Ruben's (Maid's) Tuna Pie

This savory pie was inspired by one cooked by my college roommate Ruben, who moved into our apartment armed with a list of recipes of his favorite meals prepared by his maid, whose name I unfortunately can't remember. The original recipe called for giardiniera, or pickled vegetables, which I would mostly pick out. In my version I threw in some of my favorite veggies and used a frozen crust to save time.



Ingredients

• 1 whole wheat pastry crust
• 1.5 cups white sauce (see below)
• 2 cans tuna, drained
• 3/4 cup frozen vegetables thawed and drained (i use broccoli and pepper combination)
• 1/2 cup of fresh or frozen corn ( thaw and drain)
• 1/2 tsp white pepper
• 1/4 tsp salt

White Sauce

• 3 tbl butter
• 3 tbl sifted flour
• 1 cup milk + 1/2 cup water
  
  

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400. Melt butter in medium saucepan over medium heat. Add flour, whisk. Add 1/2 cup milk mixture at a time. Continue to whisk allowing sauce to thicken before adding remaining liquid. Add salt and pepper.
   
2. Turn heat down to low.
3. Add drained tuna, stir.
4. Add vegetables, stir.
5. Pour into pastry crust.
6. Bake for 35 minutes.
7. Cool and enjoy!
   

Strawberry Cream Pie

This recipe is an adaptation of one published in Domino magazine.

Ingredients

• 4 pints strawberries, cut and stemmed
  
• 1 + 1/4 cups milk
• 3/4 cup + 1 tbsp sugar
• 10 tbsp all purpose flour
• 1 + 1/2 tbsp of lemon juice
• 1 cup heavy/double/whipping cream
• prepackaged graham cracker crust
  

1. Place strawberries in blenders (reserving a handful for decoration) and puree.

2. In a medium saucepan combine milk, flour and 3/4 cup of sugar on medium high heat. Whisk or stir until well blended. Add strawberry puree and lemon juice, continue mixing until sauce thickens and bubbles.

3. Pour filling into crust and cool, before refrigerating overnight.

4. Before serving add sugar and heavy cream blend with hand mixer or whisk until it forms soft peaks. Spread over pie, garnish with remaining strawberries and enjoy.