Lemon Meringue Pieeee

Another installment of my Pie Chronicles.  Today, I wax poetic about lemon meringue pie, a treat not lost upon my poor lactose-intolerant husband because I made it sans dairy! He, of course, was given the most essential task of zesting and juicing lemons.

This pie only took about an hour to prepare, but must be refrigerated overnight.  The delayed gratification is worth it!  Butter-flavored Crisco, a mysterious and delicious entity, underscores a perfectly crisp crust that gives easily to the pressure of a fork. Calming meringue balances out the sharp tartness of lemon filling flavored with bright lemons.  It is a perfect summer dessert....or breakfast? And we all know there are only 4 days left of summer. That means only 4  more days of lemon meringue pie!

I adapted the recipe from here, with some adjustments (minus the dairy and scale down the sugar!)

Lemon filling:
3/4 c white sugar
2 T flour
3 T cornstarch
1 c water
1/2 c soymilk
2 lemons, juiced and zested
4 egg yolks

Whisk together dry ingredients, stir in liquid and lemon zest + juice.
Bring to a boil in a sauce pan on medium heat. After the mixture boils and thickens, take it off heat.
Whisk egg yolks, temper them with a small amount of hot sugar mixture, then mix them back with the sugar mixture and continue to heat and stir.

Meringue:
4 egg whites
6 T white sugar

Whip egg whites into soft peaks and slowly add sugar.

Spread lemon filling onto pre-baked pie crust. Then spread egg whites on top. Bake at 350-375 until meringue is lightly browned at the tips (tops?).

Last step: FEAST!

Banana Coconut Cream Pie in the Sky

Pie has become one of my favorites to bake AND DEVOUR.

The featured pie is a Banana Coconut Cream Pie.

I found the recipe here.

It all starts out with a trusty Crisco Flaky Single Pie Crust.

I used butter-flavored Crisco, which tastes pretty buttery without the Mike lactose side effects!

My Kitchenaid Mixer did all the mixing work.

I came up with a new way to roll out pie crust: between 2 sheets of plastic wrap! 

This method requires no extra flour, leaving intact the delicate balance of liquid and solid of my pie dough.

And a secret: I do not chill the pie dough before rolling it out. Don't really need to because the plastic wrap makes the dough handling 100x easier--I barely have to touch it!

Final secret: the less the dough is handled/re-shaped/re-rolled, the more flaky it remains.

All the different layers from bottom to top:

1. Crust, as above. Pre-bake in pie dish until golden ~20 min at 375 degrees

2. Sliced bananas sauteed in brown sugar and rum until they have caramelized

3. Coconut custard, thickened with egg yolks and cornstarch

4. Meringue layer, using the leftover egg whites

Notes to self: 

- would suggest to cut the amount of sugar used in this recipe maybe by 3/4 or 2/3 

- I later made a lemon custard as per this recipe using soymilk in place of coconut milk.  I used lemon and vanilla extracts to flavor. Mike ate it as a pudding, claiming utter deliciousness the whole time

Gotta love pie!

Pate Chaud

I accidentally bought some ground beef the other day.  You know how it is, that ground beef just takes a tumble into the shopping cart and before you know it, you've paid for it.  At this point, there are very few options...
a) spaghetti and meatballs. again.
b) unseasoned hamburgers on the Foreman Grill.  Oh wait, that was the first time that Mike invited me over to his apartment (6 years ago!). And was it just my imagination or did he not season the meat at all before cooking it?
c) leave it in the freezer until it is frostbitten and turns tan
d) drum. roll.  PATE CHAUD!

Banh Pate Chaud is a Vietnamese meat pie with a French name.  I've always thought of it as a delicacy that can only be found after driving 5 hrs (DC) or flying 5 hrs (LA) to a Vietnamese bakery.  I've also never eaten more than 1 in a sitting because I had to share them and/or ration them over a few days because they are so precious.

3/4 lb ground beef, 2 small onions, 2 cloves garlic, 1/4 cup mushrooms, and 1/2 T ground pepper later...

Oh, and 2 TBSP of fish sauce, too. Don't be scared!

While the pastry shells (I used Pepperridge Farm) were in the 1st phase of baking, I sauteed the beef mixture to brown it a little and minimize food poisoning risk (or so I was hoping).

Note to self: opening the oven frequently, especially to take photos inside, causes the shells to rise suboptimally!

Yummy as lunch, accompanied by J.Crew catalogue.

Here's the recipe!

Filling:

3/4 lb ground meat (chicken or pork or combinations work well)

2 small onions, chopped finely

3 cloves garlic, chopped finely

2 tbsp fish sauce

1/2 tbsp ground black pepper

1/4 c woodear mushrooms

Thaw frozen puff pastries. Then pre-bake in oven for about 20 minutes until they rise but before they turn golden. Using a fork, scoop out the soft pastry inside. 

Meanwhile, combine ingredients above to make filling. Sautee until meat is browned.

Fill pastries generously, then replace tops.

Make an egg wash (I beat 1 egg) and brush the tops of pastries.

Bake for 15-20 more minutes until golden brown.

Yield: 18 puff pastries

Thoughts for next time:

I will probably use pastry sheets, rather then the shells. With the sheets, I can cut them to size, then fill them with the raw meat mixture without having to pre-bake them. Thus, I can freeze them in their raw, unbaked state and bake a few at a time when I am ready for a pate chaud feast.

Of Pixie Pants, Other Apparel, and Pie

Wow, I am so glad I own the J Crew pixie pants.
Last year I proclaimed my love for them a few months after finally getting them.  I felt that paying $88 was a little silly for a pair of glorified leggings.

Then they went on sale. $_$  Unfortunately they seem to hardly ever go on sale anymore.  They are definitely nicer than leggings and the signature back seams and zipper are still well-loved by all, especially me.  I wear them a LOT and they are still as nice as ever! Yay!






Here are few as-of-yet unposted outfits featuring my beloved Pixie Pants:

1. Sweater: gift from Mom bought in France "Funky Diva", Shoes: leopard flats from Fashion Bug.
2. Top: J Crew, shoes: Bandolino
3. Top: Free People, Boots: paris hilton
4. Top: J Crew, Shoes: I Love Comfort from Sears, Earrings: leopard thrifted

I also have been wearing a lot of clothes lately, being forced to go to work everyday.  I finally got around to uploading all the pictures of them from my camera.  Well, I guess I'll go ahead and post them here.

I couldn't decide which shot to use for these so I selected them both.
Also shows the versatility of each outfit to exist in slightly different angles and poses.
1. Top: Trucco from Madrid, Cardi: American Eagle Outfitters, Pants: from Vietnam, Shoes: Calvin Klein
2. Top: Mango, skirt: from Vietnam, Belt: Talbots, shoes: unknown
3. Top: J Crew, Pants: H&M, Shoes: from Vietnam

1. Top: J Crew, Skirt: Anthropologie, Shoes: unknown. Necklace: I revived my Target necklace!
2. Top: Delia's, Coat: gift, Pants: from VN, Shoes: Talbots
3. Top: H&M, Skirt: Anthropologie, Shoes: leopard flats, Necklaces: Target and F21
4. Top: Adidas (old), Cardi: Target, Pants: H&M, belt: J Crew
5. Dress: Ann Taylor, belt: thrifted and very old, Shoes: VN
6.  Top: F21, Skirt: gift from Mom bought in France, Boots: from Madrid

Again, couldn't choose one pose, they are just all so good.
1. Sweater: unknown brand, tank top: Delia's, Pants: J  Crew Minnie bi-stretch wool, shoes: unknown brand
2. Top: J Crew, pants: Vietnam, Shoes: Banana Republic, Necklace: J Crew
3. Top: Mango, Skirt: J Crew petal skirt, Boots: from Madrid.  WOW I really like this outfit! Note to self: wear this again, consider jewelry.

1. Top: elephant top, need I say more? Scarf: Urban Outfitters, Pants and belt: J Crew, Booties: unknown brand
2. Top: Banana republic, Skirt: Anthropologie, Boots: Paris Hilton via Macy's, Earrings: you can't see them but I made them!
3. Going out outfit. Top: unknown, from Gabe's, Jeans: Seven, Shoes: from VN

Lately I've been in the cardiology ICU, which I consider to be a slightly hateful place.  Lately meaning for the last 2 days.  I think I am coming down with a le-cold (rhinovirus).  I will refrain from further discussing my sentiments regarding the CICU on the blog.  Back to something more palatable:

Mere moments later:

Mike has struck again!

Peach and Mango Pie (3.141592653589)

I am eating pie as we speak.  What pie, you ask? The pie that I made last night!!!  Wait, I made a pie last night? From SCRATCH? There are many questions, I know.  It started out with 3 peaches from 2 weeks ago that just wouldn't go away (translation: get eaten by Mike).  I think peaches are ~ok~ but I secretly wished that I had bought nectarines instead.  I'm sorry, little peaches, I love your non-fuzzy cousins more.





Strange digressions aside, I had a really nice experience mushing together flour and shortening with my hands.  Initially, a fork kept me from experiencing the nirvana until, frustrated at the lack of mixing, I shoved my hand into the bowl.  All of a sudden, I was transported into a space-mobile-drifting-through-a-cloud-of-pink-rainbow-plasma as the soft, cold shortening infused an unbelievable silkiness to the smooth flour.    Oh, I seem to have digressed strangely again.

I followed the recipe on Crisco's website for a single "flaky" pie crust, though next time I will make the double crust.
1/2 cup cold shortening
1 1/2 cup flour + 1/2 tsp salt
Add 4-8 Tbsp ice cold water to the mixture, one Tbsp at a time until it is moist and a marble of dough will not crack when squished.
Flatten these and wrap them in plastic or wax paper then refrigerate.  I chilled them for 30 minutes.
Then roll out! Roll out!

I was slightly alarmed when I discovered that 1 Tbsp of shortening = 12 g fat.  (I used 1/2 cup which is 8 Tbsp).  Then I looked at stick of butter and it told me that 1 Tbsp of itself = 11 g. And I call myself a doctor.  I'm disgusted! And yet my appetite is whet!

For more sources of gooey disgust, please refer to my fruit filling:
1. Aforementioned peaches
2. an unripened mango (beggars can't be choosers)
3. 1/2 cup each of brown and white sugar
4. Haphazard dribbling of honey
5. 1/2 cup flour to absorb the moisture



My Crisco-derived pie crust calls itself flaky as opposed to Crisco's "classic" pie crust which I suppose is not flaky.  Anyway, did I mention how much I love squishing flour into Crisco?

I apologize, no pictures were taken during the squishing of the dough and the moulding of the crust and lattice pie top.  I was too focused and ecstatic that things seemed to not be a disaster.  Imagine my surprise when 45 min later in a 400 degree oven...



Before and After



A Pie is born!!

Are you surprised that Mike and I ate pie last night, this morning, AND this afternoon?  I can't believe I ever led a pie-less life.