I’ve had some interesting eats the past couple of days! I made two kinds of pies for both lunches…both savory, and both based on classics…with a twist, of course!

I’ve never been much of a dessert pie person…or any kind of sweet pastry, for that matter. Flaky, airy, buttery puffs of pastry, though appealing to the eye, does not appeal to my tastes at all. I would much rather bite into a dense chewy bagel than a flaky, airy croissant, and have never been one to understand why anyone would want to mess up a perfectly good fresh fruit by cooking it to mush with sugar and butter.

Savory pies, however, are a different matter. Pictures of homey chicken pot pie, quiches, pizza (yes, pizza is a type of pie), etc. never fail to make me drool, and I love how the flavors meld together in a more complex and intriguing way. Plus, the different play of textures in savory pies are much more interesting and fun!

So anyway, I decided to experiment and play around with the basic concept of pie in mind, and the results, I’m happy to say, were quite a success. Please stay patient with me while I elaborate…

When I say “pie,” which pie do you first think of straightaway? If you’re a good ol’ American, most probably the first pie that comes into your mind would be: apple pie. I’m not an American, but apple pie was what lodged into my mind as soon as I toyed with the idea of creating savory “pies.” I mean, it’s the classic of classics. But…how to make it savory and suitable to my taste?

Turn it into an eggy dish, of course!

So I decided to make an omelet…a la apple pie. I first sliced a Granny Smith apple into thin slices, and put it aside while I whipped up two whole eggs and two egg whites with milk into a creamy mixture. I heat up a skillet over low heat, then poured the egg mixture into it. When the bottom of the eggs set slightly, I immediately placed the apples in a decorative, pie-fashion all around and sprinkled about a tablespoon or more bleu cheese all around. As soon as the bottom was set nicely, I transferred the “omelet” into the oven so that the top would be cooked without burning the bottom. For the grand finale, I scattered some furikake on top just for some flair. The result, with sweet potato chips:

So pretty, isn’t it? I loved the little decorations!

The inside was amazingly fluffy and creamy, thanks to the low heating. The apples imparted a fruity sweet fragrance and flavor into the eggs, and the bleu cheese was a pleasantly sharp contrast. I loved how the apples were tender, but still retaining a bit of a crunch. And the touch of furikake on top was quite ingenious, if I say so myself! It livened up the whole dish with its great umami-factor.

I know this is a far cry from the traditional apple pie, but I’m still gonna call this creation omelet a la apple pie because that’s where I derived the whole idea from!

The sweet potato chips this time was perfectly crunchy on the outside and chewy in the inside. Love the combination of sweet and saltiness!

The next pie was a slight twist on another classic traditional pie, the shepherd’s pie (or cottage pie). This time I didn’t run too far away with my ideas, but basically stuck with the basic concept: potatoes over meat.

You all know what shepherd’s pie is. It’s an “upside-down” pie as in the “crust” of mashed potatoes is on top rather than on the bottom. But I felt that the texture play of shepherd’s pie is just too boring, with the soft mushy mashed potatoes and the soft meaty filling! Where is the contrast here? I love eating food with different textures, so with that in mind, I decided to substitute the mashed potatoes for thinly sliced potatoes instead, gratin-style.

For the meat filling, I cooked together ground pork, garlic, bell peppers, onion, and mushrooms in a store-bought Bolognese sauce. And for the top potato crust, just layered thinly sliced golden potatoes, and sprinkled some salt, pepper, Italian dried herbs, and several heaping spoonfuls of Parmesan cheese. Popped it into a 400 degree oven for about 30-40 minutes, and voila~!

Love the crispy potato crust!

The best thing about this meal was, I got to share! Every Saturday Liwen, Wengang and I make the point to have lunch together. Today we also invited our friend from Penang, Kristine, as she would be leaving soon next week.

This meal was quite the fancy affair! Liwen made some efforts to create a rather elegant tablescape:

She also roasted some tomatoes with olive oil, s&p, Italian herbs and slices of cheddar cheese on top: p>

And made a simple salad of iceberg lettuce, carrots, cucumbers, and celery:

Saying grace…

Yum! Everything was delicious, and we finished every scrap of it! Seriously, all the dishes were licked clean!

Okay, this post is already long enough, but I can’t resist re-introducing to all of you two amazing fruits I had the last couple of days…

One of our youth group member, Vilon, treated us to durians yesterday! Most people gag at the pungent odor of this spiky tropical fruit, but I go on some sort of high off it!

Don’t judge a fruit by its appearance! (or smell) The durian may look spiky and dangerous-looking on the outside…

But inside is the most creamy, delicious pods of mouthgasm in the entire world! Don’t mess with the King of the Fruits!

And here’s another lovely exotic tropical fruit which I have been adding to my breakfast daily…

Red dragonfruit! So striking in my bowl of yogurt, fruits, and All-bran!

I love how the color stains into the creamy white yogurt…

It’s fun to experiment around with food, but so much more fun enjoyed with some good, loving friends! I still struggle somewhat with eating with other people, but am slowly starting to get comfortable eating socially again. I feel really thankful to have great people like Liwen, Wengang, and Kristine beside me, who instead of pressuring me to eat, create a relaxed, casual atmosphere with lots of great conversation to keep my mind off ED fears! BIG SHOUT OUT TO ALL YOUR PRECIOUS PEOPLE!

Wow, it’s the weekend already, where does time fly to? Anyway, have an awesome weekend, everybody, and here’s today’s question of the day: What is your favorite kind of pie?

Related posts:

1. I am Fusion Queen
2. The Humble Potato
3. Make fun food
4. Purple eggs and vulgar dogs
5. Soup and onion-y breath

Tagged as: apple, breakfast, cheese, durian, eggs, fruits, lunch, omelete, pie, pork, potatoes, salad, sweet potato, yogurt