MacGyver Lunch

Due to a combination of the busy-ness of getting back to work after the holidays, weather delays, and various rounds of 'the crud', we haven't really done much cooking in studio yet this year. So when a spontaneous desire for a studio lunch was being hatched yesterday, I knew we'd need most of what we wanted to eat. My lovely studio mates equipped me with a requested menu, a list and a credit card, and left the rest up to me - which is one of my favorite ways to shop! I didn't want to have to go to several shops, so I was determined to get everything from the closest grocery. The requested menu: burgers, sweet potato fries, and pie. To make the adventure more interesting, the closest grocery is Hopey & Co., which is "an artisan and discount food and beverage shop", which means you can always find really cool ingredients, but not necessarily all the time.

Organic beef - check. Whole wheat buns, avocado, sweet onion, bacon, and cheese - check. Sweet potatoes and requested beverages - check. Pie ... almost anytime I'm NOT looking for pie, there is pie in the freezer section. Today, no pie. But they did have whole wheat pie shells and bags of sliced, frozen peaches. Pie! Grabbed those, along with some candied ginger and back to the studio.

Maybe in another post, I'll go into detail about not having any oils at the studio, and how I used a combination of margarine, oil from a tub of olives, and bacon grease for the lunch prep. As it was, we were all so hungry, I didn't get any pictures of that, so we'll go on to the pie.

While things were in the oven, I started to put together the pie so I could let it bake while we ate lunch. I sliced up the ginger pieces, tossed them with the peaches and a little sugar, and then (and only then) did I realize I might need something to soak up the excess juices bound to come out of the peaches. No cornstarch. No arrowroot. No agar. What's this in the freezer - ground flax seed? I'd used that as an egg substitute and to thicken up soups before, so a little should help, plus it's good for us. What's this in the back of the cupboard - instant oatmeal? Perfect! Tossed that in as well, mounded the fruit in the shell, and inverted the extra shell on top. A little egg wash and a sprinkle of sugar, and a whole lotta 'please oh please don't be a runny mess when you come out!"

Because I had to dash off to a meeting and because I couldn't stand to wait, we cut the pie while it was still pretty warm, so there were juices, but I could tell that given a proper cooling-off time, the pie would have held up fine:

And to my great delight and astonishment, when I came in to open the Gallery this morning, I found leftover pie!! Breakfast of champions, and a nice little slice confirmed that the pie was in fact a pie. And it was good. 

And is it odd that I rather enjoy this sort of renegade kitchen fare? Not every time, but once in a while, it's rather invigorating!