Oliver’s Advil kicked in (he has strep) right as I shifted into creative cooking mode; this

Oliver’s Advil kicked in (he has strep) right as I shifted into creative cooking mode; this was a fortunate energy meld as I really needed to do a little something for me. Thank you, O. I decided to start work on my contest entry and make mini-pies so that I could tweak the filling each time; T and I can taste-test them tonight for dinner.

As I mentioned earlier, the contest theme is Your Best Picnic Dish. Picnics make me think of summer, and summery dishes conjure up images of BLTs and corn. Thus, I decided to cook up some speck (that Italian-style bacon I talk about sometimes), then warm shucked corn kernels in the drippings off the heat (just to get the flavors a’going). I thick-sliced tomatoes, mixed with garlic and basil, and then layered tomatoes, corn, bacon and thinly sliced shallots. In two of the pies I added a layer of goat cheese, and in one I also included a dollop of Dijon. Over all, I drizzled some EVOO before baking.

I used my family pie crust because its salt content makes it suitable for savory creations. I added a dash of pepper to the dough as I thought that’d be interesting. So here are some before-and-afters, and after we eat tonight, I’ll let you know. Sounds good, yes?