Pie Spy - Z-Pie in Placerville

Pie Spy would be remiss if Z-Pie had not had a place in its annals. Do you not know? Have you not seen? Z-Pie, at 3182 Center Street in Placerville (www.z-pie.com) is serving up a full menu of savory light meal-size pies, as well as soups, salads, and desserts, in a comfortable and inviting space with white tablecloths, orchids, and cool background jazz. The most abundant choices for pie in Placerville are right there downtown.

Z-Pie emphasizes fresh and seasonal ingredients, and lists them all on the menu. The pie dough is made with butter, and each one is about 4 inches in diameter, golden brown, double-crusted, and fresh-tasting. No artificial ingredients and a commitment to recycling and reducing waste are a hallmark of this eatery. Z-Pie’s menu reflects the fruit and vegetable bounty of the surrounding orchards and farms in Placer County. Although they have a playful attitude toward their flavor combinations, we were pleased to see that they tweak familiar flavors into something distinctive, but don’t venture out on the flaky edge toward weirdness.

There are about a dozen savory fillings to choose from – plus two for breakfast. You can walk in and take the little pies home with you – frozen – for later. The restaurant also has beer and wine if that seems like the thing to have with your pie.

Best of all, you can get out of there with two happy tummies for under 15 bucks.

On scorching Sunday afternoon, Pie Spy and POPS made our first visit to Z-Pie. We walked down Main Street, ducked in at Sierra Rizin’ Bakery to cadge a few pastries to go (no pie!) and asked the attendant there where Center Street is. She explained with a puzzled look that she’d lived in Placerville all her life and didn’t know where it was. So we asked her instead where Z-Pie is. She said, “Oh - that’s my favorite restaurant! I can show you exactly where it is!” She walked us out the door and pointed at the parking garage next to City Hall. “It’s just across the street from the garage,” she said. Yet again, the mental map of memorable meals is often more enduring, reliable, and available for recall than any other kind.

Within a couple of minutes we were seated and ordering. We selected two vegetarian pies – the tomatillo stew and the Very Vege (do we pronounce that veggie or vedge-eh?). We toyed with ordering the fresh gazpacho with our lunch, but opted for caution because we didn’t want to over-fill. The pies were served hot, with flaky but substantial tops and bottoms, and came in cute little pie-sized bowls. This is a place after Pie Spy’s own heart, we thought as we dug in.






The Very Vege had a little bit of everything – zucchini, spinach, bean, potato, onion, pepper, hmm, many things all melded together in a red-brown gravy that provided just enough moisture and lushness. The first bite brought us a little too close to the taste of canned vegetable soup – highly salted, a pinch too much oregano for our taste. But did we eat the whole thing and smile about it? Of course we did.

The tomatillo stew pie was delicious with its black beans, cumin, hominy, poblano, green chilis, and jalapeno peppers. Most of these ingredients melded into the background and were not identifiable. The combination was magical and satisfying, though. And not just because we were very hungry. It was shocking, really, how quickly these charming pies disappeared.

Pie Spy had every intention of sampling the dessert pies (grilled apple or blackberry?) but used up all our capacity on lunch. So we will have to save desserts for our return visit (all desserts can be served with a heap of vanilla bean ice cream if you just can’t stop yourself).

Pie Spy loves Z-Pie and wants everyone to know about it. Satisfying, made with healthful ingredients, a place to enjoy the fare, attentive servers, and plenty of choices makes it a big win. It is worth a visit on your way to or from Apple Hill (where, depending on the day, you can find even more pies of every size and flavor). Or, if you love it even more than we do, ask them about opening a franchise down here in Sacramento so that we can visit you often. And don’t forget to tell them that Pie Spy sent you!

Post-Pie Party 2010

Do I detect a slight bowing of the table legs under the weight of all those pies?

Estate-grown pecans from Clarksburg were the star of the pecan pie.

SacPie's first annual Pie Party pix are in. By my count, we had about 0.8 pies per guest. Yes, that is - truly - a lot of pie.

Above, Kim's veggie pot pie following the Food Network recipe I cited last week. With fennel - doesn't it look great? And it was absolutely a hit. Also on the savory table were a potato-cheese gallette, broccoli-mushroom quiche, a second, different veggie pot pie (Jim), impossible seafood pie (Linda), a mushroom frittata (Kim), a beautiful Waldorf salad (Linda), and a tasty green salad with homemade croutons (Amy). All devoured. Next time, I will have to hang a sign that reminds eaters to save room for dessert.

Below, Mark's homemade samosas, reheating on the stove. Although my plan was to send everyone home with extras, there were none of these left within about 15 minutes of this photo. The filling was all-vegetables, with characteristic Indian flavorings. And the dipping sauce was a quince chutney contributed by none other than Sacatomato's Lynn Gowdy.

Here you can see how difficult it was to work one's way down the dessert table. There are only six pies shown above, but there were two more out of the frame. We had two pumpkin (Amy, Kim), one double-chocolate (Celia), one Linzer torte, one sweet-potato (Pat), apple-mince, an estate-grown pecan (Linda), and gluten-free apple (Sid). The gluten-free apple was the baker's first-ever pie, and he infused the filling not only with cinnamon but anise and fennel seed. The crust was made with rice flour -very tasty.

Why was it that we bought all that ice cream?

The seasonal abundance of Northern California was represented at the Pie Party in some spectacular small-label wines, home-grown almonds, a pie made with a garden pumpkin, and fresh-squeezed lemonade.

My thanks and appreciation go out to everyone who came, for sharing their recipes and spending time with us. If you did not get a chance to grab the recipes for the pies at our party, please let me know and I'll make them available.

Meanwhile here at SacPie, we have pie leftovers coming out our ears:

Based on the success of our First Annual Pie Party, I will be planning others for the spring and fall. Why not organize your own to showcase the apricots, peaches, cherries, and berries that will be ready in June? May I appropriate Slow Food's word, convivium, to apply to this and all future Pie Party gatherings in our town?

Pie of the Week - Vegetable Pot Pie

It's WINTER. It's RAINING. It's time for Pie That's A Meal.

Vegetable Pot Pie may be a cure, or at least a palliative, for the Sacramento Winter Blahs.

Unfortunately, I have not yet found a local sit-down eatery that serves vegetarian pot pies. You can buy individual-sized ones at the Sacramento Natural Foods Co-Op (www.sacfoodscoop.com) to bring home and heat up in your own oven, if that's convenient for you. But it's not difficult to prepare your own with what you already have in the house.

Winter vegetables like potatoes, butternut squash, turnips, and carrots are abundant here in the Sacramento Valley in the winter farmer's market stands. They are also extremely durable, which means you can take your time figuring out how and when you're going to eat them. The only down side of root vegetables and squashes is that they are bland as baby food when prepared by themselves. This is one reason a lot of people claim to detest them. Our Pie of the Week aims for an alchemical combination of these nutritious and plentiful staples in a hearty, double-crust savory pie. In addition to staving off the Blahs, it may also make converts of the non-root-vegetable-eating members of your household. Paired with a fresh green salad, this makes a satisfying dinner or brunch item. A side of cranberry sauce might make you come out of your funk and feel festive.

If you search the web for vegetable pot pie recipes, as I have, you will find a bazillion of them. Some include beans, or cheese, or noodles, or spinach, or tofu. You can customize the filling in a number of distinct but satisfying ways. Whatever your choices, 6 cups of filling is a good target amount. The common denominator of these recipes is that you pre-cook small pieces of whatever vegetables you plan to put in the pie, coat the vegetables with a little flour, and then add broth and a milk to create the sauce - or gravy- that is one of the most joyous sensations about eating a pot pie. We're doing this one vegan, but you could substitute real milk and butter where I've used soy milk and Earth Balance.

Note: there will be quite a lot of peeling and chopping - maybe 30 minutes' worth. But it is RAINING, and you are not going outdoors anyway.

You could certainly opt for a less-crusty version of this by spooning the prepared vegetable filling into individual pots (or one big pie dish) and doing only a top crust. But to me that sounds like it might result in messy cleanup work (both the pots and the bottom of the oven). SacPie rocks the double crust. We need those calories for hibernation, and we never, ever want to clean the oven.

This recipe is a riff on the Food Network recipe from Aida Mollenkamp (http://www.foodnetwork.com/). I had some butternut squash, already steamed, in the fridge. I had turnips, a leek, some Yukon Gold potatoes, celery, carrots, garlic, and a big bunch of Italian parsely. I had broth from cooking beet greens and some dried porcini mushrooms to infuse the broth. I did not include fennel or peas or chives, but only because I didn't have them in the house when it was time to make pie.

Ingredients:

1 T unsalted butter or Earth Balance

2 small heads of fennel (or 2 sticks of celery), finely chopped (about 3 c.) - OPTIONAL

1/2 medium yellow onion (or one leek), finely chopped
2 medium carrots, peeled and finely chopped (about 2/3 c.)
12 oz. fresh mushrooms, sliced (about 5 c.)
1 small Russet potato peeled and diced small (about 2 1/2 c.)
1 small turnip peeled and diced small

1/4 c. all-purpose flour
1 c. vegetable broth (warmed)
1 c. milk (or plain soy milk)
1 c. frozen baby green peas - OPTIONAL
1/4 c. thinly sliced fresh chives (or whatever your herb choices are)
1/4 c. parsley
1 T white vinegar
1 large egg yolk, beaten with 2 tsp of water - OPTIONAL
1 double-crust pie dough

OTHER OPTIONAL HERBS: sage, thyme, bay leaf, chipotle powder, rosemary

Directions:

Heat the oven to 400 degrees and arrange a rack in the middle.

Melt the butter/EB over medium heat in a 3- to 4- quart pan. When it foams, add the fennel, onion, carrots, (garlic, leek, celery, turnip) and cook until just soft and onions are translucent. Add mushrooms and potato (also bay leaf and/or rosemary sprig, if using. These should be removed when the filling is finished cooking). Season well with salt and pepper, stirring to coat. Remember that root vegetables tend to use more salt. Cook, stirring rarely, until mushrooms have let off water and are shrunken, about 6 min.

Sprinkle flour over the vegetables, stir to coat, and cook until the raw flavor is gone, about 1-2 min. Add broth and milk gradually, stirring constantly until the mixture is smooth. Bring to simmer over medium heat, cooking until slightly thickened, about 5 min. Remove from heat. Add peas (or canned beans or edamame), herbs, and vinegar, stirring to coat. Taste to correct seasoning.

Pour the filling into a 9-in pie crust. Place the top crust over filling and seal. Brush dough with egg wash (optional) and cut slits in the top crust. Bake until crust is golden brown and mixture is bubbling, about 25-30 min. Let stand at least 5 min before serving. I know it will be hard to wait that long, but restrain yourself.

I baked this pie for about 40 minutes in order to get a browner crust. One of the things I've learned about the palm oil shortening crust recipe is that it is slow to brown, but difficult to overcook.

The pie filling cooks to a compact, moist endpoint. Individual chunks of potato, squash, turnip, and carrot are still identifiable but blend creamily with the gravy. The taste was as close as I've come yet to the filling in Freeport Bakery's knishes (http://www.freeportbakery.com/), which are elegant and delicious (and the subject of a future blog). One generous slice of this pie and a side of steamed broccoli was a substantial, comforting dinner. I nearly forgot that it was raining.

Let me know how the Winter Blahs, and the winning of the hearts, minds, and palates of your vegetable objectors is going after you make this.