It's Cinco de Mayo and We're Having -- Poblano Pepper, Beef & Cheese Pie

Since today was Cinco de Mayo (the 5th of May), I decided to make something with a Mexican theme.  One of hubby's favorite things to order in a Mexican restaurant is stuffed Poblano peppers. Sometimes he gets them stuffed with cheese and sometimes with beef.  Traditionally they are stuffed, battered and fried.  Initially, I had planned to buy some Poblano peppers and stuff them with beef and cheese and bake them...but believe it or not, I couldn't find decent Poblano peppers for stuffing.  I finally found a few small ones...so I decided instead to make a Poblano Pepper, Beef & Cheese Pie. It would include a lot of the flavors and ingredients...simply in a different presentation.  After we got done running our errands, our Costco run, and grocery shopping...we decided to squeeze our walk in since the sun came out for a couple of hours in between storms late this afternoon.  We actually were able to get in over 5 miles and still return with the sun shining.  We took our Bichon, Spike, for his walk when we were done so we could take full advantage of the sunshine.  When we were done and everyone got their walk in,  I began working on dinner.  While out shopping today, I picked up some chorizo sausage and ground sirloin to use for my pie.  I diced the Poblano peppers and onions and cooked them along with the sausage and beef and added some home made taco seasoning.  I made a quiche-like filling of eggs, cream and cheddar cheese -- but only enough to act as a binder to hold the filling together -- I didn't want it to be a quiche.  I seasoned my almond pie crust with a little chipotle chile powder to keep with the Mexican theme.  It turned out delicious!  You couldn't see any egg/quiche stuff -- only meat and the veggies I used...so it worked perfectly as a binder to hold the ingredients together so the pie didn't crumble and fall apart when cut.  I served it topped with a dollop of sour cream, diced tomatoes and alongside a sliced avocado.  It was absolutely delicious and we didn't miss going out to a Mexican restaurant like we usually do for Cinco de Mayo.  Hubby made himself a margarita and I made myself a big glass of fresh lemonade to go with our meal.  Below are a few photos I snapped as well as the recipe.  Enjoy!

Voila!

Fresh out of the oven...

It actually began to rain again as I was taking this picture...

So pretty...

BOOM!

Poblano Pepper, Beef & Cheese Pie

Ingredients:

Crust
2 cups almond flour
2 tablespoons cold butter, diced into small cubes
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon ground Chipotle Chile Powder, optional

Filling
1 to 2 small links of chorizo sausage, removed from casing (about 1/2 pound)
1 pound ground sirloin (or preferred beef)
1/2 cup diced onion
1 Poblano pepper, diced
1/4 cup salsa
1/2 batch Taco Seasoning Recipe (or entire recipe if not using chorizo sausage)1
4 eggs (or 1 cup Egg Beaters)
1/3 cup cream or half-n-half
1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
1/2 cup shredded pepper jack cheese, optional

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.  Place all crust ingredients in a medium bowl.  Cut butter and egg into flour with a pastry cutter until mixture resembles small pebbles and the flour is thoroughly moistened (the same way you prepare a pie crust).  Press crust mixture into pie dish or tart pan (I used a 10" pyrex pie dish).  Bake for approximately 15 minutes or until lightly browned; remove from oven and set aside.

Increase oven temp to 350 F degrees.  In a large non-stick skillet, saute chorizo sausage until browned; add ground beef, onions and Poblano pepper, breaking beef up as it browns.  Cook uncovered until onions are translucent and peppers are tender.  Add salsa and taco seasoning and cook until all liquid has evaporated; set aside.  In a medium bowl; beat eggs and cream or half-n-half and stir in shredded cheddar cheese.  Place beef mixture into the lightly baked crust; pour egg and cheese mixture over the beef; top with shredded pepper jack cheese, if desired.  Bake at 350 F for 30 to 35 minutes; until filling and eggs are set and cooked (lower oven temp to 325 F if edge of crust begins to over brown during the baking).  If center still seems a little jiggly, cook an additional few minutes.