Today I am bringing you two pie recipes, as my submission to the
Wick's Pies Blogger contest.
I have always really enjoyed participating in these contests, not only because of my love for food, but it also pushes me to try and come up with some delicious recipes to share.
First though, let me tell you a little about
Wicks Pies.
From raising pigs to starting a trucking company, Duane “Wick”
Wickersham was always a hard working entrepreneur. On September 2, 1944,
Wick was making a delivery to a local factory in Winchester, IN, and
upon arrival noticed a commotion; an employee had spent his lunch hour
at the pub and returned intoxicated. In his impaired state the employee
caused an accident that shut down production. Wick overheard the plant
managers complaining about how often their employees were getting
intoxicated during their lunch break, and Wick suggested that they open a
café inside the facility so employees would stay for lunch. A week
later, the owners of the factory called Wick and asked if he would like
to open that cantina. After a successful first year, he sold the cantina
to the factory and started The Rainbow Restaurant in downtown
Winchester.
Using
many of his Grandmother’s recipes, Wick was successful with his new
restaurant. The pies were such a hit (especially Sugar Cream Pie) that
he started delivering them out of a 1934 Buick Sedan. Wick reached his
goal of producing and selling 300 pies per day after just 4 years.
Through hard work and word of mouth, the demand for Wick’s pies outgrew
his capacity, and he needed to scale his production.
In
1961, Wick purchased a building just East of downtown Winchester and
built his new production line which featured a nitrogen freezing process
that allowed for the shipment of frozen pies. We still reside at 217 SE
Greenville Ave in Winchester, where we now make 10,000 pies and over
30,000 pie shells in an 8-hour shift.
Like
many family businesses, Wick employed his own children to help grow the
company. Wick’s daughter, Paulette was hired in 1983 to work in
production and retire as HR manager in 2006. Her son, Rob Kelly, has
been with us since 1990 and is now our plant manager. In 1985, Mike
Wickersham joined his father at Wick’s Pies and became our new company
president. Mike’s son, Dylan, was brought on in 2014 for sales, social
media and marketing. In 1990, Marsha Wickersham, Wick’s Daughter, joined
Wick’s Pies to head up sales.
Together, the family has grown Wick’s
Pies by staying true to Wick’s values of making the highest quality
product while providing great customer service. Today we employ more
than 70 people who are part of the Wick’s Pies family.
I was so excited to try out the Pie Crusts because after looking through their website, and doing a little research, I kept reading nothing but amazing reviews. Some going as far as saying that this is the best pie crust they've ever had.
I was a little skeptical at first, I mean, we all like to think we have the best crust around, but let me tell you something, after trying it for myself, I was blown away.
These have to be the flakiest, softest, tastiest crust I have ever had. Like EVER!!!
Before I show you the two pies I made, let me first point you over to their website and social media platforms, because I'm sure you're going to want to
get yourself one of their pies, or at the very least, their amazing crust.
Their bestseller is the Sugar Cream Pie, which sounds divine. So go on over, take a look around, but don't say I didn't warn you, because you'll walk away wanting a slice of every pie that Wicks sells.
So we were asked to make some pie, and you don't have to tell me twice, because I'm a pie girl, more so than cake. The trick was, coming up with a pie that was original, not just using someone's recipe and making the pie and submitting it.
That makes it a little more difficult because I think at this point, if there is some sort of pie filling out there that you can think of, it's been done.
I decided to just go back to my roots, dig into my Portuguese childhood and maybe use some of my favorite homecooked meals, as pies. These are meals that I grew up eating, meals that never had recipes, that were just passed down from generation to generation, from one woman's brain to another.
Ask any great grandma or grandma for a recipe, and they'll spout off some ingredients without any measurements, just eyeball it all they say. And that's how I learned to cook and bake.
For the first recipe, I used a savory filling from one of my favorite childhood meals. It was a simple dish, that my great grandma Ema would make all the time, because it uses leftover meat. Whatever meat you have whether it be a roast, a chicken, steak, ground beef, whatever.
Roupa Velha.....translated to English Old Clothes. It's quite a comical name, but a great way to use up leftovers. I've always loved the meal on it's own, but I figured it might be even better, as a filling inside a yummy flaky buttery crust. And I was right.
Old Clothes Pie
Ingredients
Leftover meat (I used leftover pork roast)
Fries
Eggs
Onions
Olive oil
Garlic to taste
Salt and pepper
Chili Flakes
Shredded cheese
Cream (I used a drizzle of Crema Mexicana)
Directions
In a large skillet pour 3 tablespoons of olive oil and finely chopped garlic. I don't measure, I just add to taste. Add in some finely sliced onion, and stir well. Cook for a few minutes until onion is transparent.
At this point, I take the leftover meat and shred it, then add it to the skillet. If it's a bit too dry, I add a little more olive oil, and then season it with salt and pepper, and chili flakes to taste. Cook until the meat is warmed through.
I had leftover fries as well, so I added those in, combined everything well, then poured in some eggs and stirred it well until the eggs scrambled.
Check the seasonings and pull it off the heat.
For my pie, I started by placing one of the 9' inch pie disks into a pie plate. Next I added a layer of shredded cheese, topped it with the meat mixture, then poured on some cream, some more shredded cheese, and topped it with another pie disk.
Bake at 375 for 30 minutes, until pie dough was brown and cooked through. Remove from oven, let sit for a few minutes before slicing.
This pie turned out so good, so tasty, and oh my word the crust is to die for. The best part is that it's such a versatile pie because you can literally use whatever leftovers you have on hand. The main gist of it though, is the meat, olive oil, garlic and onions all sauteed together. Yum!
Now for the sweet filling. I had a hard time figuring this one out. Like I said above, any pie you can think of is already out there, and there are recipes for every kind of filling you could imagine.
So, I had to really use my brain and again go back to my childhood. That's when I remembered one of my absolutely favorite desserts ever. Coconut Pastries,
Growing up, one of my parents friends were this very sweet couple. We would either go to their house, or they would come to ours, and while our parents chatted over cups of coffee, us kids would play with their kids, swim in their pool and just have a blast.
But, there were these amazing coconut pastries that Miss Idalina would make. I would dream of these, and when she would bring them over, I almost drooled everytime. I was already very much into baking and cooking, and mind you I was around 13 years old at the time, so when I found out that the family was moving to Portugal, I begged her to give me the recipe.
She told me that she didn't have a specific recipe, because again, like I said above, it's pretty common to have these family favorites that have been passed down, without measurements or recipes.
She quickly wrote down what she could remember off the top of her head. Just 4 ingredients, mixed together and thickened over medium heat.
Now the original way they are made, is using puff pastry, baking it and cutting it into squares before stuffing them with this coconut filling. It is sooo good, especially if you love coconut.
So I decided I'm going to take this filling and I'm going to use it as a pie filling instead, but adding in a brown sugar glaze as well.
The result was AMAZING, SO GOOD. I am definitely making it for Thanksgiving dessert. As much as I love puff pastry, the Wicks Pie Crust was the perfect combination with the coconut and the brown sugar. Yum!!!
Coconut Pie with Brown Sugar Glaze
Ingredients for coconut filling
6 eggs
2 cups of milk
2 cups of sugar
2 cups of coconut
Dash of vanilla extract
Brown Sugar Glaze
1 cup brown sugar
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon flour
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 9' inch discs of Wicks Pie Crust
Powdered sugar for garnish
Directions
Grease a pie dish, and line with a 9' inch Wicks Pie Crust. Poke a few holes with a fork, and bake in a 375F oven, for about 12 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool slightly.
In the meantime, add the ingredients for the coconut filling to a saucepan, stir well to combine, then cook over medium heat until thickened, set aside.
In another saucepan, make the brown sugar glaze. Melt the brown sugar and butter over medium heat, then add in the flour, stir well, then pour in the heavy cream and the vanilla extract. If you want the glaze thinner just add a little more cream. Let thicken slightly, then remove from heat.
Once the pie crust has cooled a little, pour the filling over the dough, top with another pie disc, sealing edges to keep the filling from overflowing. Make a few slits on top to vent, then bake for another 15 to 20 minutes until the dough is brown and cooked through.
Remove from oven, drizzle some of the brown sugar glaze over the crust and let the pie cool down. Once it's cooled, top with powdered sugar, and serve with the remaining brown sugar glaze.
This pie came out better than I could expect. It is SO good. A trip down memory lane for me, but even better with the pairing of the Wicks Pie Crust.
If you try any of these, let me know what you thought, and don't forget to go over to Wicks Pies and check out their products. You won't regret it, I promise.
