Ham & Egg Pie

 

January 10, 2016

 

 

Like so many of my meals, this one came about because of what I had on hand.

 

And in this case, the galvanizing force was a lump of pie dough in the refrigerator. I'll

 

eat just about anything if it's encased in pie crust!

 

Also in the fridge were two leftover  muffin-shaped eggs baked in ground ham cups. I

 

had ground up half of a chunk of very nice Xmas ham, mixed it with bread crumbs

 

and an egg, then lined muffin tins with the mixture. I dropped an egg into each ham

 

"cup" and baked them for 20 minutes or so. As usual, I had made too many, so now

 

there were two of them left for me to deal with, which led straight to this Ham & Egg

 

Pie.

 

Having turned the oven to 400 degrees, I lined a pie plate with the rolled-out the pie

 

crust and set it in the fridge while I prepared the filling.

 

I roughly  chopoped the leftover ham and egg cups then cut the rest of the Xmas

 

ham into half-inch pieces. In a small bowl I beat two eggs, whisked in a cup and a

 

half of milk, then poured that over the ham and egg pieces. This mixture went into

 

the pie crust; then I folded the edges of the crust over the filling to make a cute

 

galette effect. The pie went into the oven. After 15 minutes I turned the oven down to

 

350 degrees and let the pie bake for another 25 minutes.

 

By now you're probably steaming mad, since you want to make a Ham & Egg Pie

 

but you don't have on hand my leftover pie crust or eggs baked in ham cups. Here's

 

what you do.

 

First, you could, of course, make a pie crust right now. But the beauty of this little

 

quiche-y dish is that it is quick and easy. Making the pie crust from scratch would

 

take the preparation to a different level. Instead you can 1) make the dish with no

 

crust at all. Or 2) make a bread-crumb crust. But before I tell you  how to do that,

 

you need to hard-boil two or three eggs. There are several ways to do this, but the

 

simplest is to put the eggs in a saucepan, cover them with water (at least an inch

 

above the level of the eggs), and bring the water to a boil. As soon as it boils, clap a

 

lid on the pan, turn the heat to simmer, and set the timer for 12 minutes. While the

 

eggs cook, make your bread-crumb crust.

 

Set the oven to 375 degrees. Put two cups of dry bread crumbs* in a bowl. Pour

 

over them a third of a cup of melted butter (five tablespoons) or olive oil or a mixture

 

of the two. Stir well, then dump the mixture into your pie plate and press it with your

 

fingers to make a thin shell, pressing it up the sides and trying to end with an even

 

thickness. Put this in the oven for 12 minutes to firm up while you prepare the filling.

 

when it comes out of the oven, set it aside until you're ready to fill it.

 

For the filling you will need ham cut into half-inch cubes (the better the ham the

 

better the dish). As soon as the eggs are cooked, pour out the hot water and run

 

cold water into the pan for a few minutes. Crack the eggs in three or four places and

 

keep them in the cold water. To peel them, start at the broad end of the egg, not the

 

pointier end. Let cold water dribble over the egg as you peel, being sure to peel off

 

the membrane as well as the shell. Very fresh eggs are almost impossible to peel,

 

so save your farm-fresh ones for another day and use the eggs that have been

 

around for a few weeks. Roughly chop the eggs once they're peeled.

 

All right, now you're ready. Put the ham cubes and the chopped eggs in a bowl.** In

 

a small bowl mix together two (raw) eggs and a cup and a half of (whole) milk. Pour

 

this over the ham and eggs, then pour the whole thing into your bread-crumb crust.

 

Put the pie into the oven for about 40 minutes. Eat.

 

*I hope you make your own bread crumbs, using up every morsel of bread that

 

passes through your kitchen. To make them: first, make fresh bread crumbs by

 

running pieces of stale bread through your food processor. These have many uses

 

(as topping for casseroles, for example). But there are times when dry bread

 

crumbs work better. Spread the fresh crumbs on a baking sheet and bake at 350

 

degrees for about 15 minutes. Let cool, then run them through the food processor

 

(again) to grind them into fine, dry crumbs. Keep a bag or box of crumbs in your

 

freezer at all times!

 

**There's no reason why you can't add other things to your Ham & Egg Pie. A small

 

handful of frozen peas, or a couple tablespoons of chopped fresh parsley. Even

 

some onion, though in this case you should mince it (cut it very very finely) so it will

 

cook in the allotted time.