as i am sure you have deciphered for yourself: i grew up in the deep deep (basically in the gulf of mexico) south. also lovingly called: the dirty south. so as you can image, i have eaten my fair share of meringue pies. and yet i still don't know how to spell the word correctly without spell check - thank god for spell check!
so as most all of my stories go, i have been trying to relive these wonderfully low country, but yet actually very fancy pies. everyone has their own story about who in their life makes the best meringue pies. josh's is his grandparents. my is mrs. smith. seriously that was her name.
my grandfather loved his pie (more that his electric lemon cake) and from the stories i've been told he would do anything to keep the pie maker in his life safe and near. he'd been known to drag his entire family of 5 kids and wife down to the city jail at 2 am to bail out his cook - who not only had a knack for drinking and violence but also happened to make amazing pies. what have you done in the name of pie?
longville, louisiana. that's where my father grew up, where my childhood weekends were spent and the town my grandfather grew to old age in. it is the epiphany of the small southern baptist town. mrs. smith was german baptist /mennonite who took to helping out my grandfather as he got older and my grandmother passed away. it was no coincidence that she could make a mean pie.
we brought her fruits from our garden, she delivered pies. two for us and one she kept for her family. every single week we had pie. and in the summer months when the lemon bush was in full swing we had a lot of lemon meringue pie.
about a year ago i tried to make a lemon meringue pie - a few time - and it was painfully tart. painful. so i think i have finally figured out the magic recipe to this pie - its gotten the josh "tasty" seal of approval. and since poker is coming up once again; these are made in little miniature versions of themselves (thanks to a cupcake pan) because i love miniature objects.
LEMON MERINGUE PIE
Crust:
1 1/2c flour
3/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp sugar
3 oz butter, cold and cubed
2 oz shortening, cold and cubed
1/4c ice cold water (more if needed)
*sift together the flour, salt and sugar
*work in the butter and shortening with your fingers until the mixture resembles peas
*slowly pour in the water, mixing with a wooden spoon. add more water a tsp at a time if needed to pull the dough together.
*form the dough into a ball and chill for 30 minutes
*roll out and lay over your pie pan - put back in frig until ready to bake
*preheat oven to 425 F, line the uncooked crust with parchment and weigh down with dried beans
*cook for 12 minutes, lower heat to 350 F, remove the beans and parchment then continue to cook another 10-15
minutes.
*keep oven on 350 F, take the crust out and fill
Lemon Filling
1c sugar
1c milk
1c water
1/3c cornstarch
pinch salt
4 egg yolks
1 oz butter
2 tsp lemon zest
5-6 tbs lemon juice
*heat milk and water to boiling
*in a separate bowl whisk yolks to smooth and creamy
*in a separate pan whisk together the sugar, salt and cornstarch
*stir in the boiling water/milk
*cook over med-low until smooth and thick (5-10 minutes)
*turn heat off and add 1/2c of the hot mixture to the yolks stirring constantly
*immediately add the tempered yolks to the pan of hot milk mixture,
*turn heat back on to low, add the butter and cook 5 min to smooth and hot
*take off heat and stir in the lemon juice and zest
*pour into prepared pie shell, top with meringue...
Meringue
4 egg whites
1/4c + 1 tbs sugar
1/4 tsp cream of tartar
1 tsp vanilla
*add the tartar to the whites, beat on low until soft peaks begin to form
*slowly add in the sugar and beat until stiff and shiny peaks form
*add the vanilla and beat in to mix
*spread on top of the prepared, filled pie making sure that the meringue touches the crust
*cook at 350 F for 10-15 minutes until the peaks begin to brown
No comments:
Post a Comment