Recipe report: Sweet and savory pies for Pi Day

March 14 has been designated Pi Day to recognize its numerical relationship to pi—the digits in the date, 3.14, are the same as the first three digits in pi. While Pi Day started off in 1988 as a math celebration, it’s evolved into a day to bake and eat pie. To get your customers into the spirit, offer a variety of savory and sweet pies—not all taking on the usual circular shape that links them to the mathematical pi.

Heather Terhune, executive chef at Tre Rivali in Milwaukee, started her career as a pastry chef. Along the way, she developed several techniques to perfect her pie crust. Most important is to chill the flour, fat, liquid and even the mixing bowl and blade prior to making the dough. Heat is the enemy and makes the dough tough rather than flaky, she says. And instead of mixing the ingredients with water, Terhune often uses chilled vodka as her liquid. The strawberries and rhubarb in this recipe are a sure sign of spring.

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To save time, these individual beef potpies use convenient puff pastry dough as a top crust; no bottom crust is necessary since they are baked in ramekins. Dried prunes add a sweet twist to the meaty filling. If you miss out on offering these pies on Pi Day, they are just as suitable for a St. Patrick's Day menu, a holiday that follows later in the week.

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These single-serving plum pies fit well into today’s snacking style. They’re portable and handheld, making them easy for customers to tote and enjoy for an afternoon treat. Chef Elliott likes to use a combo of red and black plums in the filling.

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Comfort food classics like chicken pot pie are trending on menus. They're also perennial favorites of customers at both restaurants and noncommercial operations. For his traditional version of the recipe, chef Jon Buchanan combines poached chicken and sauteed vegetables with a rich velouté sauce, then covers the filling with scratch-made pie pastry before baking.

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These handheld fruit pies are baked in muffin tins to make them easy to grab-and-go for a sweet afternoon snack or late-night dessert. Cheddar and blue cheeses and chopped pecans add savory notes to the sweet filling.

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The longer onions are sautéed, the sweeter they become, as their sugars start to caramelize. Together with eggs, cheese and Canadian bacon, the caramelized onions form the filling for this pie, which can be served throughout the day, going from breakfast to brunch, lunch and dinner. Although the finished recipe closely resembles a quiche in appearance, it still can qualify as a menu star on Pi Day.

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