I have no major crafty updates for you today. But I will let you know that I got some really good ideas for the sleeve cuff treatment. Thanks for everyone who responded! I'll be testing them out this week and into the weekend. The one thing I do know is that I'm going to modify the sleeve length. In between the time my post went up and I received your comments, I worked on the second sleeve with just a plain seed stitch cuff. I thought the sleeve as written didn't look so puffy on me and also looked a tad long, so I eliminated the even rows on the sleeve and went straight to the decreases. This didn't increase the puffiness, but I do like it better. My next steps are to fix the length on the first sleeve and then test out the different cuffs.
So now that the crafts are out of the way, let's talk pie. Why? Because it's Wednesday, it's hump day and we need a little push to get us to the long weekend ahead.
Recipe: Lemon Meringue Pie, Gourmet January 2008
Notes:
I've never had lemon meringue pie or any kind of meringue pie for that matter, so this was a first for me on many levels. The pie itself tasted great. But I'm not positive on my execution of the pie. The I expected the filling to be more solid than it was. So I'm not sure if was supposed to cook the filling longer so it would be more set. It had the consistency of lemon curd when I stopped cooking and I cooked it for at least 10 more minutes than indicated in the recipe. The pie had also cooled for a bit over 3 hours to just about room temperature. When I sliced it up, the filling didn't run, but it just wasn't as solid as I was expecting.
Does this look right?
The meringue was also more delicate than I thought. For some reason, and again this is my meringue pie naivete speaking, I thought the meringue would solidify a bit. The photo above shows "air bubbles". I'm assuming it "self steams" itself. The other thing I also learned during my first meringue experience is that it shrinks as it cooks. I spent a good amount of time smoothing it out to the crust to make it nice, and it shrunk back, leaving tracks. Boo!
Before: Pretty meringue edges flush with the crust
After: Meringue tracks, boo!
Now let me talk crust. This is the flakiest crust I've made so far and B even commented on it (photo below). According to the recipe, this crust will have people begging for more. Texture wise, I think I'd agree that this is the flakiest, but not the tastiest. To date, I've tried three crust recipes, Martha's Pate Brisee, CI's Foolproof Pie Dough, and Gourmet's Pastry Dough from the 1/08 issue. The difference between the three is that Gourmet's calls for vegetable shortening which I think is the x-factor for flakiness. I'm feeling a "pie crust-off" in the works. I've got a few more pie crust recipes laying around and I think it's time to test them out. Unfortunately, the one I really want to try, Alton Brown's, calls for lard. That's not too cool for me. Have any of you had success or experience substituting vegetable shortening for lard? What did you do for flavor?
Now onto pie #2. I did tell you I made two pies, right? Not only did I make two recipes of the Gourmet pastry dough, we had a bunch of brown bananas. You know what I'm going to say right? Banana cream pie beats banana bread any day of the week!
Gimme bananas!
Remember that thing I said the first time around about the filling and cream recipe being enough for two pies? Well forget I said that if you're using a deep dish. O.M.G. Heaven!!
And lastly, photo evidence of the flakiest crust.
No go forth and conquer the rest of the week!
Comments (19)
if licking the screen would taste like your banana cream pie I would so do it. sigh...
looking forward to progress on the cardigan.
Posted by emily | February 12, 2008 11:10 PM
oh, so yummy, and beautiful, girl you have a talent for making food look great
Posted by toya | February 13, 2008 2:56 AM
GIrl you know it's too early for that! LOL Looks wonderful~
Posted by adrienne | February 13, 2008 3:58 AM
mmm, i gained ten pounds just looking at your pies :)
Posted by gleek | February 13, 2008 6:39 AM
yummy yummy yummy... lemon meringue pie is one of my favorites and I think yours looks super tasty! i
Posted by mari | February 13, 2008 6:39 AM
I also have always had the greatest success with vegetable shortening... if only it weren't for the pesky trans fats in it... I am always searching for something equally successful, but less death-inducing.
Posted by Rhonda | February 13, 2008 7:42 AM
I must go against you on the banana bread versus banana pie. I am all about banana bread! But, our difference aside, these pies are drool inducing. You are going to make me look for bad things to eat for breakfast.
I think the lemon meringue looks just right. You did a beautiful job with it. It's always pretty custardy.
Okay. I'm hungry. Please send pie.
Posted by sappmama | February 13, 2008 8:20 AM
after months of lurking, i had to share. those two pies are two of my very favorites in my great aunt's repertoire!
when she was little, my sister called the lemon "soap pie" for obvious reasons. and, from the photos, the meringue looks perfect. in my experience, it's supposed to be a little foamy - which is why its so hard to make! it tends to flatten if the weather's not right or if you don't make it correctly. so bravo!
and sometimes people make the lemon part with gelatin which gives it a much firmer texture. but the curdy style is sooo delish, especially if you're not down with cow hooves!
Posted by bryna | February 13, 2008 8:43 AM
Also de-lurking to say how delicious those pies look! Your merinque peaks look lovely; you're quite a baker!
Posted by carrie | February 13, 2008 9:32 AM
I was very surprised the first time I had foamy meringue, having grown up with stiff, crunchy meringue! I think yours is supposed to have a soft consistency. And I love the quantity of meringue on your pie! The more meringue, the better, I say...
Posted by Veronique | February 13, 2008 9:53 AM
Lemon Meringue is one of my favorite pies (fresh strawberry pie is number one) and I think that your meringue looks just right. You want it to be nice and fluffy as you eat rather than tough (and that is what happens when you broil it too long). I think the pie filling itself looks really yummy. Sure it might be just a little bit loose, but you do not want it to look like plastic pie filling either. Texture is one of the most important things in eating a lemon meringue (or at least opinionated me thinks so) and looking at your pie I think it would easily pass the test!
Do you think that Fedex could package one of your pies well enough to send it to MN? mmmmmm
Posted by Elisabeth | February 13, 2008 10:05 AM
I've never made lemon meringue pie (like Veronique, I grew up with the hard stuff we call 'baiser') but M's mom gets them from this bakery in Oakland which is famous for theirs, and the consistency of yours looks right (and better, imo). I love the brown tops of the meringue.
Posted by Steph | February 13, 2008 10:15 AM
You're killing me with the pie pictures. Ugh...it looks so good...!
Posted by Christie | February 13, 2008 12:13 PM
I love both of those pies - I so wished I had the patience for baking now!
Posted by tiennie | February 13, 2008 1:56 PM
Your meringue looks perfectly cooked and browned. I've never made this sort of pie, just eaten my mother's so I don't know about the shrinkage--but I've made meringue shells and I don't remember them shrinking, but that's a stiffer meringue I think. The filling is a little loose compared to Mom's but it looks more appetizing than hers (don't tell!).
I have had pie crust made with lard. It has a very distinctive taste, which I myself am not fond of, and I think it detracts from mild-flavored fillings. It really coats the mouth with fat too; you have to drink a hot beverage to keep the mouth clean--forget pie ala mode. I like a mix of shortening and butter, and I have a recipe from Cuisine at Home magazine that is very good from the Best Apple Pie Ever recipe(they weren't kidding). I've also started using the Crisco that is trans-fat free, and it works very well for pie crust.
Posted by Brenda | February 13, 2008 4:51 PM
The meringue looks perfectly beautiful! As for the lemon filling, how high was your heat? Did you stir continuously?
I am fairly convinced that the pie crust options in the 1972 Joy of Cooking are excellent. I use the recipe for Pate Brisee (it uses vegetable shortening and butter) and I have gotten compliments on it every time I make a pie. It tastes fine to me; but, I actually prefer crumb crusts and nut pastry crusts, to be honest. But other "pie" people seem to like it. The JoC shortbread cookie crust is fantastic too.
I think I need to make a nut pastry crust with fruit filling...yeah. Definitely.
Posted by nova | February 13, 2008 6:17 PM
Oh man, this is maybe the worst possible thing I could have checked out on my last hour of work today. So hungry already!
Posted by Faith | February 14, 2008 1:19 PM
You pies look delicious! I'm drooling here....
Posted by Octopus Knits | February 15, 2008 9:23 AM
http://whatscookingamerica.net/Eggs/perfectmeringue.htm
hi, I enjoyed your post and have been trying to make good meringues now and again recently. this site has a good run down, which I am using today... we'll see
I thought this quote in particular might help with your shrinkage issue ;-)
"Do not make meringues that have less than 2 tablespoons of sugar per egg white. If you use any less, the foam will not set and the meringue will shrink. To tell if the sugar is dissolved when you are beating egg whites for meringues, rub a bit of the foam between your fingers. If it feels gritty, the sugar is not dissolved, so keep beating for a few minutes."
Posted by elizabeth | February 18, 2008 1:35 PM