A Pie by Any Other Name

Yesterday morning my roommate (Amanda) came into my room and declared that she wanted to go to Milk Bar. I jumped at the chance (literally. like, I was lying in bed having a completely unmotivated Saturday, and the next thing I knew we were in midtown eating the delectable Crack Pie. but more on that later.)
For those of you who have never been to a Milk Bar, I will explain - it's a branch of the Momofuku restaurant chain (a series of verrrryy upscale Japanese restaurants in New York), but instead of a classy fusion eatery, the midtown Milk Bar is a small counter in the lobby of a hotel that serves a limited amount of desserts to-go. They're known for their famous Crack Pie, a wedge-shaped cookie/pie/blondie/thing that's pretty much a conglomeration of all things yummy (if you've never experienced the Crack Pie, get thee to a Milk Bar asap. But this post isn't about Momofuku or Milk Bar, reviews and articles have been written about that topic ad infinitum.). Amanda ordered said pie, but I, having slept in and not eaten breakfast yet, went for the Cinnamon Bun Pie, which I deemed as both a feasible and socially acceptable form of breakfast. It was warm, gooey, cinnamon-y, and everything a breakfast pie should be.
Wait. Breakfast pie? Was I crazy? Did I just eat pie for breakfast?
Yes. Yes I did.
And it was delightful.

Which got me thinking. Of course breakfast pies exist - quiches, frittatas, and dozens of other egg-based casseroles abound in kitchens and cute brunch places everywhere. And with this new-found knowledge...I decided to make my own breakfast pie.

Full disclaimer: I am not a chef. I have never taken a cooking class. I don't even have cable and therefore cannot religiously watch the Food Network. However, I frequently putter around the kitchen, I've worked in the food service industry for the better part of the last decade, and hell, I'm a Millennial! I was born in the 80's! I can do anything!

So, here's my breakfast pie:

Ingredients
2 frozen pie crusts  (let thaw)
4 eggs
1 cup heavy cream
1 cup chopped spinach (frozen, thawed and drained)
1 cup chopped onions
1 cup chopped mushrooms
1/2 cup diced scallions
2/3 cup cherry tomatoes (cut in half once)
1 cup shredded cheese (I used sharp white)
4 oz. cubed meat (bacon or ham will work, I used prosciutto)

Ingredients

How To
Preheat oven to 375
Whisk together eggs and cream in large bowl. In same bowl, add all other ingredients, stir together. Pour mix into pie crust, let settle. Cover with second pie crust, pressing edges together to seal the pie. Brush top crust with egg yolk [I ended up using the leftover "juice" from the previous mixture]. Bake in oven for 30-35 minutes, or until crust is golden brown.
Let cool on rack before serving.

Pre-cooked

Final product!

The final pie was actually, if I say so myself, pretty yummy. It was a bit liquid-y going into the pie crust (eggy-juicy-spillover everywhere! sorry, amanda) so maybe I should have used less cream OR put the entire thing into a deep-dish pie crust. And it was pretty crumbly when I served myself a slice, so I probably should have let it sit and cool a bit longer (I was hungry. whoops.). But, all-in-all, for my first attempt at a breakfast pie recipe that I created myself from marrying a few other recipes I found online, it made for a successful afternoon!

Not the prettiest pie in the world, but tasty nonetheless