Back in the ’60s (I think) Bisquick came out with their “Impossible Pies.” It may have been longer than that, but I remember my mom making them when we were kids. It’s a pretty basic concept – a filling of sorts is put into a pie plate and a Bisquick batter is poured over it and baked. The batter forms a crust on both bottom and top – Impossible!
I haven’t bought a box of Bisquick in years – but I usually have a good baking mix – without partially-hydrogenated soybean oil – on the shelf. I decided it was time to use it for something other than pancakes.
I headed over to Mom’s Cook Books and found several recipes that were fun. I played around with them a bit and came up with a variation of the Cheeseburger Pie and the Vegetable Pie.
Impossible Beef and Vegetable Pie
- 1 lb ground beef
- 1 onion, chopped
- 1 cup mixed vegetables
- 1 cup frozen chopped spinach
- 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- salt and pepper, to taste
- 3/4 cup baking mix
- 1 1/2 cups milk
- 3 eggs
Butter a 10″ pie plate and set aside. Pre-heat oven to 400°.
Brown beef and onions. Add vegetables and heat through. Season with garlic powder, salt and pepper.
Place cooked meat and vegetables in buttered pie plate. Top with shredded cheese.
Mix baking mix with milk and eggs in a blender or mixer. Pour evenly over meat and vegetables. Place in oven and bake 30 minutes or until knife inserted in center comes out clean.
Tons of childhood memories in every bite!
That was last night.
Tonight I decided I wanted Chicken Pot Pie.
I planned on cheating and buying a crust since I have a bazillion programs to load onto the newest computer – but I forgot.
Eh… It didn’t take long to make one from scratch – and it really was a good one!
Pie Crust
- 2 cups flour
- 1/3 cup pastry/cake flour
- 2 sticks butter, frozen
- pinch salt
- 1/2 cup ice water
Using a food processor, add flours and salt. Pulse to mix.
Chop up frozen butter and add. Pulse until butter is incorporated and mixture looks grainy.
Slowly add ice water and pulse until mixed.
Turn out onto counter. Press and form mixture into two disks . Wrap in plastic and refrigerate about an hour to allow the flour to properly absorb the water and to relax the gluten.
Roll out crust and place in pie plate. Crimp edges and fill.
Total simplicity. Really. I’m glad I forgot to buy the crust. This one really is superior to a store-bought.
I made the filling with chicken breasts, onions, garlic, a chopped potato, a couple of carrots and celery stalks and a cup of frozen mixed vegetables. I used salt, pepper, garlic powder, poultry seasoning and French herbs added some chicken stock and thickened it all with flour and water.
Into the crust it went, topped with another and baked at 400° for about 30 minutes.
It was just what the weatherman ordered! And really quick and simple to pull together quickly so I could do all the fun computer-related things I needed to do.
I’m looking forward to Fall.