5-1: Mushroom and Cheese Pie…didn’t go as well as I had hoped. Following directions is important, friends. Let’s dive in–we’re still in Book 1, Group 1 (Appetizers & Starters).
![](https://i0.wp.com/simplydeliciouscookbook-photos.s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/section1/group05/01/5-1+Mushroom+and+Cheese+Pie.jpg?w=720&ssl=1)
We got a lot of mushrooms in our CSA box this round, and I used the Maitake mushrooms for another recipe from this book, but forgot to photograph it. And as the internet says, “pics or it didn’t happen”. So, I decided to use the White Beech mushrooms for this recipe.
First mistake. Of several.
![](https://i0.wp.com/simplydeliciouscookbook-photos.s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/section1/group05/01/5-1+Mushroom+and+Cheese+Pie1.jpg?w=720&ssl=1)
Recipe card. Unmarked (minus my PDF annotation indicated by the yellow square), so either untested or unremarkable.
![](https://i0.wp.com/simplydeliciouscookbook-photos.s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/section1/group05/01/IMG_9862.jpeg?w=720&ssl=1)
Ingredients. Those funny-looking mushrooms are White Beech: it probably would have been a better idea to use a more “traditional” mushroom for this type of dish. I’ve yet to find a good recipe in which to use these type of mushrooms. I’m also lacking a green pepper, and I’ve substituted sour cream for plain yogurt and cheddar-jack for shredded Swiss cheese.
It’s basically a different recipe at this point. No wonder it went so far south.
![](https://i0.wp.com/simplydeliciouscookbook-photos.s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/section1/group05/01/IMG_9865.jpeg?w=720&ssl=1)
First step is to bake the pie shell. I stuck it in the oven originally before realizing that I needed to brush it with dijon mustard first. An odd step–I’ve never done that for a savory pie before.
EDIT (4/29/20): I noticed this while doing some webmaster-type site housekeeping–check out that mustard, it’s from Fresh & Easy, a supermarket chain that was here and gone in less than 10 years and I LOVED it. They had several locations around Southern California–our favorite when we still lived in LA was the one in Eagle Rock.
I’m also a bit of a lost/vintage/abandoned retail nerd (my other project is our YouTube channel currently focused on dead malls), so looking through these old pictures is neat sometimes.
![](https://i0.wp.com/simplydeliciouscookbook-photos.s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/section1/group05/01/IMG_9866.jpeg?w=720&ssl=1)
Eggs, sour cream, and leftover dijon are mixed together. I was making two recipes at one time last night (2-34: Avocado-Parmesan Salad)–you can see them side by side on my laptop in the background. You can also see me in the reflection of the bowl. Hi!
![](https://i0.wp.com/simplydeliciouscookbook-photos.s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/section1/group05/01/IMG_9871.jpeg?w=720&ssl=1)
Veggies are chopped and cooked in my trusty cast-iron pan. You can see the pie crust awaiting filling in the background. Please ignore my dirty stove–clearly, I do. I’m a terrible housekeeper.
![](https://i0.wp.com/simplydeliciouscookbook-photos.s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/section1/group05/01/IMG_9873.jpeg?w=720&ssl=1)
Now here’s where the trouble comes in–layering. I start the way the recipe tells me to, with the cheese, which already seems odd. But I triple-checked to make sure I’m doing it right.
![](https://i0.wp.com/simplydeliciouscookbook-photos.s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/section1/group05/01/IMG_9874.jpeg?w=720&ssl=1)
And then the veggies…
![](https://i0.wp.com/simplydeliciouscookbook-photos.s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/section1/group05/01/IMG_9875.jpeg?w=720&ssl=1)
The moment the egg mixture hits the veggies, I re-check the recipe and realize I screwed up (despite my triple-checking the first time). The egg mixture was supposed to be AFTER the cheese but BEFORE the veggies. 😫 It looked so nice, too.
![](https://i0.wp.com/simplydeliciouscookbook-photos.s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/section1/group05/01/IMG_9876.jpeg?w=720&ssl=1)
Since I’ve already screwed up, might as well burn the whole place down and put the parsley on BEFORE it bakes. My parsley is half-frozen anyway, due to an abundance of parsley that needed to be minced and stored away in the freezer.
Again, ignore the dirty stove. I know it’s dirty. I’ll clean it this weekend, I promise.
![](https://i0.wp.com/simplydeliciouscookbook-photos.s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/section1/group05/01/IMG_9877.jpeg?w=720&ssl=1)
Set the timer, shove it in the oven, and hope for the best. We’ll survey the damage in 35-ish minutes.
![](https://i0.wp.com/simplydeliciouscookbook-photos.s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/section1/group05/01/IMG_9897.jpeg?w=720&ssl=1)
Here’s the result. Egg mixture was cooked, but soggy where it met the mushroom mixture. Probably would have been much better if I had cooked it the proper way. The crust was the best part, which was the one part I didn’t really have anything to do with.
![](https://i0.wp.com/simplydeliciouscookbook-photos.s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/section1/group05/01/IMG_9898.jpeg?w=720&ssl=1)
And now I have six more slices of weird soggy pie to eat. Yay?
Would maybe make again, if I followed directions properly and got the right kind of mushrooms. It’s essentially mushroom quiche, but layered instead of mixed all together. I think I prefer the more traditional quiche than this thing.
Grade: C