Strawberry Cheesecake Pie

Well, I'm on my 3rd Strawberry Cheesecake Pie using Mr B's Carolina Dips and Dessert Mix. I made the first one, and the hubby polished it off in two days. It's a good thing I licked the spoon when I made it! LOL

This has got to be the easiest pie you can make! Only three ingredients and a pie crust, and boom, you are done! Check this out...

Mr B's Strawberry Cheesecake Dessert Mix

8 oz Cream Cheese, softened

8 oz tub Whipped Topping

Graham Cracker Pie Crust

Mix the cream cheese and dessert mix until smooth.

Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl,

and add the whipped topping.

Mix until combined.

Pour into the pie crust and refrigerate until set,

or freeze until set for an ice cream style pie.

I added a handful of strawberries I had leftover.

I mashed them and added them in for

a little extra texture and color.

You can order Mr B's Mixes by clicking on this link (website), or you can visit him on Facebook by clicking on this link, (Facebook) OR you can find him (and me,  PyroArt by Southern With A Twist) on Fridays from 1-6pm at the Sumter Farmers Market if you are local! 

If you can't get the mix for some reason, you can make a pie from my recipe for Strawberry Cheesecake Ice Cream Pie.

Southern Style Tomato Pie

I asked the Hubby to go pick the ripest, prettiest tomatoes he could find from the garden. I told him that I wanted to cook a tomato pie. He said, "A what?" I laughed and told him he'd like it! Most people don't know much about tomato pie unless their Grandmama made it. Quite frankly, I don't remember Mama or my Grandmama making a tomato pie. The first time I tried it was in Santee, SC at Lone Star Barbecue & Mercantile. That first taste was enough to inspire me to make them from then on! I finished the pie and offered a slice to him. He is now hooked! I was short on tomatoes because I had already processed a lot for sauce the day before, so this pie is a little pitiful. The next one will be more substantial! LOL

This is what I found on the counter this morning!

I think he liked it! LOL

• 1 - 9 inch pie shell (or homemade pie crust, below)
• 1/2 cup chopped onion
• 3 cups chopped tomatoes
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon dried basil
• 2 cups cheese I used a combination of Sharp Cheddar and Mozzarella
• 1/2 cup mayonnaise
• 1/2 - 1 teaspoon Hot Sauce, to taste
• Freshly ground black pepper

Preheat your oven to 350°F. Pre-bake the pie shell in the oven for about 8 to 10 minutes, until lightly browned.

Lightly salt the chopped tomatoes and set them in a colander over a bowl to drain (I used my Easy Greasy Colander System.) while you are pre-baking the crust. Squeeze as much moisture as you can out of the chopped tomatoes using paper towels.

Sprinkle a layer of chopped onion over the bottom of the pie crust. Spread the tomatoes over the onions. Sprinkle the basil over the tomatoes.

In a medium bowl, mix together the grated cheese, mayonnaise, hot sauce, and freshly ground black pepper. Spread the cheese mixture over the tomatoes.

Place in oven and bake at 350° until browned and bubbly, about 25- 30 minutes.

My pie crust was a little thin and rustic,

but it was not soggy. It was crispy and delicious!

Pie Crust:

1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour, plus extra for rolling
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon sugar
8 Tbsp (1 stick) cold butter, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
3 to 4 Tbsp ice water

Place the flour, salt, and sugar into a food processor and pulse until well combined. Add half of the butter cubes and pulse about 6 times. Then add the other half of the butter cubes and pulse about 6 more times. You should have a mixture that resembles a coarse meal, with many butter pieces the size of peas. Work quickly with the dough, you don't want the processor to heat up and start to melt the butter.

Add a couple of tablespoons of ice cold water to the food processor bowl and pulse a couple of times. Then add more ice water, slowly, about a tablespoon at a time, pulsing after each addition, until the mixture just barely begins to clump together. If you pinch some of the crumbly dough and it holds together, it's ready, if not, add a little more water and pulse again. 

Remove the crumbly mixture from the food processor and place on a clean, smooth surface. Use your hands to press the crumbly dough together and shape into a ball. Work the dough just enough to just bring the dough together. Do not over-knead or your hands will overheat the dough and break down the butter. This will make the dough tough. You should be able to see little bits of butter in the dough.

Sprinkle the dough with a little flour. Wrap it in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 1 hour. (You can freeze the dough for several months until ready to use. Defrost overnight in the refrigerator before using.)

When you are ready to roll out the dough, place it on a clean, smooth, lightly floured sheet of wax paper. (You can place it on a counter top, but I like to transfer the crust on the paper.) Sprinkle some flour on top of the dough. Using a rolling pin, roll out the dough to a 12 inch circle, to a thickness of about 1/8 of an inch thick.

As you roll out the dough, check if the dough is sticking to the surface below. Add a few sprinkles of flour if necessary to keep the dough from sticking.

Place dough onto a 9-inch pie plate. (If you use the wax paper, it's ok for it to stick a little. I invert the paper over the pie plate and gently peel the wax paper from the dough.) Gently press down to line the pie dish with the dough. Crimp or pinch the dough around the top or press with the tines of a fork.

Crab Pie and Best Friends

Photo from my friend Brian at Hot Sauce Daily

Here's another one of the recipes from my book, "Mama's Cookbook". As I wrote the other day, Mama loved seafood, but didn't have it very often growing up because of the cost. Unless you lived on the coast and caught your own, seafood was impractical and definitely a luxury item that struggling families could not afford. Mama made friends with a new girl in school. She was Catholic and Mama didn't know about their rites and rituals. The first Friday that she spent the night at her friend's house, they had shrimp for supper. She was in love with seafood! She loved her new best friend, and Fridays were a treasured meal with her!  I was named after her best friend, Lynda! So, the few recipes of Mama's that include seafood, I certainly do treasure! I hope you enjoy this one! Notice the note at the bottom. If you are not familiar with my cookbook, Mama jotted notes down for me on recipes before giving them to me. They are a treasure trove of memories!

Crab Pie

1 Pie Pastry, uncooked

1 cup Cheddar Cheese, grated

1 cup Crab Meat

3 Eggs, beaten

1 cup Heavy Cream

½ t salt

¼ t Pepper

½ t Lemon Zest*

Arrange cheese evenly over bottom of pastry. Top with crab meat. Combine eggs, cream, salt, lemon peel and pour evenly over crab meat. Bake at 325 for about 40 minutes.

Notes: “Your Daddy likes this…Cool or the cheese will burn you!”

*When I make it now, I add some Old Bay Seasoning, green onion and a mixture of cheeses that I have on hand. I use Swiss and Cheddar or Colby Jack. It just depends on my mood. 

Mini Pecan Pies

Thank goodness that I hid some pecans in the freezer this year! I had some orders for these delicious little tarts. Valentine's Day is a perfect time to splurge on these yummy bite size morsels!

One Pie Crust, cut into 2 inch rounds with a cookie cutter, 24 total
Filling:
1/3 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons all purpose flour
1 1/4 cups light corn syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 eggs
1 1/2 cups pecan pieces
2 tablespoons melted butter

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Place pie rounds into a lightly greased mini muffin pan.
In a large bowl, combine sugar, flour, corn syrup, vanilla and eggs. Beat well. Stir in pecans and butter. Spoon into pie rounds. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown. With the tip of a sharp knife, pull the edge of a round up and transfer to a wire rack to cool. Store in a sealed container.

Banana Cream Chocolate Eclair Pie

Crust:
1 cup water
1/2 cup butter
1 cup all-purpose flour
4 large eggs

Filling:
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1 box banana cream instant pudding
1 1/2 cups milk

chocolate syrup, for garnish

Preheat oven to 400. Lightly grease a 9"X13" glass baking pan. (I used a large torte dish.)
In a medium saucepan, melt butter in water and bring to a boil. Remove from heat. Stir in flour. Mix in one egg at a time, mixing completely before adding another egg. Spread mixture into pan, covering the bottom and sides evenly. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from oven and let cool.

 I ran out of all-purpose, so I used self-rising.
What could it hurt? LOL

The filling would come to the top in a regular crust! LOL

Whip cream cheese in a medium bowl until smooth. In separate bowl, beat the pudding mix and the milk for 3 minutes and put in the fridge until set. Slowly add pudding to cream cheese, beating until there are no lumps. When the crust is completely cooled, pour in filling. Refrigerate the pie until set well. Serve with whipped cream and a drizzle of chocolate syrup.

I didn't have any whipped cream, but I don't think it needs it!

PIE! Chocolate Cream and Coconut Cream Pies

I came across a recipe, in my Mama's recipe box, for a basic cream pie that you can turn into almost any kind of pie that you want. With this basic recipe I made these two pies: Chocolate Cream Pie and Coconut Cream Pie! The recipe is basically a Vanilla Cream. It's very easy. The only advice I would have for a beginner, is to practice tempering eggs before hand. I am always super careful not to end up with scrambled eggs in my pie base! LOL

Custard Pie Base:
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup corn starch
1/4 tsp Kosher salt
3 cups milk
3 egg yolks
1 1/2 tbsp butter
1 tsp vanilla

1 Homemade Pie Crust, click for the recipe.
Prepare the pie crust in a 9 inch pie pan and cool completely.

In a medium sauce pan, off heat, mix together sugar, corn starch and salt. Stir in milk until smooth. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly until the mixture boils and thickens. Remove from heat and add a very small amount of the hot mixture to the yolks and stir. Keep adding the hot milk mixture to the yolks until warm. Slowly add the egg yolk mixture to the milk mixture, whisking/stirring as you go. Return the sauce pan to the heat and cook until it just comes to a bubble. Remember to keep stirring to prevent scorching! Remove from heat and add butter and vanilla. Pour into a baked, cooled pie shell. Refrigerate for 2-3 hours or until set. 

For the Coconut Cream Pie...
Add 1 1/2 cups sweetened flaked coconut when you add the butter and vanilla. Stir to combine and pour into the pie shell.

For the Chocolate Cream Pie...
Add 1 1/2 cups of Semi-Sweet Chocolate chips when you add the butter and vanilla. Stir until melted and pour into the pie shell.

More Pies...

Banana Cream Pie... Cool the filling until just warm. Cut up 3 bananas and place them in the pie shells and pour filling over the bananas. 

Butterscotch Cream Pie... Replace the sugar with Brown Sugar. (firmly packed 3/4 cup)

Pumpkin Cheesecake Tartlets

I made these yummy tartlets to take to the Carolina football game last weekend. I even passed some out to the tailgaters next to us. I actually had them come over and ask for the recipe. It's so easy. You can use this recipe and make a full sized pie, but this was perfect for tailgating... one or two bite size.

1- 8oz pkg cream cheese, softened
1/3 cup sugar
1/4 tsp. vanilla
1 cup canned pumpkin
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
1/8 tsp. nutmeg
1/8 tsp. allspice

Refrigerated Pie Crust (not frozen ones in the pan)
1 box contains 2 roll-out pie crusts


Combine cheese, sugar and vanilla in large bowl. Mix until smooth with an electric mixer. Add pumpkin and spices, beat till smooth and creamy.

Unroll pie crusts and cut with a round cookie cutter. Gather scraps and roll into a ball. Roll out with a rolling pin and continue to cut. Yields 42 mini tart shells. Tuck dough into mini tart pans and bake at 425 degrees until golden brown, about 10 minutes.

Cool and pour filling into shells. Refrigerate until set.

You can bake these like in the picture, by adding an egg to the filling mixture. Bake in uncooked shells at 400 degrees for approximately 20 minutes or until golden brown.