A good cookbook...what makes a cookbook a good one? Amazing recipes are all over the Internet. Fabulous photos of good eats are all over Instagram. So, I'd say amazing recipes and fabulous photos are two important elements of a good cookbook, but a good cookbook must have something more. And what is that something more?
I'd define a good cookbook as a creative spark. A good cookbook is an idea book that a good cook can study and think about and build on.
When Pies Fly is a creative spark for me. I'm a longtime pie baker, baking fruity as well as meat pies, and I've been making empanadas since my teens. But When Pies Fly opened up the idea of a pie for me, and suddenly I could see pie as author Cathy Barrow does---anything wrapped in pastry.
So what if I took a recipe I love and have made many times and adapted it into a hand pie?
I started with my recipe for Taquitos that I have been using for thirty years. A roll of pork sausage, six eggs, two green peppers, an onion, a dash of Worchestershire sauce, and salt and pepper, all cooked up in a skillet. I then usually roll a 1/4 cup of this along with a handful of cheese into a flour tortilla.
I took a close look at a recipe for Bacon, Egg, and Swiss Hand Pies. It is similar to my Taquitos but the filling is put into a pastry and baked at 400 degrees for 30-35 minutes.
So I made up Everything Spice Pie Dough the day before so the dough could get very cold overnight. And I replaced the flour tortillas with the pie dough. The recipe for the pie dough can be found here.
The final result? Delicious!
For more wordless photos, go to Wordless Wednesday.
Weekend Cooking was created by Beth Fish Reads and is now hosted by Marg at The Intrepid Reader (and Baker). It is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share: Book (novel, nonfiction) reviews, cookbook reviews, movie reviews, recipes, random thoughts, gadgets, quotations, photographs. If your post is even vaguely foodie, feel free to grab the button and link up anytime over the weekend. You do not have to post on the weekend. Please link to your specific post, not your blog's home page. For more information, see the welcome post.
sounds like a marvelous book - who doesn't love pies?
ReplyDeleteExactly.
DeleteWow, excellent book if it motivates you to try something new. Sounds like more delicious things to come.
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely!
DeleteI never bake pies often but this looks fun. I have a friend who once a year has a pie party potluck. Everyone must bring a pie -- which could include hand pies, pot pies, quiches, and of course, dessert pies. I wish she and I lived closer together!
ReplyDeleteWouldn't that be fun?!
DeleteOh yummy. We've not baked pies in so very long.
ReplyDeleteThank you for joining the Wordless Wednesday Blog Hop.
Have a fabulous Wordless Wednesday. ♥
Pies are at the top of my love-to-bake list.
DeleteThe idea that ANY dough-wrapped food is a pie is interesting. I know people have studied the many dumplings of the world, which would include ravioli, pirogi, knishes, pot stickers, won-tons, and more, but I suppose those are a subset of pies and pasties and empanadas etc. Cool!
ReplyDeletebest... mae at maefood.blogspot.com
Dough-wrapped food seems universal.
DeleteOk so my mouth is watering, I love pies
ReplyDeleteI love baking and making pies and such. This looks like a great cookbook.
ReplyDeleteI can't wait to try some of the other pies.
DeleteHow very clever of you. I love it when I can apply and even adapt something I read in a cookbook.
ReplyDeleteI have so many cookbooks that I love to browse through.
DeleteSounds like a good recipe book. Looking forward to your tries.
ReplyDeleteMy latest post:
https://craniumbolts.blogspot.com/2021/08/off-season-visit-to-hoskote.html
Thank you, Shiju.
DeleteYes to a creative spark in a cook book! I have never made more than a plain, boring chicken pie. My husband would love it if I try to bring a bit of a creative spark to my pie making abilities.
ReplyDeleteLove how you combine your own trials and success with the book!
Elza Reads
I think when you are young (you) you must stick to an established recipe. But once you are old (me) you have made a recipe so many times that you can venture off the path.
Deletemmmm i used to bake a lot, but now i only go into the kitchen to clean. :-)
ReplyDeletesherry @ fundinmental
I love to bake (almost as much) as I love to read.
DeleteI saw a Slab Pie cookbook at the library a few weeks back and thought of you. Hand pies are great for a lunch and I don't often stray from the typical meat pies with leftover picadillo. I need to be more adventurous!
ReplyDeleteThat's why I love to browse through cookbooks. It changes my thinking.
Deletea great idea :)
ReplyDeleteI was happy to find this book.
DeleteI appreciate a good meal but not made by me ! I don't cook anymore ! I retired myself !
ReplyDeleteWant. This. Cookbook. Everything in it looks and sounds so yummy! Now if it only came with someone to make all the recipes in it for me. ;D
ReplyDeleteI love eating pies. Knishes? A staple of my childhood, I'm not sure anyone where I live has even heard of them. I miss them. Making these is another story, as I don't enjoy baking or cooking all that much. I just bought a grape pie, a regional specialty one has to travel 2 or 3 hours to find.
ReplyDeleteThe hand pies look delish. Have fun with NaNoWriMo.
ReplyDelete