after baking?Awwwww. I think he’s waving at me.

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Posted in Comfort Foods, Dessert, The Hardcore Hobbit

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Hardcore Hobbit: Galadhrim Ration

Posted on October 25, 2010 | 2 comments

Are you an Elven soldier on the go? No? How about a person of nerdy repute that loves to make hardcore hobbit recipes? Me too! Hehe. This time I tackled the Galadhrim Ration from LOTRO. The game tells me this contains a ball of dough, royal tater, and beef. The ball of dough is an ingredient recipe that contains water and winter barley flour. Well, to me all these things make me think of a stuffed meat bun that is inspired by a tortiere (o.k. maybe that last bit is my canadian nature shining through). Especially the bit about it being for elven soldiers on a battle field…a pie might not be practical, buns  it is! Hehe buns…

Dough ingredients:

  • 2 cup flour
  • 1 tbl brown sugar, unpacked
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 5 tbl light cooking margarine
  • 1 cup pureed cooked sweet potato
  • 1/3 cup water

Filling Ingredients

  • 8 oz extra lean ground beef
  • 8 oz ground pork
  • 1 medium onion, sliced
  • 3 cloves garlic, chopped fine
  • 1 tbl poultry seasoning
  • 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
  • 1/2 cup water
  • 1/2 tsp cracked black pepper
  • 1 tsp sea salt
  • 2 tbl red wine
  • 1 pkg oxo beef (optional)
  1. Prepare the dough according to the hard biscuit directions Here. This dough is just a slight variation on that recipe. It works so well!
  2. To prepare the filling spray and heat a pan over medium heat. Add onion and garlic. Cook for 1 minute. Add beef and pork. Brown and drain any fat.
  3. Add the remaining filling ingredients. Bring to a boil and reduce the sauce by half.
  4. Roll out the dough to 1/2 inch thickness and cut 16 rounds using a large round biscuit cutter. Fill each round with 1-2 tbl of filling. Pull up the side of the dough to form the bun and cover the filling. It’s ok if some of the meat ends up in your dough. I think it looks rustic. Ofcourse thats my excuse for most mistakes…it’s rustic!!!
  5. Bake at 425F for 25-30 minutes. Allow to cool for a few minutes before serving.

Makes 16 buns. Each bun contains 160 calories, 6.6 grams fat, and 1 gram of fibre.

If you want to make this into a pie instead just spoon the filling into a pie plate and cover with the dough. Fold over the excess to create a raised edge. Bake 425F for 25-30 minutes.

Nummy for the Elven soldier not on the go.

One pie divided into 8 portions is 319 calories, 13 grams fat, and 2 grams fibre per serving. The pie version of this was so tasty that my personal hungry soldier (well, sailor really) ate the majority of the pie throughout the evening. I count that as an epic win considering my husband hates sweet potato.

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Hardcore Hobbit Blackberry Tart

Posted on September 6, 2010 | Leave a comment

Blackberries are in season! I’ve been waiting a long to do this hardcore hobbit project recipe. We have blackberries that grow just about everywhere around here. It’s not unusual to see folks pulled over on the side of the road picking blackberries. We even have some that have taken over the one side of our fence. We love them. So I picked some this evening and made ourselves a lovely round of tarts that would hopefully make any hobbit proud. In the game blackberry tarts are made of several tiers of items. First it takes a pie crust, which we covered earlier: Pie Crust recipe then it takes blackberry pie filling. According to the game blackberry pie filling takes: blackberries and fresh cream. All told this is how the recipe reads in game for the tart itself: blackberry pie filling, barley flour, fresh cream, and water. *phew* Clear as mud? Good. Hehe. Well, I had a couple of ideas on how to make this work. One is what I feel is the truest version and the other is the healthier version. Both are nummy. Since our focus here is health I will give the healthier version first and then write a note after on what to substitute for the other version.

  • 1 pint blackberries
  • 1 tbl honey
  • 1 tbl flour
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 2 tbl low fat vanilla yogurt
  • 9 hardcore hobbit pie crust tart shells
  • 1 pkg fat free vanilla pudding mix
  • 2 cups milk
  1. If you prefer you pie filling without seeds strain your blackberries, if you are more rustic skip this.
  2. Place the blackberries, honey, vanilla, and flour in a saucepan. Heat on low. Simmer until the blackberries break down and thicken. About 10 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in the yogurt (this is our cream replacement).
  3. Whisk together the pudding mix and milk. Spoon the pudding into the tart shells until the are half full. You will most likely use only half of the pudding. Save the remaining pudding for another day, that’s what I’m doing. Allow to sit 5 minutes.
  4. Spoon the pie filling into the tart shells to top them up. Enjoy!

This makes 9 tarts. Each tart is 113 calories, 3.4 grams of fat and .8 grams of fibre. Very tasty! Want to know about my other tart? Alright: Prepare the filling as directed. Instead of pudding and milk use creme fraiche, isn’t that cute? It is still fresh cream riiight? Combine the creme fraiche with 2 tbl of clover honey. You can use this as an underlayer as I did with the pudding or as a topping for the pie filling. Both are beautiful to plate and delicious to taste! I know the hobbits around here love these tarts done either way. It just depends on if those hobbits want to fit into their cloaks at the end of the day or not 😉

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