South Beach: Key Lime Pie

A few weeks ago we snuck away with some friends for a warm weather getaway to Miami. We spent the weekend enjoying the outdoors, the sunshine, and the delicious food available in South Beach. I had a few items on my “to-do” list of things to eat while I was down there: stone crabs, mojitos, plantains, and key lime pie. Within the first two days, I had checked off every item!



We had a great meal at Joe’s Stone Crabs, which we capped off with their famous key lime pie. Before heading home, I stopped in a grocery store and picked up some key limes to bring back with me. I made a key lime pie in my own kitchen to bring us a little taste of Miami in our winter wonderland here.


I fortunately bought two bags of key limes, and used every single one of them to squeeze out the 2/3 cup of lime juice the recipe calls for. If you have a Kitchen Aid Stand Mixer, now is the time to pull it out! You’ll save yourself a lot of time (and your arm muscles a lot of strain!) in whisking both the filling and the whipped cream.

Key Lime Pie
Ingredients

Graham Cracker Crust:
1/3 of a 1-pound box graham crackers
5 tablespoons melted unsalted butter
1/3 cup sugar

Filling:
3 egg yolks
2 teaspoons lime zest
1 (14-ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
2/3 cup freshly squeezed Key lime juice, or store bought

Topping:
1 cup heavy or whipping cream chilled
2 tablespoons confectioners' sugar

For the graham cracker crust:
Directions
Preheat the oven to 350°F.

Break up the graham crackers; place in a food processor and process to crumbs. If you don't have a food processor, place the crackers in a large plastic bag; seal and then crush the crackers with a rolling pin. Add the melted butter and sugar and pulse or stir until combined. Press the mixture into the bottom and side of a pie pan, forming a neat border around the edge. Bake the crust until set and golden, 8 minutes. Set aside on a wire rack; leave the oven on.

For the filling:
Meanwhile, in an electric mixer with the wire whisk attachment, beat the egg yolks and lime zest at high speed until very fluffy, about 5 minutes. Gradually add the condensed milk and continue to beat until thick, 3 or 4 minutes longer. Lower the mixer speed and slowly add the lime juice, mixing just until combined, no longer. Pour the mixture into the crust. Bake for 10 minutes, or until the filling has just set. Cool on a wire rack, then refrigerate. Freeze for 15 to 20 minutes before serving.

For the topping:
Whip the cream and the confectioners' sugar until nearly stiff. Cut the pie into wedges and serve very cold, topping each wedge with a large dollop of whipped cream.

Merry Christmas: Crème de Menthe Pie

Merry Christmas! I just wrapped up my Christmas dinner. The leftovers are in the refrigerator, the counters are wiped, and the dishes are in the dishwasher.




For the past few years, I have hosted Christmas dinner at my house. It is a small crowd, but it is fun to have the liberty to cook whatever I want to. Since my in-laws have always had more conservative palettes, I don't make anything too prolific, but I do modify the menu each year. We start the afternoon with a few appetizers, followed by dinner, and capped off with the one constant each year - Crème de Menthe Pie.

Baked Brie with Raspberry Preserves

Crab and Cream Cheese Dip

Glazed Ham

Baked Orzo with Fontina and Peas

Seasoned Corn

Green Beans with Sautéed Mushrooms, Garlic, and Almonds

Glazed Carrots with Pecans

For as long as I can remember, my family has had Crème de Menthe Pie for dessert on Christmas dinner. This was a tradition I continued when we lived in NYC and I made it for our friends for our pre-Christmas dinner. When I started hosting Christmas dinner myself, there was no doubt what I would make for dessert. Although my mother, my sister, and I are all in different places on Christmas night, celebrating with our respective in-laws, this is a dessert that we all still make. (In fact, I wound up with two pies in my freezer tonight, as my parents stopped by my house for appetizers, but forgot their pie when they ventured on to their next destination.)

There are so many memories associated with this dessert, but it is also reminiscent of my favorite hard-serve ice cream flavor - mint chocolate chip. You can serve the pie with whipped cream if you like, but I think it is perfect without.

Crème de Menthe Pie
Ingredients
3 pints vanilla ice cream
5 Tablespoons crème de menthe liqueur
2 cups chocolate wafer crumbs (such as Oreos)
1/3 cup butter, softened
Chocolate Sauce (recipe follows)

Directions
Combine wafer crumbs (if using Oreos, crumble in food processor) with butter and press into 10” spring form pan (press throughout bottom of pan, and up to 1 inch along sides of pan). Refrigerate until well chilled, about 1 hour.

Turn ice cream into large bowl to soften. Pour crème de menthe over ice cream and stir to incorporate. Fill chilled wafer shell with ice cream mixture. Freeze. Make chocolate sauce.

Chocolate Sauce:
Ingredients
3 oz. unsweetened chocolate
½ cup water
¾ cup sugar
¼ teaspoon salt
4 ½ Tablespoons butter
¾ teaspoon vanilla

Directions
In a small saucepan, combine chocolate with water. Cook over low heat, stirring occasionally until chocolate is melted. Add sugar and salt. Cook, stirring constantly, until sugar is melted and mixture is thickened, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in butter and vanilla. Cool thoroughly. Then drizzle over top of pie and return to freezer until firm.

More Apples: Apple Brandy Pies with Cheddar Crust

The fall foliage is peaking around here, and we are savoring every day of fall. A couple weeks ago we spent the day visiting our favorite cider mill (a perennial favorite and local institution in the town where I grew up), and enjoyed fresh cider and spiced donuts.


We’ve been eating a lot of apples, and I’ve also been cooking with them. It seemed like the perfect time to try a new recipe that I saw.

My friend Christina was kind enough to snail-mail me a copy of a complimentary magazine that is available at her local food store in northern California. The Raley’s Something Extra magazine has a plethora of recipes, and new ways to use different grocery items. I received it in the mail from her one Friday evening when I arrived home after work. I read through the magazine no fewer than three times before the end of the weekend. (I am very thankful that she sent a copy my way!!)

While I’ve flagged many recipes in the Holiday edition of Something Extra, I decided to add a little more apple to our autumn and start off trying their Apple Brandy Pies. I sent them with my husband to his football tailgate today, and I think they’d make a nice hors d'oeuvre or addition to a dessert tray.

Apple Brandy Pies with Cheddar Crust
Ingredients
* 2 tbsp. butter
* 1 large green apple, peeled, cored and chopped
* 1/4 cup apple brandy
* 2 tbsp. honey
* 1 (15-oz.) package refrigerated pie crusts
* 2/3 cup finely shredded sharp Cheddar cheese, divided

Directions
Preheat oven to 400°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Melt butter in a medium skillet. Add apple and cook over medium heat for 5 minutes. Stir apple brandy and honey into apples and cook over medium-high heat until excess liquid has cooked off; set aside to cool.

Unroll pie crusts and sprinkle 1/3 cup cheese onto each. Press cheese into crust with a rolling pin, rolling into a 10-inch circle. Cut into circles with a 3½-inch cutter. Place equal amounts of filling in each pastry circle, then brush edges of pastry lightly with water. Fold over to enclose filling and press with the tines of a fork to seal.

Place on prepared baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes or until lightly browned.