“Can you freeze these?”  “Oh, great!  Then you can make them and sell them, I’m sure you could sell hundreds and hundreds.”

Ok.  He could eat hundreds and hundreds, and though from start to finish, they are a piece of work, but not if you plan ahead.  I will plan ahead, and make them for us and for friends, but certainly not add them to the list of stuff he wants me to sell. Haha!

Anyway, they are shockingly good and I have been so excited to get home and give them a try today.   Here is a sample of what I was working on in Dallas.

I did go hunting in some junk shops while I was there for some special requests, and I came across these enamel pans.  In thinking about what they were used for, I was pretty sure they were not for muffins.  They made me think of tarts and tiny pies.

I made tallow pie crust, which I have found is very firm and flaky, and would hold up best for these tiny pies.

Then I decided what filling to use. Of course that is the beauty of a tiny pie or tart, you can use anything you have on hand. I had gone to the super fancy pants Whole Foods when I was in Dallas and bought some green chili smoked salmon jerky (heavenly) and fresh pineapple and a smoked chicken.

For the salmon ones I added goat cheese and some lemon thyme.

For the chicken ones I added the smoked chicken, fresh pineapple and lemon thyme.

I was not sure how best to fill these, and how big to make the circle of pastry for the bottom crust, and the top crust. I filled each one and then put a circle of pastry on top, and pressed down the filling pretty tight.

Then I took a small tined fork and going around the edges, sealing each one with the fork, and piercing a few holes in the top of the pies.

I baked them in a 350 degree oven for about 2o minutes, or until browning. They slid out of the pan perfectly.

For the tarts I wanted to try just a bottom crust, so I placed a smaller circle of dough in the bottom of the pans and put some filling on top. These baked at 350 for about 15 min.

For the record, all three of us thought they were smashing, and if hard pressed and I was making them in quantity, I would make the tart version.

Now for dessert. I had some frozen sliced peaches I put up last fall. Thawing them, I added some raw cane sugar, about a tablespoon, some cinnamon, and some ground coriander.

Filling the pan with larger circles of dough, because I did not want the filling to spill over, then filled the cups with the peach filling.

These baked at 350 for about 20 min.

Of course everything is better with raw cream. I stayed in Dallas until the cream and raw milk I brought with me ran out. I’m not sure how I can make such a long drive in the future, but the TSA certainly won’t let me fly with it, don’t ya know, National Security.  Oh brother, but I can’t live without it.

Back to my man’s question of if you can freeze them. Yes, you could, but here is the way to prepare to make them quickly. When you are making pie crust like this, make an extra batch and freeze it. Then when you want to make tiny pies and tarts you would just thaw out the dough and roll it out while putting together some fillings . If you want to stockpile them for a party, you could freeze them and reheat.

Pies, tarts, lamb meatballs, poffertjes, cheese, butter… and the myriad of things he is certain I can just whip out by the hundreds for waiting fans, at either my future restaurant or at a booth somewhere, is somewhat of a running joke, with me anyway, not with him, as he really thinks I could do it, and his mind never wavers as to how to make money.  Kill me now.

But now that we have tasted these little treats, it is definitely time for another party. 🙂