Jambalaya, GOLDFISH Pie, file' gumbo...

...for tonight I'm a-gonna see my ma cher amio
Pick guitar, fill fruit jar, and be gay-o
Son of a gun we'll have big fun on the bayou
-Hank Williams, "Jambalaya"

My apologies to old Hank, but my son has changed the lyrics of his song. It's not crawfish pie ... it's goldfish pie. What? You never heard of goldfish pie? Well, you've clearly never had dinner prepared by Master Jay Foster. Our conversation went something like this:

(Jambalaya is playing in the background)
Jay: Mom, I want Goldfish Pie for dinner.
Me: I'm not sure I know how to make Goldfish Pie.
Jay: You make a pie and you put in goldfish! (Well, well - hard to argue with that.)
Me: What else should go in it?
Jay: ummmm, maybe some chicken.
Me: (starting to think this might actually work as a chicken pot pie) Chicken would be good. What else?
Jay: ummm, Broccoli! And cucumber!
Me: (starting to rethink this) Umm, how about some carrots? And maybe some peas?
Jay: Don't forget the Goldfish!

An idea was born. And we gave it a shot.

(Chef Jay pointing out that there are actual Goldfish on top!)

In case you have a Goldfish loving preschooler, perhaps you'd like to attempt it yourself. It's certainly kid-friendly preparation - basically a dump & stir recipe. Simple as can be:

• Refrigerated pie crust (why I ever used frozen pie shells I'll never know - these are MUCH better)
• Frozen mixed veggies
• pre-cooked chicken, chopped (we used the leftovers from one of those Costco rotisserie chickens)
• cream of mushroom soup
• a glug of milk (precise measurement, n'est pas?)
  
• sprinkle of Old Bay (the recipe was inspired by Jambalaya after all!)
• Goldfish to cover the top (maybe 1/3 to half a bag?)

Mix chicken, veggies, soup, milk & Old Bay, then pour into pie crust. Cover with goldfish. Bake about 30 minutes until heated through. The goldfish started to get a little dark toward the end, so I put a piece of foil very loosely over it. By very loosely, I mean that I kinda tossed a chunk of foil in the general direction of the pie with one hand while trying to keep two fascinated boys out of the hot oven with the other.

I wish I'd gotten better pictures, but clearly my food photography needs some work. I have a lovely shot in which our granite countertops are perfectly in focus, and the pie is an orange-y blur. (Perhaps I should have finally written that post about the kitchen remodel which was completed in December 2009? It certainly shows off the countertops nicely!) And I'm sure the pics would certainly be better if I hadn't been taking them with my video camera. Can I get an APB on my regular camera?!



Anyway, you can see from this one that it was quite a hit around our house. Even for the grownups.