My husband is an awesome chef. He's made all sorts of things to help our beagles eat. I actually thought I already posted this but it seems to have disappeared, so I'm posting it again! Little Tatiana is no longer with us but we celebrate her life every time we make this for another puppy :-)
This dish is based off of Alton Brown's Good Eats Pumpkin Pie . All techniques are exactly the same. The only differences are some ingredient substitutions , some left out ingredients and some different amounts.
Ingredients:
6 ounces kibble
2 teaspoon ground ginger
Enough canola oil to bring the crust together, about a tablespoon.
Filling:
1 13.5oz can of dog food. (If you have one that your dog won't eat use that. It should about the texture of canned pumpkin. If yours is too thick add some moisture to thin it out, like water or broth. If the dog food you use is in chunks, puree it. If the result of that is thinner or wetter than canned pumpkin reduce it until it is the right consistency on the stove.)
3oz or so of canned pumpkin (optional).
1 cup nut milk (almond milk is the most available, but any will do).
2 tsp spice blend of allspice, Ceylon cinnamon, and cloves.
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/8 cup brown sugar, Demerara sugar, or molasses.
2 large eggs
1 large egg yolk
Instructions:
Heat the oven to 350 degrees F.
For the crust: Combine the kibble and ginger in the bowl of a food processor. Process until the kibble is fine crumbs. Drizzle the oil into the crumb mixture. Pulse 8 to 10 times to combine.
Press the kibble mixture into the bottom, up the sides of a 9-inch glass pie dish. A metal measuring cup works great for this. Place on a half sheet pan and bake the crust for 10 to 12 minutes. Cool crust at least 10 minutes before filling.
For the filling: Bring the wet dog food (and pumpkin if using) to a simmer over medium heat in a 2-quart saucepan. Cook, stirring occasionally, until slightly thickened. Add the nut milk, spice blend, and salt. Stir and return the mixture to a simmer. Remove the mixture from the heat and cool for 10 minutes.
Whisk the brown sugar, eggs, and yolk until smooth in a large bowl. Slowly add the wet food mixture, to temper the eggs, and whisk until thoroughly combined. Keep whisking the whole time you are adding the warm wet food mixture to eggs to help winding up with scrambled eggs. Pour the filling into the warm pie crust and bake on the same half sheet pan until the center jiggles slightly but the sides of the filling are set, 45 to 50 minutes. Cool on a cooling rack for at least 2 to 3 hours before slicing. Pie can be made and refrigerated up to 2 days in advance.
Generally we slice this into at least eighths and serve one slice at a time as a "heavy snack". We then lighten up their regular food. If this is a full meal we serve two slices.
