After I browned the meat and mixed it in with the cut-up apples, I added a can of pork and beans (the sweet bourbon kind). Between that and the obligatory cheese topping, this pie held to its consistency a heck of a lot better than the last one did. And, let me be honest: the last one had all the consistency of a sack of mud. My wife pretty much called it a ‘meat salad’ – while, mind you, taking seconds.
And I think that this one came out pretty OK, although the next time I do it I’m going to need to find a better cheese for pork than Colby Jack. I’m having difficulty coming up with a good cheese for pork, though. The best I can think of is American cheese, and that’s not going to crust up the way I want it to, right? Ach, well, that’s why they call it ‘research.’
Oaxaca is one of my favorites.
Farmers cheese- Fresh stuff usually in the deli dept.
Pork is kinda hard to pair with cheese, and the Colby converts to fat in the finished dish which keeps the jack from crisping up. I use a plain jack for my white trash pulled pork and/or chicken enchiladas. The cheese on top and edges crisp up nicely but the interior is all gooey and creamy.
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Our local Mexican market sells one they cut off a big block, old school. You might check out a Mercado or bodega, the cheese selection is usually cheaper and fresher than the supermarket stuff.
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Spices, too. Heck, go to the international aisle in my local supermarket and the spices there are 10%, 20% cheaper than the identical spices in the cooking section. It’s bizarre. 🙂
I agree regarding the colby .. cheddar has the same problem, too much of the moisture turns to liquid fat, a.k.a. grease.
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Using a higher moisture cheese – jack or mozzarella, for instance – gets around this, because the moisture boils off… (aside: Mrs. Cat substitutes 1/3 mozzarella for the cheddar in mac-n-cheese, gives it a nicer texture)
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The other approach is to use a drier cheese, like a parmesan .. but this is, as you noted Feste, tricky because the drier cheeses often have strong flavors.
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Mew
An alternative is to bake without the cheese, then top with the cheese and finish under the broiler right at the end. If you have visible crust, cover it with a foil ring for this step so just the cheese bubbles and gets crusty. A top crust also helps this along, if it is rolled thin, then cheese and broiler as above.