Make Me Some Pie: A pie blog in Portland, Oregon. » Pie Reviews

Pecan & Chicken Pot Pies at Pine State Biscuits

Joel — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 15:45:43 +0000

Pecan Pie @ Pine State Biscuits

Pine State Biscuits is one of my favorite breakfast spots in Portland and I’ve gone a lot more since they opened a second location on Alberta with more seating in addition to the original Belmont location. Along with their amazing breakfast sandwiches, they also offer pecan pie and chicken pot pie (at the Alberta location).

Let’s start with the good, and that was the pecan pie. This is just a good solid take on traditional pecan pie. It was balanced, with a good amount of pecans and the right amount of sugary goo. The crust didn’t sway me one way or the other, it just did it’s job with little fanfare. It was served with just about the right size whip cream mountain as well.

However, I’ll be honest, if you’re going to go with a dessert there – go with their seasonal strawberry shortcake when they have it. They specialize in biscuits, so it’s naturally going to be amazing.

Now on to the bad. We also tried the chicken pot pie, which I believe is only on the menu at the Alberta location. First off, it’s not really pie, it’s a mixture of chicken, veggies and gravy with a biscuit topping. I knew that going in, so I’m not complaining about it – just letting you know.

The chicken pot pie just did not have a lot of flavor… I think they used their mushroom gravy instead of the sausage gravy, which seemed really bland in comparison and I didn’t think there was enough of their delicious fried chicken either. It also took a long time for them to prepare – which added to the disappointment after you’d been anticipating some serious chicken pot pie goodness.

Verdict: The pecan pie is fine if you’re in the mood for it. I don’t recommend the chicken pot pie; stick with the Reggie and the other excellent sandwiches.

Salt & Straw – Bourbon Pecan Pie Ice Cream

Joel — Sat, 03 Dec 2011 15:45:43 +0000

Bourbon Pecan Pie Ice Cream @ Salt & Straw made w/ Pieku Pie

Yum.

I’d heard a lot of good things about Salt & Straw, a new handmade ice cream shop in Portland. But I was sold on it when I heard that they had a seasonal Bourbon Pecan Pie flavor, which is made with real pie from Portland’s Pieku Pie & Oregon Whiskey from Portland’s Stone Barn Brandyworks.

The ice cream is really creamy and rich, but they keep the sweetness level low so the flavors standout more. The pecan pie was very sweet and decadent, but that’s what pecan pie is all about. The whiskey was not overwhelming at all and perfectly complemented everything.

In addition to ice cream, Salt & Straw’s Alberta scoop shop offers Pieku’s bite-sized pies, a daily offering of pie a-la-mode, and ice cream pies made with Pieku crust.

Verdict: Get your paws on the Bourbon Pecan Pie ice cream while it’s still around.

Salt & Straw Scoop Shop
2035 NE Alberta
Portland OR 97211
503-208-3867

A Meat á la Mode Smörgåsbord

Joel — Thu, 26 May 2011 04:51:13 +0000

Kristina Von Kroug at Meat á la Mode has been on a fateful path to pie stardom since she won the Pietopia pie/writing contest in 2009. Her winning entry, which spoke of her soul-sucking job and her desire to make pies for a living actually lead to her losing her job and pursuing her dream after her superiors saw the winning entry.

Meat á la Mode specializes in meat pies and savory ice creams. The pies, according to Kristina, “explore the flavors of more rarely used game meats such as rabbit, oxtail, or alligator.” She said that she models her pies after a more “medieval” style of pies – which is totally cool because that is where pie got its start.

Kristina was kind enough to give me a sampler platter of a few Meat á la Mode pies. I tried the Oxtail Veggie & Dill, Chicken & Rhubarb and Coconut Pulled Pork.

Oxtail Veggie & Dill: This was my least favorite of the three. It had a pretty strong dill flavor, which I’m not a huge fan of personally, and I think that’s the biggest thing that threw me off. It also seemed to be a little light on the meat. Nonetheless, I did enjoy it, even though I am a “recovering picky eater” who has never had a lot of rare meats, like oxtail (which is cattle tail… you probably knew that, but I didn’t). The flavors were balanced so that the fact that I was eating a meat I wasn’t used to wasn’t even noticeable. I give this pie a 3.5 out of 5 rating.

Chicken & Rhubarb: This one I was a little iffy on because it seemed like a strange combo. Rhubarb has a very strong flavor, which is fantastic with loads of sugar in sweet pie form, but in a savory pie with chicken? However, I was pleasantly surprised. Kristina does a great job of balancing the flavors in this pie and it really works. I give it a 4 out of 5 rating.

Coconut Pulled Pork: Again, I was a little iffy on this one because I’m not a coconut fan, but this pie is packed with delicious pulled pork, and the coconut is very subtle. Kristina said this is one of her most popular offerings, and I can see why. She serves it with her spicy mango BBQ sauce, which is amazing and complements the pie perfectly. I give this pie a solid 4.5 out of 5 rating!

Generally speaking, I was really impressed with these little golden pies (literally, she sprays a touch of 24k gold on the crust to give it that medieval touch). The crust is really done well, flaky on the outer layer, a little bit chewy on the inner layer and durable (they held up very well in the refrigerator and reheated nicely).

And, keep in mind that if you are a more adventurous eater than myself, you will probably like the more exotic meats and flavors that she offers (check out her full list of offerings – she is helping to Keep Portland Weird, and Pied) – so don’t put too much stock in the 3.5 rating on the oxtail… I think other people would probably like it more than me, especially if you like dill. But, generally speaking, I think all eaters would be very happy with the traditional offerings that Meat á la Mode has to offer.

Oh, and I didn’t get a chance to try the ice creams, but I’m guessing they complement the pies as well!

Kristina has long term plans to find a full time commercial kitchen/ pie shop and you can help her bring Meat á la Mode to the masses by donating money via the PayPal link on her website. Or you can order pies – call her at 503-702-0002 or email meatalamode [at] gmail.com.

Photos from Pacific Pie Co’s New Location

Joel — Sat, 21 May 2011 04:54:36 +0000

Pacific Pie Co, a set on Flickr.

I checked out the new location for Pacific Pie Co. (1520 SE 7th Avenue, Portland) on its opening weekend.

I loved the set up. It has a large front counter with a dessert case displaying the sweet pies available that day. Up front you can grab pies to go, which was how they were setup at the original location.

But if you want to hang out, they have a great bar setup in the back, with a nice selection of beers and wines.

Keeping with their Australian tradition, they have an awesome mural depicting a man eating pie in the Outback.

And, make sure to check out the new location and stop in for their new happy hourt – pie and a pint!

On another note, I tried their Chocolate Bourbon Hazelnut pie… I really liked it, and I must say that I really like the whole dessert pies that Sarah and the team are making now. The crust on their sweet pies is really just a good, solid dessert pie crust. And pair that, in this case, with an amazing, balanced mix of chocolate, hazelnuts and sugary bourbon mixture holding it all together… it was great. I’ve had a few other pies with this type of filling and this was my favorite so far. I give this pie a 4.5 out of 5 rating! Go try it!

Whiffies – Chicken Pot Pie and Mac & Cheese w/ Bacon

Joel — Tue, 17 May 2011 18:26:02 +0000

Ah, the long awaited review of Whiffies. Of all the wonderful places to eat pie in Portland, I would say that Whiffies has generated the most attention in the last few years. I think there’s a few reasons for that… 1.) They were on the ground floor of the exploding food cart scene in Portland 2.) They’ve been very active on Twitter and were kind of on the ground floor of that trend as well 3.) It’s fried pie… it’s very unique, very Portland.

But that bares the question – is their success attributable to these factors, or does the mighty fried pie hold up on its own?

I feared the answer may have been the former, which is part of the reason I’d been putting off officially reviewing them. I thought the review might not be great, because I had been there one time before (prior to launching this blog) and I had the chocolate cream pie, which I wasn’t overly impressed with.

I’m happy to report, though, that I was impressed with the two latest pies I tried (and I’m not just saying it to be nice). I went with savory pies because I heard that’s really where they excel. The chicken pot pie really stood out, the filling is deliciously creamy and has nice, moist chunks of chicken and a good balance of veggies.

On the other hand, I was slightly disappointed by the Mac & Cheese w/ Bacon… but that’s because I think I got the Mac and Cheese w/ Peas instead of bacon by mistake… it was a sad day for me. But, even with all the peas, which I pretty much detest, I did think the mac and cheese part of it was pretty good.

The crust in general at Whiffies is pretty solid. Definitely not my favorite, but it’s a bit of a different beast since it’s fried. It has a good level of flakiness, though, but it’s not so flaky that it falls apart – which is good, since these are actually intended to be eaten by hand. They also aren’t really greasy, which is nice since they are hand-held, and impressive given that they are deep fried.

Overall, my rating of Whiffies is 4 out of 5 slices. But since it’s pretty much become a Portland institution, I’ll bump it up to a 4.5 out of 5, because it’s got that “it” factor.

Whiffies menu varies night-to-night and that’s part of the “it” factor – owner Gregg Abbott comes up with some creative fillings. I’ve seen Beef Brisket, Reuben, Pizza, Peanut Butter and Jelly, Apple Bacon and many other unique pie fillings on the menu. They often have vegan options as well. Follow @whiffies.

Whiffies Fried Pie Cart
12th & Hawthorne
Portland OR

Gluten Free Pie Review: Divine Pie – Chocolate Hazelnut Cream Pie

Joel — Fri, 22 Apr 2011 21:20:56 +0000

This is a guest review from Paul W., who writes about Gluten Free and Dairy Free living over at (Gluten Free) Cookies & (Dairy Free) Milk. Paul is my brother, and unlike me, he actually has culinary training and experience. He and his wife recently took the plunge into Gluten Free living and they are experimenting with recipes as well as exploring what Portland area bakeries and eateries have to offer.

The Portland Farmer’s Market has a surprising number of merchants selling gluten free baked goods these days. But how many are selling gluten free, dairy free, almost completely raw pies? So far I count only one, and that is Divine Pies.

Owner Alissa started making these pies when she was on a cleansing diet, eating strictly raw foods for a period of about six months. “I was craving sweets like crazy, and I started checking all these books out of the library on raw food and raw dessert making. I went on this raw pie making kick, because I loved how they were so nutrient dense, full of protein, totally rich, not too sweet, and didn’t require extensive sprouting or dehydrating like a lot of other raw foods,” she said.

Eventually she began developing recipes and testing them out with friends. Alissa went on to explain “it took off as a business after I brought the chocolate hazelnut pie to a friend’s birthday party a few years ago. This girl who was at the party was thinking of starting a food cart in an old streetcar, and wanted to feature my pies there. Long story short, I ended up becoming her business partner and designing a whole raw foods, juice, smoothie and pie menu for the cart.”

The pies ended up being the streetcar’s most popular items, and people would flock to the location every week to find out what new and exciting pie was waiting for them. Eventually the popularity of the pies led her to leave the streetcar for a tent at the market. “I decided after a while that i didn’t need to be sitting in the rain everyday of the week in an expensive flashy vehicle just to sell my pies. All I needed was an umbrella and a card table at the farmers market,” said Alissa.

A number of flavors were available at the market the day I went. One that was memorable was the white chocolate lavender cheesecake, and also there was a pretty good rendition of a key lime pie. But for my review, I had to go with the pie that started it all: Chocolate Hazelnut Cream Pie.

Presentation- I like the look of the pie. It is made in its own individual tin. You might not think it okay to eat a whole pie, but this one is little and (comparatively speaking) good for you. Ingredients are listed on the package and the list is pretty simple: Crust- hazelnuts, coconut flakes, dates, cinnamon, salt. Filling – fresh hazelnut milk, young coconut meat, dates, coconut oil, cacao, vanilla extract, lecithin (the only non raw ingredient), cinnamon and salt. Alissa told me the hazelnuts are from Freddy Guy’s hazelnuts, whose booth happens to be right next to her at the Farmer’s Market. She tries to source as many local ingredients as possible.

Crust- Okay, so if you are a pie purist, it isn’t really much of a crust. It isn’t rolled or baked, it isn’t even dough. However, it does provide the desired effect in terms of contrast in flavor and texture. Oh yeah, and it tastes good.

Filling- If you look at the ingredients, nothing seems to sound particularly creamy. I would have expected to see something like coconut milk or cream listed, but it was not. Despite that, the filling is very creamy- a nice velvety texture. This tastes like a good chocolate mousse. It is hard to believe that this was achieved without the aid of eggs, cream, sugar or milk. This certainly didn’t taste raw. It was sweet, but not overly so.

Overall rating- 4 out of 5 slices. This is a good dessert. It isn’t pie in the strictest sense. I really enjoy a good crust, which was hard to achieve in this (mostly) raw pie. Still, it was very good. It requires skill to achieve these unique flavors without cooking anything, even more so without gluten or dairy, but Alissa pulls it off. Highly recommended.

You can find Divine Pies at the Portland (PSU) Farmer’s Market on Saturdays, as well as online at www.divinepieportland.com. If a little personal size pie isn’t enough for you , special orders are available. Just let Alissa know a few days ahead of time and you can have a delicious full-size pie for your special event or just because. They serve about 10-12 people – so you might want to share.

Pie Review: Vivian’s Restaurant & Bill’s Barbeque – Oregon Marionberry

Joel — Tue, 19 Apr 2011 20:06:20 +0000

This is a guest review from John W., known in some circles as “Dad”

We go to the Oregon Coast with some regularity and have found a few places we enjoy eating. That said, finding good homestyle cooking along with great pie….now that is a combination that is hard to beat! Such is the case with Vivian’s Restaurant & Bill’s Barbeque in Lincoln City, Oregon.

Since this is a pie blog, I will stick to the pie…but…suffice it to say, the food is excellent as well.

We had the Oregon marionberry pie. The crust was light and flakey. The marionberry filling was prepared with just the right balance between sweet and tart.

Note that the picture is of 1/2 a slice. (The owners of this restaurant have top notch service and split the slice for my wife and I. )

Pie varieties will vary. The night we were there, the choice was coconut cream and marionberry.
(The coconut cream looked awesome, but we opted for the marionberry.)

Vivian’s Restaurant and Bill’s Barbeque
1725 SW Hwy 101
Lincoln City, Oregon 97367

For more reviews, visit Yelp!

Pie Review: Queen of Hearts Baking Company – Gluten Free Berry Pie

Joel — Tue, 29 Mar 2011 15:55:36 +0000

This is a guest review from Paul W., who writes about Gluten Free and Dairy Free living over at glutenfreecookiesdairyfreemilk.blogspot.com. Paul is my brother, and unlike me, he actually has culinary training and experience. He and his wife recently took the plunge into Gluten Free living and they are experimenting with recipes as well as exploring what Portland area bakeries and eateries have to offer.

While I don’t have quite the affinity for pie that my brother (who happens to run this blog) has, I still have been known to enjoy it on more than a few occasions. Particularly at my mother’s house, where, as has been previously noted on this blog, she makes the most delicious of pies in all the land. With my birthday coming up, it was very difficult knowing that, due to my new diet without wheat, I would no longer be able to enjoy my mother’s famous lemon meringue pie.

I am happy to report that, however, not only can gluten free pie be achieved, it can also be excellent. Enter Queen of Hearts Baking Company, one of several new dedicated gluten free bakeries in Portland. And their specialty- pie, of course! More specifically, sweet and savory hand pies.

Molly Thurston Parker started the bakery with her husband (and expert pie taster) Jason. She was diagnosed with celiac disease about five years ago and has been working on perfecting gluten-free pastry crust ever since. With some encouragement from friends and family, who were very excited about the results Molly was achieving, Queen of Hearts was born, fulfilling her long time dream. The pies are made almost exclusively with local ingredients from places like Bob’s Red Mill, Sturm’s Berry Farm, Steibrs Eggs, Pacific Village and Rose Valley Dairy. Yes, they use eggs and butter- sorry vegans and dairy free friends (stay tuned though, my next pie review is for you).

If you aren’t gluten free, you may not know this, but a lot of gluten free products are mediocre and many are downright awful. Using alternative flours in baking is an adventure and an experiment. Having researched this for my blog, I know that many of these experiments can, and do fail. But gluten free has come a long way lately, and Queen of Hearts is shining example of this.

I had the opportunity to taste a bite of the Hazelnut-Apricot pie at the market. The flavor was great, and the crust was very good, even cold. I didn’t get to taste the savory pie, black bean with pepper jack, but I will, no doubt, try it sometime in the near future. However, for today, the hand pie I chose to review was the berry pie, which has local blueberries and raspberries.

Presentation- A beautiful little hand pie. Sometimes gluten free baked goods tend to fall apart. No problem with that here. This is a pretty little pie, and it survived the trip in the bag with my other farmer’s market goods all the way back to Aloha. It browned nicely in the oven, following the included directions.

Crust- This really made the pie for me. The crust was flaky and, frankly, exactly as a pie crust should be. I haven’t been eating gluten free for very long yet, so I still remember what a good pie crust is supposed to taste like, and this is it. This crust, I believe, sets Queen of Hearts apart, and dare I say, puts them in the running for best hand pie in Portland, gluten or not. Oh yeah, the flavor was good too- nice taste of cinnamon in the crust as well.

Filling- A perfect balance of fruit and sweet is achieved here. I detected a little lemon, and I liked the way the acid balanced with the blueberries in particular. It was not runny, just full of berry goodness.

Overall Rating: 5 out of 5. This is not just a good gluten free alternative. This is a fantastic pie, period.

You can find Queen of Hearts at the PSU Portland Farmer’s Market on Saturdays now through May 7th. After that they will be at the Buckman/Sunnyside Market- SE Salmon St & SE 20th Ave, on Thursdays May 5- September 29. If you can’t wait, you can also find their pies at Flying Cat Coffee or Caffe Paridiso @ Reed College.

Pie Review: Pacific Pie Co. – Apple Cranberry

Joel — Fri, 04 Feb 2011 20:15:51 +0000

It’s no secret that Pacific Pie Co., Portland’s favorite Australian meat pie purveyor, is one of my favorites. They’re one of the first pies I reviewed and they made me fall in love with the meat pie.

However, the first few times I went to the shop, they weren’t offering sweet pies yet. But now you can find a sweet treat from them on a regular basis. When I went in, they were offering an Apple Cranberry hand pie.

It was really tasty. I think the crust was a little different from their savory pies; sweeter, a little less flaky and a little bit chewy (and I think that is a fantastic quality in a pie crust). The crust was also topped with cinnamon and natural sugar.

The filling was great as well, just apple and whole cranberries, not much else. It wasn’t over-sweetened and their was just a little bit of spice added to it, but they let the fruits do the talking.

With that said, I whole-heartedly recommend that you head out to Pacific Pie Co. for a pie^2 meal (savory + sweet).

Pacific Pie Co.
609 SE Ankeny St, Suite C,
Portland, OR 97214

Frozen Section – Marie Callender’s Very Berry Blackberry

Joel — Thu, 03 Feb 2011 07:08:14 +0000

Disclaimer: Marie’s PR team sent me some coupons to try their frozen pies, and I don’t say no to free pie.

Marie Callender’s national restaurant chain and frozen food line had humble beginnings, and it all started with pie. Marie started in 1948 when she delivered her pies to local restaurants in Long Beach, California.

Their frozen pie line has a wide variety, including fruit and cream pies, pot pies, as well as cobblers (not really pie, but close). I went for the “Very Berry Blackberry”.

I guess it did live up to it’s name, it was packed with berries and they actually seemed to be a lot of berries, so it didn’t feel like I was eating jelly donut filling, which is always nice. However, the taste didn’t blow me away. I’m not sure what it was, maybe the berries weren’t very ripe or whatever, but it just does not even come close to delicious fresh-picked berries.

The crust is where the trouble comes in for me with this pie. It wasn’t very flaky, first off. And second, it had kind of a pasty consistency, kind of a like a sugar cookie gets sometimes, you know? Also, I cooked it according to the boxes directions and I think the outer crust got way too dark. It didn’t make it taste awful, but it wasn’t pleasing to the eye. Needless to say, I did not dig the crust.

Overall, though, let’s face it – it’s a frozen pie, so my expectations weren’t high. I ate it and I didn’t hate it, and I even kept it in the refrigerator for a few days so I’d have something sweet to eat. So, if you’re in a pinch for pie and don’t care if it’s awesome or not, give frozen-Marie a chance.