Easter Egg Pie

Have you wondered what to do with all those Easter eggs? When our children were small, it seemed we always had lots of hard boiled eggs to use up after Easter. There is only so much deviled eggs, egg salad sandwiches and potato salad we could eat. I created this recipe to use up some of those eggs, necessity being the mother of invention. :-) .

For safety, only use eggs that are clean, have been dyed with food coloring, have no cracks and have been out of the refrigerator for less than two hours.

Serves: 8

1/2 lb. Bulk sausage, sage flavored

1 Medium diced onion

6 - 8 Hard cooked eggs, peeled and sliced

1 cup (4 oz) Shredded extra sharp cheddar cheese

1 1/4 cups Milk (1%, OR non-fat Half & Half OR low-fat buttermilk, etc.)

2 Eggs

1 cup Home Made Biscuit Mix OR (1 cup flour and 1 1/2 tsp. baking powder)

1 tsp. Ground yellow mustard seed

1/2 tsp. Ground celery seed (or whole seed)

1/2 tsp. Ground paprika

1/2 tsp. Ground sage

1/4 tsp. Granulated garlic

Preheat oven to 400°F. Lightly coat an 11" deep dish pie plate or 8”x 8” baking dish with canola oil spray.

Brown and crumble sausage and onion in seasoned skillet over medium heat. Pour off excess grease. Drain sausage on paper towel. Spread sausage on bottom of prepared pie plate.

Layer eggs on top of sausage and sprinkle cheese over eggs.

Whisk remaining ingredients together in blender or medium mixing bowl until just blended and pour evenly over pie plate.

Bake 30 minutes or until edges are just golden brown and pie is set. A knife inserted in center should come out clean. Remove from oven and let stand five minutes before cutting into wedges.

Serve for breakfast, brunch or dinner accompanied by fruit: orange and grapefruit wedges, sliced bananas and strawberries, or a wedge of melon.

Thomas’ Impossible Catfish Pie

1/2 lb. lamb’s quarters

1 lb. catfish nuggets

2 cups cornmeal

½ medium onion

½ medium carrot

1 stalk celery

1 large potato

1 Tbsp. chopped garlic

1 Tbsp. olive oil

1 (10.5 oz.) can condensed cream of mushroom soup

¾ cup milk

4 eggs

1 cup Bisquick

1 tsp. dill weed, c/s

¼ tsp. paprika, ground

salt & pepper to taste

1 cup Panko bread crumbs

1 Tbsp. butter

Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease 11” or 12” deep dish pie plate with canola oil spray.

Prepare Lamb’s Quarters: Hopefully they were picked cleanly, but sort through them and remove any grass or weeds. Fill a large (2 gallon) tub with cool water and dunk and shake the greens to remove any sand or bugs. Pick them up by the handful and put them in a Dutch oven size kettle with a tight fitting lid. Cover and cook on medium high heat until all wilted. Cool, drain and chop (1” to 2” pieces). Layer in bottom of prepared pie plate.

Prepare catfish: Rinse and drain pieces, checking for bones. Cut into 1” nuggets and roll in cornmeal. Layer over the lamb’s quarters.

Prepare vegetables: Peel and dice the vegetables into 1/4” pieces. Sauté over medium heat in well seasoned skillet in olive oil until onion is translucent. Sprinkle vegetables over catfish.

Prepare batter: Mix soup, milk, eggs, Bisquick, and seasonings in blender. Pour over all.

Prepare topping: Melt butter in microwave safe 1 quart mixing bowl. Add Panko crumbs and stir with fork until mixed. Sprinkle over pie.

Bake in oven for 45 to 50 minutes until knife inserted in center comes out mostly clean. Pie should be just set, not over baked. Remove from oven and set on wire rack for five minutes before cutting and serving.

Serves: 8

Substitutions: Spinach can be substituted for lamb’s quarters. Frozen spinach should be thawed and drained. Canned spinach should be well drained.

Cream of chicken or cream of celery could be substituted for cream of mushroom. Flavor will be a little different but still tasty.

Chopped fresh dill weed would be a tasty alternative.

Addition: If you like it hot, add some hot sauce or cayenne to the batter. My husband puts hot sauce on about everything, including this pie.

This could easily be baked in a 9”x13” glass baking dish or two 8”x8” baking dishes. After baking, (or partially baked?), one could be frozen. Watch and adjust baking times as needed.