Mini lemon meringue pies

Since the weather has been so nice lately I was inspired to make a summertime treat. I love anything lemon so thought mini lemon meringue pies would be really fun. These little buggers are so adorable and perfectly bite size.

I used the lemon meringue recipe from Americas Test Kitchen "Family Cookbook" and tweaked it a bit to make mini pies.


Here is a step by step (see full recipe below):


1. Using a 1/3 cup measuring scoop cut out rounds for crust (I used Pillsbury refrigerated pie dough)

2. Press rounds into mini muffin pan. Prick a hole in bottom of each crust using a fork. Precook crusts at 375 degrees for 6 minutes (or until light brown). Allow to cool prior to filling.

3. Fill crusts and top with a dollop of meringue. (I used an ice cream scoop and it worked perfectly)

4. Bake in 325 degree oven for 8-10 min or until meringue is starting to brown and filling is set.

5. Allow to cool and try not to eat them all in one sitting!

Makes approx 24 mini pies

Supplies:

Mini muffin pan

Ingredients:

Filling:

1 1/2 cups cold water

1 cup sugar

1/4 cup cornstarch

1/8 tsp salt

6 large egg yolks

1 tbs lemon zest

1/2 cup fresh lemon juice (from 3 lemons)

2 tbs unsalted butter

Meringue:

1/3 cup water

1 tbs cornstarch

4 large egg whites

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 tsp cream of tartar

1 box Pillsbury refrigerated pie dough

1. Heat oven to 325 degrees

2. To prepare filling: Combine water, sugar, cornstarch and salt in a saucepan over medium heat and bring to a simmer while whisking constantly. When mixture begins to turn translucent, slowly whisk in egg yolks. (Its important to "temper" the egg yolks first by adding a few tablespoons of the cooked cornstarch mixture to the yolks and whisking. This will prevent them from scrambling when added to the saucepan.)

Whisk in zest, lemon juice and the butter. Return to a low simmer then remove the pan from heat.

3. To prepare meringue: Bring water and cornstarch to a simmer over med-high heat, whisking frequently. When the mixture turns translucent and begins to bubble, remove from heat.

4. Whip the egg whites and vanilla with an electric or stand mixer on low speed until frothy. Mix the sugar and cream of tartar together, then add it to the egg whites, 1 tablespoon at a time. Increase the speed to medium and whip until soft peaks form. Add the cooked cornstarch mixture to the whipped egg whites, 1 tablespoon at a time, and continue to whip until they are glossy and form stiff peaks.

5. Now, reheat the lemon filling over low heat for about 1 minute. Pour the hot filling into mini pie shells and then place a dollop of meringue on top (follow step by step photos above). Bake in 325 oven for about 8 minutes or until filling looks set and meringue is browning.

{Review}

These pies turned out great and were really fun to eat! I imagine the shells could be pretty much filled with anything and used as a great appetizer too. Herbed goat cheese maybe? I'll have to experiment with some more ideas.

* Note: Be sure the filling is hot (as mentioned in step 5) when filling the shells. This is important because if it is not your meringue might leak into the filling below causing a mess.

{Time}

About 1 hour total

Black bean and cheese empanadas

For Hamish's Mexican fiesta themed birthday party I made empanadas as an appetizer (thanks for the suggestion Kerry). These were really good but lots of work.

Here is a step by step:

1. After making dough (see recipe below) I rolled it out to 1/4 in thick and used a large drinking glass to cut out circles.

2. I found (by trial and error) that the rounds were easier to fill if they were more oval shape. I took the cut out circles and rolled them a little more to stretch them out lengthwise.

3. I put about a teaspoon of filling in each. (see my easy filling recipe below)

4. Fold the dough over top and crimp edges down with a fork.

5. Fry them in a pot of vegetable oil until crispy. YUMMY!

Dough:

(makes 12)

2 cups flour

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

1/2 cup shortening

1/3 cup ice water

oil for frying

Using a standing mixer sift flour with baking powder and salt. Add shortening until combined. Slowly add water.

Roll out dough and cut out 2-3 in round circles (use a drinking glass or biscuit cutter). Once circles are cut out roll them into an oval shape so they are easier to fill.

Fill then fold in half and press edges together as noted in photos above.

Filling:

(fills 24)

Here is a simple black bean and cheese filling I threw together.

Combine 2 cans black beans (drained and rinsed), 1 can fire roasted green chili's, 3/4 cup jack cheese and 1/4-1/2 cup queso fresco.

Once empanadas are filled I put them in the fridge for a few hours so they could set up prior to frying.

Heat large pot with 2 in of veg oil until very hot. Using tongs place empanadas in oil and fry until crispy and brown. Let drain on paper towels prior to serving.

{Review}

These were a hit at the party but I must say they do take a lot of time to make.

Husband (and party guest) approved

{Time}

3-4 hours

Birthday dinner course 3: Basil and lime granita

This recipe is based off one I found online from Martha Stewart. I changed it a bit from the original (read: took out the time consuming part) and think it turned out pretty tasty.


2 cups loosely packed fresh basil leaves
1 cup sugar
1 1/2 cups fresh honeydew juice (from 1 1/4 pounds honeydew) * see note
1/4 cup freshly squeezed lime juice
Zest from 1 lime
1/4 teaspoon coarse sea salt
Raspberries for garnish

*Note- I had no idea where to get honeydew juice so I just made it up as I went. I cut up half of a melon into chunks and liquefied it in the blender. Then I strained the juice into a bowl. It turned out perfect. Half the melon made about 2 cups juice.

Prepare an ice-water bath; set aside. Bring a medium saucepan of water to a boil. Add basil; cook until basil turns bright green, about 30 seconds. Using a slotted spoon, transfer to ice-water bath until cool, about 1 minute. Drain; pat dry.


Stir together sugar and 1 cup water in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring constantly, until sugar has dissolved. Add basil. Reduce heat; simmer 5 minutes. Remove pan from heat; let cool completely.


Puree the basil mixture in a blender, about 1 minute. Transfer to a large bowl. Stir in honeydew juice, lime juice, zest and salt.


Transfer to an 8-inch square nonreactive baking dish, and place in freezer. Rake with a fork every 30 - 45 minutes until mixture is completely frozen, about 3 hours.


Scoop into small bowls and garnish with raspberries.


{Review}
This is a very light dessert. Perfect compliment to a rich dinner.
This was my first time making a granita and found it very easy. Now im wondering what other types I can do.
I bet this recipe could be made into popsicles too. Yummy!
Husband approved


{Serve with}
A tasty dinner or have as a snack on a hot day.


{Time}
15 min prep time
3 hours in the freezer

Simple roast chicken

This is a recipe from famed Chef Robert Keller (Epicurious October 2004). Seriously, this is some of the most tasty, juicy chicken I have ever made.

The recipe calls for one chicken but I made two so I can get another meal out of it. Tomorrow night...chicken tacos!

Ingredients

One 2- to 3-pound farm-raised chicken
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 teaspoons minced thyme (optional)
Unsalted butter

Preparation

Preheat the oven to 450°F. Rinse the chicken, then dry it very well with paper towels, inside and out. The less it steams, the drier the heat, the better.


Salt and pepper the cavity, then truss the bird. Trussing is not difficult, and if you roast chicken often, it's a good technique to feel comfortable with. When you truss a bird, the wings and legs stay close to the body; the ends of the drumsticks cover the top of the breast and keep it from drying out. Trussing helps the chicken to cook evenly, and it also makes for a more beautiful roasted bird.


*Note: my trussing skills are not perfect but you can get an idea if what I did from the photo above.


Now, salt the chicken—I like to rain the salt over the bird so that it has a nice uniform coating that will result in a crisp, salty, flavorful skin (about 1 tablespoon). When it's cooked, you should still be able to make out the salt baked onto the crisp skin. Season to taste with pepper.


Place the chicken in a saute pan or roasting pan and, when the oven is up to temperature, put the chicken in the oven. I leave it alone—I don't baste it, I don't add butter; you can if you wish, but I feel this creates steam, which I don't want. Roast it until it's done (should reach 165 degrees), 50 to 60 minutes.


Remove it from the oven and add the thyme (optional) to the pan. Baste the chicken with the juices and thyme and let it rest for 15 minutes on a cutting board. Then Slice.


If you want to use the drippings for homemade gravy just whisk a tablespoon of flour into the pan. Scrape up all the juicy bits then transfer to a small saute pan. Bring to a boil, whisking constantly. Serve over sliced chicken.


{Review}
This is really good chicken and very easy. It takes some cook time but the prep is a snap.
Husband approved


{Serve with}
Sweet potato fries
Corn
Salad


{Time}
1 hour cook time. 5 min prep time

Strawberry ricotta muffins

WOW! These are seriously so good! You must try them.

The recipe is from here

Ingredients:
2 cups medium strawberries ** see note below
3/4 cup ricotta
2 large eggs
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
10 Tbsp. butter melted and cooled, divided
2/3 cup sugar
1 tsp. lime zest (or lemon)
2 cups flour
2 tsp.baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. baking soda

Sanding sugar (optional)

makes 12 muffins

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Gently wash, hull, and cut strawberries into quarters. Place berries on a cooling rack over a sheet pan. Bake until strawberries are partially dried, about 45 minutes. Let cool. (**note: I used a full 2 lbs of strawberries. My thoughts are..the more the better!)

Increase oven to 400 degrees. Brush a 12-mold muffin tin with 2 Tbsp. melted butter. Set aside.

In a bowl, whisk together ricotta, eggs, and vanilla. Stir in remaining butter.

In a large bowl, use your fingertips to rub together sugar and lime or lemon zest until sugar is moist. Mix in flour, baking powder, salt, and baking soda.

Use a spatula to gently but quickly fold ricotta mixture into dry ingredients. Don’t overwork it. The batter will be thick and heavy. Stir in strawberries and spoon batter evenly into muffin tins. Top with sanding sugar if desired. Bake until tops of muffins are golden and springy to the touch, about 20-25

What is sanding sugar you ask? Well, its that course type sugar that you see on top of sugar cookies. Its a great touch to the top of muffins. You can find it in any party supply or craft store in the baking/cake decorating section.

{Review}
Holy moly. I {heart} these muffins
I used lemon zest rather than lime. But, I imagine the lime is just as good
Beware: like the recipe says..when you mix the dry & wet ingredients together initially the dough will be really stiff. This worried me a bit but once I added berries it loosened up because of the extra moisture


{Serve with}
Coffee or tea? or nothing. They are that good.

{Time}
45 min to dry out berries and 20 min in oven

Its corned beef and cabbage day!!!!

Oh, I mean....Happy St Pattys Day!

I love corned beef and cabbage. What makes it even better is covering it in traditional mustard sauce. This recipe is from my husbands Mom (hope I don't get in trouble for posting it). Its just so good...I wanted to share the deliciousness.

Sauce for corned beef

2 teaspoons dry mustard

2 teaspoons sugar

1 egg

½ cup vinegar

½ cup of liquid in which corn beef was boiled (cooled)

Mix mustard and sugar together in small saucepan. Break egg into this mixture and stir well together. Then add vinegar and corned beef liquid. Simmer for a few minutes stirring well (do not boil or egg might curdle). Serve with hot corned beef.

For thicker sauce add a bit of cornstarch to the mustard powder and sugar mixture.

Sarah's sticky ribs

I LOVE ribs so I taught myself how to make them just the way I like to eat them...nice crust on outside, moist on inside and a little sweet with some spice. These are fall off the bone tasty (and messy..have napkins ready)

Ingredients:

For rub:

1 c brown sugar

1 tbs kosher salt

1 tbs black pepper

1 tsp cayenne pepper

For ribs:

1 slab of pork baby back ribs

BBQ sauce of choice (I love the Trader Joes Kansas City style)

Preheat oven to 400. Line baking pan with foil and spray with cooking spray (don't forget this part...if you don't line the pan you will be cursing at yourself later when its time to clean up)

Prior to putting rub on ribs you must remove thin membrane from bone side of ribs. This is the key to the best ribs ever. I learned it from some BBQ cook off on TV...hahaha. Starting at one end of ribs (bone side up) slide a butter knife just under the membrane. Its really thin, like tissue paper. Grasp it with a piece of paper towel and pull it off length of ribs.

If you need help here is a video. Warning: Its pretty cheezy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d_fqJcc4n_I

Combine rub ingredients in small bowl and mix well. Rub all over both sides of ribs.

Place ribs on lined baking sheet and place in 400 degree oven. Cook for 1 hour. Turn over ribs after 30min.

After 1st hour, turn heat down to 250 degrees and cook for 2 more hours. Flip over every hour.

Baste with BBQ sauce last 30 min on both sides.

Remove from oven and let stand for 10 min. Cut ribs between bones with sharp knife to separate.

{Review}

Awsome and husband approved

Very easy

{Serve with}

Sarah's mac n' cheese

Salad

{Time}

10 min prep time

3 hours cook time

Easy butternut squash soup

I found this recipe on Epicurious and adapted it a little. It turned out pretty good if I do say so myself.

{before}

{after}

Ingredients:
Nonstick vegetable oil spray
1- pound butternut squash (I used 2 8oz packages of diced butternut squash from Trader Joes) 2 cans low-salt chicken broth
1/2 cup heavy cream

1/2 onion (layers separated)
Nonfat sour cream (optional)
Chopped fresh chives (optional)

Preparation:
Preheat oven to 375°F. Spray 13x9x2-inch glass baking dish with vegetable oil spray. Place diced squash and onions in prepared dish. Drizzle with olive oil and season with S&P. Toss well to combine. Bake until tender, about 35 minutes.
Scrape squash and onions into large bowl. Add broth and puree until smooth (use blender or immersion blender). Transfer puree to heavy large saucepan. Mix in cream and enough broth to thin to desired consistency. Stir soup over medium heat until heated through. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Ladle soup into bowls. Top with dollop of sour cream and chives, if desired.

{review}

Very good and easy

Cant say its husband approved yet because hes not home tonight to eat it.

{Serve with}

garlic bread

{Time}

35 to 45 min

Baked Penne with Chicken and Sun-Dried Tomatoes

This recipe is from "Everyday Food Magazine" Pasta innovations issue

*Note: Recipe calls for provalone cheese. I didnt find it to have much flavor (it pretty much had none). If I made this again I would substitute with gouda and white chedder.

To cut out some fat I boiled the chicken for about 20min then sliced rather than pan frying as recipe calls for.

6 tablespoons butter, plus more for baking dishes
coarse salt and ground pepper
1 pound penne rigate
1 teaspoon olive oil
2 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves (8 ounces each), halved horizontally
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled)
4 garlic cloves, minced
6 cups whole milk
10 ounces white mushrooms, trimmed and thinly sliced
1/2 cup oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes, drained and thinly sliced
1 1/2 cups shredded provolone (6 ounces) *See note
1 cup finely grated Parmesan (4 ounces)



Directions
Preheat oven to 400. Butter two shallow 2-quart baking dishes. In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook pasta 3 minutes short of al dente; drain pasta, and return to pot.

In a large nonstick skillet, heat oil over medium-high. Season chicken with salt and pepper; cook until opaque throughout, 3 to 5 minutes per side. Halve each piece lengthwise, then thinly slice crosswise.

In a 5-quart Dutch oven or heavy pot, melt butter over medium. Add flour and garlic; cook, whisking, 1 minute. While whisking, gradually add milk; bring to a simmer, whisking frequently. Add mushrooms and tomatoes; cook 1 minute. Off heat, gradually stir in provolone and 1/2 cup Parmesan.

Add chicken and pasta to pot; season with salt and pepper. Divide pasta mixture between baking dishes; sprinkle each with cup Parmesan.

Bake, uncovered, until top is golden and bubbling, about 25 minutes. Let stand 5 minutes before serving.

Prepare through step 4; let cool. Cover tightly with foil, and freeze, up to 3 months.
Preheat oven to 400, and bake (still covered in foil) on a rimmed baking sheet until center is hot, about 1 1/2 hours. Remove foil; bake until golden, about 15 minutes more.

{Review}
This is easy to make
Recipe would have been better if cheese mixture had more flavor. See note above.


{Serve with}
Garlic bread
Salad

{Time}
About 30min prep and 20min in oven

Tortilla soup w/ mini quesidillas

I've made this tortilla soup a few times. I cant remember when the original recipe is from (maybe Gourmet??)

{image}
this is not actual image of soup but it looks pretty close.

Tortilla Strips

8 corn tortillas (6-inch), cut into 1/2-inch-wide strips
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
Kosher salt

Soup

2 chicken breasts (skin removed and well trimmed of excess fat)
6 cups low-sodium chicken broth
1 very large white onion (about 1 pound), trimmed of root end, quartered, and peeled
4 medium cloves garlic , peeled
2 sprigs fresh cilantro
Kosher salt
2 medium tomatoes , cored and quartered
1/2 medium jalapeño chile (seeds removed)
1 chipotle chile en adobo , plus up to 1 tablespoon adobo sauce
1 tablespoon vegetable oil

Garnishes

1 lime , cut into wedges
1Hass avocado , diced fine
8 ounces cotija cheese , crumbled, or Monterey Jack cheese, diced fine
Mexican crema or sour cream

1.FOR THE TORTILLA STRIPS:Adjust oven rack to middle position; heat oven to 425 degrees. Spread tortilla strips on rimmed baking sheet; drizzle with oil and toss until evenly coated. Bake until strips are deep golden brown and crisped, about 14 minutes, rotating pan and shaking strips (to redistribute) halfway through baking time. Season strips lightly with salt; transfer to plate lined with several layers paper towels.

2. FOR THE SOUP:While tortilla strips bake, bring chicken, broth, 2 onion quarters, 2 garlic cloves, cilantro, and 1/2 teaspoon salt to boil over medium-high heat in large saucepan; reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer until chicken is just cooked through, about 20 minutes. Using tongs, transfer chicken to large plate. Pour broth through fine-mesh strainer; discard solids in strainer. When cool enough to handle, shred chicken into bite-sized pieces.

3. Puree tomatoes, 2 remaining onion quarters, 2 remaining garlic cloves, jalapeño, chipotle chile, and 1 teaspoon adobo sauce in food processor until smooth. Heat oil in Dutch oven over high heat until shimmering; add tomato/onion puree and 1/8 teaspoon salt and cook, stirring frequently, until mixture has darkened in color, about 10 minutes. Stir strained broth into tomato mixture, bring to boil, then reduce heat to low and simmer to blend flavors, about 15 minutes. Taste soup; if desired, add up to 2 teaspoons additional adobo sauce. Add shredded chicken and simmer until heated through, about 5 minutes. To serve, place portions of tortilla strips in bottom of individual bowls and ladle soup into bowls; pass garnishes separately.

{Review}

This is a great soup but a little time consuming (although still easy)

Makes enough for leftovers

Husband approved

{Serve with}

Quesadillas (make them mini by using small corn tortillas)

{Time}

1 hour but its pretty easy