Half Baked

Lemon Meringue Pie is my favorite pie of all time. (However, my Deep Dish Plum Pie is gaining some ground…I’ll share that recipe at a later date.)

Since it’s getting warmer and the sun is shining so brightly today, I was in the mood to bake a nice summery pie.  Instead of making one big pie, however, I decided to make 4 individual ones using my mini cheesecake spring form pans.

I started with my basic pie crust recipe and pressed the dough up the sides of the pans, baked them until golden, and then once they cooled, I removed the cheesecake pan. I highly recommend removing it at this step, because if  the meringue is baked on before  you remove the pans, it is disastrous. Take my word for it.

I boiled the custard mixture, added my eggs, stirred for 4 more minutes, then finally turned off the heat and added butter and lemon juice.  This time I added half fresh squeezed lemon juice and half bottled lemon because I wasn’t sure if I would like it with 100% fresh squeezed, although I had heard otherwise. On my recipe I have in bold, underlined words. "REAL LEMON!!" And, by real lemon I did not mean actual real lemons from the tree, I meant the fake bottled kind called Real Lemon. So, I was a bit scared to do 100% fresh juice, even though I knew better.  It turned out great, but next time I will without a doubt use a full amount of the freshly squeezed lemon juice.

My meringue always turns out, in fact I'm not quite sure why people are so afraid of it. I like my meringue high, and I love the little toasted brown tips the best.

I love watching how the egg whites start as nothing, and just because you whip some air into them, they start to take form. With the addition of some sugar and cream of tartar, Viola! You’ve got meringue beautiness. Yes that's a word.

And, the final product tasted as great as it looked.

The only unfortunate part is that no one in my family, except my dad, likes Lemon Meringue Pie, which means I end up eating a lot of it, or in this case, giving it away to anyone who will take it.

In this mini form, it is much easier to share anyway.

Here’s my recipe…

Pie Crust

1 1/2 cups flour

2 T. sugar

1/2 t. salt

mix the above well, and then add

1/2 cup oil
2 T. milk

Form into a ball and press into pie pan. Bake at 475 for 10 minutes, or until edges are just turning brown. Be sure to press sides of dough up the edge of pie pan.

Lemon Meringue Pie

1 1/2 cups sugar

3 1/2 T. cornstarch

3 T. flour

1/4 t. salt

1 1/2 cup hot water

3 slightly beaten egg yolks, save the 3 remaining egg whites for the meringue

2 T butter, cut into squares

1/3 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice

In a saucepan, mix sugar, cornstarch, flour and salt. Gradually blend in the water. Bring to boil over high heat, stirring constantly. Reduce heat to medium. Cook and stir for 8 minutes more. Remove from heat. Stir a small amount of the hot mixture into the egg yolks to temper. Return this to remaining hot mixture. Bring to boil over high heat, stirring constantly. Reduce heat to low. Cook and stir 4 minutes longer. Remove from heat. Add butter. Gradually add the lemon juice. Cover entire mixture with plastic wrap, being sure to press the wrap directly onto the surface of the custard. Cool for 10-15 minutes. Pour into cooled pie shell, and allow to come to room temperature.

Meringue

Beat the remaining 3 egg whites with 1 t. lemon juice until soft peaks form. Gradually add 6 T sugar and 1/4 t. cream of tartar and beat until stiff peaks form.

Spread meringue over pie, being sure to seal the edges to the pastry. Bake at 350 for 12-15 minutes until golden. Cool thoroughly before serving.

Christy Beauchot Smith is the owner and creator of www.dipstickspretzels.com. She and her husband, Mark, are the parents of two sons, Jacob and Joshua.

Posted by jennifer321 at 08:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

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I've been reading a book called "Gluten Free Girl" by Shauna James Ahern, and it is like food porn. I am not joking.
If you like food as much as I do, then reading this book is highly recommended. Even if you aren't trying to go gluten free...and maybe especially if you're not trying to be gluten free. She goes into such wonderful descriptions of everything from her surroundings to the food to the people she's enjoying it with, that you actually feel like you're with her.
At one point I was dipping my toes in a lake in Seattle and peach juice was dripping from my chin. It's all I could do not to run right out and get me a bag of peaches...but I knew for certain, that they would not taste like the one she was eating. Hers came straight from a local tree in the peak of season. Mine would have been straight from some storage bin that traveled long distances to get here. Ahhh...glad that I have my imagination.
Her descriptions of vegetables and the recipes that she created out of her sheer need for something good that didn't contain gluten, sounded slightly strange, but even more compelling.
The first two I wanted to try were Shaved Fennel with Lemon Juice, and a Cauilflower dish containing some very interesting seasonings. I bought the fennel and the cauliflower, but decided on the cauliflower dish for last night's fish meal.
At first this sounded very exotic with huge potential for failure, and even more potential to taste bad, but what the heck, I'm a bit crazy.
If you enjoy rich, tasty food without all the fat and calories, then please, please try this despite your initial reaction. You will amaze yourself...and quite possibly your family too.

Roasted Cauliflower with Smoked Paprika and Cocoa Powder
2 T Kosher salt
juice of 1 lemon
1 head cauliflower
3 T high quality olive oil
1/2 white or yellow onion, thinly sliced
4 t. smoked paprika (do NOT use regular paprika...trust me on this. All stores carry the smoked version, and it has a smell similar to barbecue chips, delish!)
1 t. unsweetened cocoa powder
1 t. sea salt
1 t. cracked black pepper

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Blanching the cauliflower. Bring a pot of 2 quarts of water plus the kosher salt and the juice of half the lemon to boil. Cut the florets off the stalk of the cauliflower. Put the cauliflower in the boiling water and cook for 5 minutes. Drain and pour the cauliflower into a bowl full of ice water. Let it rest there for 3 minutes or until it is chilled. Remove the cauliflower and pat dry.
Cooking the cauliflower. Bring a skillet to heat on high, then add the olive oil. When the oil runs easily around the pan, add the thinly sliced onion. Cook and stir until translucent and soft, 2 - 3 minutes. Add the smoked paprika. Add the cauliflower to this mixture and coat them well. Cook for 3 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the cauliflower is coated and the fragrance of the paprika is strong. Remove the skillet from the heat.
Roasting the cauliflower. Add the cocoa powder to the cauliflower. Add the salt and pepper. Toss the cauliflower to coat. Transfer this mixture to a roasting pan. Put in the oven and cook the cauliflower for 5 minutes. Drizzle the remaining lemon juice over the cooked cauliflower.
Feeds 4 Enjoy!

Note: Chocolate and Chili are traditional Mole flavors, similar to Mexican hot chocolate which contains chocolate and cinnamon.

Christy Beauchot Smith is the owner and creator of www.dipstickspretzels.com. She and her husband, Mark, are the parents of two sons, Jacob and Joshua.

Posted by jennifer321 at 11:22 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

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