Jack O’Lantern Cheeseburger Pie

I’m not sure why I’m blogging about cheeseburger pie when I really should be doing the massive amount of work I have to do for school, but it’s probably got something to do with the fact that I just don’t want to do school work.

My apartment complex gives us a cute little newsletter every month with fun facts about the holidays in that month, community info and news, and a random recipe. This month’s was jack o’lantern cheeseburger pie. Of course I had to make that one.

It was helpful that hubby and I were invited over to my brother and SIL’s place on Halloween. It would have felt weird to make this for just us. They have a kid. Granted, she’s only a toddler and had no idea what was going on, but it seemed to make more sense to do something so whimsical if there’s a kid involved.

I started off with some chopped onion, minced garlic, sat, and pepper.

And ground beef.

Just kept stirring it to let it all cook.

When it was almost done, I measured out some ketchup.

And after draining the beef, I added the ketchup to it.

All mixed it, it looked almost exactly like it had before. I really didn’t think this was enough ketchup, but after a little taste, I decided to leave it alone.

Set the beef aside to let it cool.

Next step: prepare the pie shell! I cheated and used store-bough pie crust, though I was better about letting it warm up at room temperature before trying to unroll it.

Then I took some mustard…

And smeared it around the bottom of the pie crust. I told you this was weird!

Take a massive, ridiculous, crazy amount of Monterey jack cheese and put it in the pan with the beef.

As I mixed it in, I had second thoughts about the quantity of cheese and picked some back out. That’s not necessary

Once it’s all combined, press the mixture into the pie shell.

Then unroll the other pie crust so you can play with it!

Basically, I put it on a cutting board and cut out a silly jack o’lantern face with a knife.

The smile was lopsided, but ah well. It still looked cute, right?

I picked the whole thing up (carefully!) and placed it on top of the pie. Then I rolled the edges and used the cutout dough to make a little stem.

Just before cooking, I brushed the pie with a mixture of egg, water, and red and yellow food coloring. I also painted the stem green! Then I giggled at how silly it looked and announced that I would be very sorry if this turned out to be a complete flop.

After baking it for about 20 minutes, I took it back out to baste again. At this point, I filled in the holes with a bit of leftover Monterey jack cheese. I thought about making a foil shield to protect my crust from getting burned, but then I decided that I didn’t care.

The recipe said to bake another 10 minutes, but I think I gave it closer to 5. And then it was done!

I liked that there was a bowl of apples on their table. It make it look more festive.

Luckily, it was really easy to serve. I had greased the pie plate, which helped, and the food stuck together better than I expected. Thanks, cheese! I served it with some potato salad and that was that.

Verdict: Yes, it was reminiscent of a cheeseburger. The ketchup and mustard were both there, but subdued. I’m not a mustard fan, so I appreciated this. I noticed the cheese less from the flavor and more from the texture, which was actually pretty creamy. It was a heavy meal, so one piece was pretty much okay for one person, but it was pleasing enough that some went back for more. The leftovers were just as good, I thought.

Definitely a fun, easy meal. Easily modified for different holidays (or no holiday at all, I suppose, but where’s the fun in that?). Maybe a new family favorite!

Sloppy Joes and California Potato Salad

This post is about classic dishes. I was getting bored with my normal ground beef recipes and wanted to do something different. Allrecipes suggested Sloppy Joes. I’d never made Sloppy Joes before, so I was hoping for a recipe that was a good representation of what a good one tastes like. And for the side, potato salad. Although there are thousands of different potato salad recipes, many of which I’ve tasted, I had never made one of my own before. For my first attempt, I wanted to make the classic side dish but in a big way: a version that was unique and delicious. I think I accomplished both of these.

 

 

Two memories of Sloppy Joes growing up:

 

1. They were called “Sloppy Jolies” in my house because apparently I made a royal mess with them. This was the only acceptable term, and I’d bet money that it’s the one my parents still use.

 

2. The real reason I made a mess of them was because my mom hid tiny bits of onion on it and I was trying to eat around them. I was on to her tricks.

 

Current thoughts about Sloppy Joes:

 

1. It still feels weird to call them anything other than Sloppy Jolies, but I’m trying.

 

2. I like onions now, assuming they’re cooked down a bit.

So here we go. An onion and a green bell pepper.

 

 

All cut up.

 

 

I started with some ground beef in a big skillet on the stove.

 

 

A little browner…

 

 

When it was mostly done, I drained out the fat and added the vegetables.

 

 

The sauce that I made was a combination of a recipe and my own changes. I’ll post a link for it at some point. For now, this is what you need to know:

 

A bit of ketchup and also some barbecue sauce (I used KC masterpiece).

 

 

And some garlic powder, mustard, and brown sugar.

 

 

The meat and veggies are about done, so I transferred the mixture to a crock pot and added those sauce ingredients.

 

 

Then I added a touch of vinegar (not in the original recipe)

 

 

And Worcestershire sauce (also not in the recipe)

 

 

And then a healthy dose of salt and pepper.

 

 

Then I just mixed it up, covered it, and left the crockpot on low for a few hours.

 

 

 

Now for my potato salad. Here are some potatoes. I didn’t bother to peel them, just scrubbed and cut them up.

 

 

After cubing them, I dropped them in a big pot of water and let them boil.

 

 

I also put some eggs in water to boil.

 

 

Then I assembled my ingredients: garlic, Dijon mustard, rice vinegar, mayonnaise, and a can of artichoke hearts. This is looking yummy already.

 

 

While I waited for the potatoes and eggs to cook, I chopped up the artichokes.

 

 

 

When the potatoes were finally done, I drained them in a big colander.

 

 

And when the eggs were done, I drained out the hot water

 

 

Before replacing it with cold

 

 

When they were cool enough, I peeled the eggs. Here they are! I was surprised by how easy they were to peel. I guess I normally wait until they’re chilled, but this worked well.

 

 

Look at how amazingly perfect they turned out! No green tinge, just a perfect, bright, fluffy yellow yolk.

 

 

Anyway, I diced the eggs and added them to the artichokes.

 

 

Added the potatoes and mixed everything up a bit before adding garlic

 

 

Dijon mustard…

 

 

 

Rice vinegar…

 

 

Mayo…

 

 

The recipe said to use freshly shaved Parmesan. This was the best I had. A poor substitute, I know, so I only added a touch of it.

 

 

Then I mixed everything up.

 

 

Then, in a flash of inspiration, I crumbled and added three strips of cooked bacon that I happened to have in the fridge.

 

 

Then it was time to serve!

 

I put some hamburger buns in the toaster oven.

 

 

The Sloppy Jolie Joe mixture had gotten real nice.

 

 

When the buns were toasted, I spooned a little bit of the meat onto the bun and topped with the other half.

 

 

 

And of course, my California potato salad, bursting with artichokes

 

 

Impressions:

 

The Sloppy Jolies Joes were sweeter than I’d expected. I suppose adding BBQ sauce without decreasing the brown sugar is to blame. I’m not sure it was a bad thing or not, except that the flavor was more reminiscent of BBQ sauce than tomato sauce, as well. But it was good. Hubby seemed pleased enough with it to have seconds, so I guess I did all right.

 

 

As for the potato salad? I can’t praise it enough. It was SO DAMN GOOD. I was fighting the urge to snack on it all afternoon. I ate too much of it at dinner. I nibbled on it again when I was cleaning up later. I ate more the next day. Someone who does not like artichokes will not like this recipe, but someone who likes them will love it. It wasn’t too heavy on mayo, either. I plan on making it again today or tomorrow, if I can get my homework done with enough time to justify playing in the kitchen.

 

Seriously. So good.