Pies on Parade 2020
Happy February everyone! Last month, we concluded the 16th Pies on Parade weekend! This year the participants in Camden more than doubled. Camden Windward House took part for the first time and we had a blast! We were expecting to meet mostly Mainers during this event but we met a lot of out-of-state guests, even as far as Atlanta!
If you don’t know what this event is about, here is a very brief description. In order to raise money for AIO (Area Interfaith Outreach) Food Pantry, businesses in Rockland and Camden get together to make pies. Participants purchase tickets to “parade” all the participating businesses and taste little bites of pies. Food Network’s Bobby Flay got it right when he dubbed this as “Pie Town USA”!
As I said earlier, this was Camden Windward House’s first time participating. We had so much fun making the pies and meeting some really cool people! We can’t wait to participate next year!
If you participated this year in the event as a “Professional Pie Taster”, you will know that we promised you we’d share our recipes. For those who don’t know, we made a Crack Pie (or for those more politically correct, Milk Bar Pie) as our sweet treat and French Onion Soup Tartlets as our savory treat!
Barney the Sous Chef
So…on to the Crack Pie!
I got the recipe for the Crack Pie from the Milk Bar Shop in NYC, so I cannot take the credit for the recipe. So for simplicity reasons, I won’t post the recipe here….but I will give the link here.
There were a few things I learned from making this recipe, so I will share those thoughts. The recipe calls for corn powder. I had no idea what that was. I did a little googling and found that it is freeze-dried corn grinded up. I ended up finding one bag of it at our local natural organic grocery store. I also found out from other sites the corn powder wasn’t absolutely necessary, which was good as I didn’t have enough. The pie still came out awesome!
The other tip I have is when it comes to baking the pies. Maybe it was because I made 10 pies, but the bake time took a lot longer than the recipe called for. If I took them out of the oven after the 20-25 minutes, they would have been undercooked. I knew from the pictures on the internet that the top should be brown so I went with that. In the end, the pies took about 40 minutes to bake. I guess I did it right as they came out great!
Next up…French Onion Soup Tartlets!
French onion soup is one of my favorites. And how could it not be, with the rich flavor of caramelized onions and gooey melted cheese, married together in a heaping bowl of beef broth, kissed with Worcestershire Sauce. Hors d’oeuvres are another one of my weaknesses, so when these two collide, culinary perfection is formed.
When we decided to participate in the 2020 Pies on Parade, I decided these would make a perfect savory treat perfect for bite-sized tasting.
To start I followed an easy recipe for basic filo-dough: Homemade Phyllo (or Filo) Dough Recipe
Cut the Filo and insert into a small size mini cupcake tin to lightly bake the shells so they retain the shape of the tartlet.
If time is a constraint, pre-made Filo shells can be purchased in the frozen section of your local supermarket. But in my opinion, fresh is always best!
Next, it was time to concoct the delicious onion filling. For this I used:
Finely chop 4 onions (I mix and match yellow, white and red onions plus shallots) and begin to caramelize them in 8 tablespoons of butter. I usually cook for just about 20 minutes before adding fresh thyme (1/2 to 1 tsp). If you are substituting dried herbs, the general rule is to cut the fresh ingredient measurements by 1/3. Continue to caramelize while adding 1-2 tablespoons of dry white wine (I use Pinot Grigio completely for selfish reasons, so I can enjoy a glass or two while I prepare), and two beef bouillon cubes. If you are opting for a vegetarian version, the bouillon can be left out. Salt and pepper to taste.
After the onion mixture is caramelized to your liking, remove from the heat and gently stir in 1 package (8oz.) of cream cheese. I prefer to use the generic store brand Neufchatel cheese in place of cream cheese. Not only is it a bit more cost-effective, but it has a slightly softer consistency and contains less fat and more moisture. At this point also stir in 2 eggs lightly scrambled and 2 tablespoons of fresh parsley and allow the mixture to sit for a moment while you prepare the filo shells for filling. Use a tablespoon to fill each shell just shy of the top. Bake on a parchment paper-lined baking tray for 12-15 minutes until the mixture is slightly puffed and golden brown. Serve warm. Leftovers can be stored in the fridge for up to 5 days, and lightly warmed in the stove, toaster oven or air fryer.
We hope you will enjoy these as much as we enjoyed making them! Don’t miss out on next year’s event. It will be held January 24, 2021. It’s never too early to book a room so that you don’t miss it!