Saturday, November 29, 2014

Lemon Meringue Pie

It is Thanksgiving Eve, and as I began making my pies, I realized that I couldn't find my staple lemon meringue pie recipe, (my all time favorite pie...next to rhubarb) and that it wasn't on my blog.
So I frantically went to my cookbook cupboard and looked through everything -without avail.
To my catch all recipe drawer, nada.
Then my sister called and as we chatted, I began leafing through other cookbooks hoping to find something that would work in a pinch.  Finally, out of the corner of my eye, I spied the hot pink cover, with the black plastic binding roll.  Grandma H's cookbook.  Under my pasta maker and bucket of spools of thread.  Of course!
Grandma had 7 children, who in turn also had very large families, and every Sunday, we'd head to grandma's house for family dinner, and many fond family memories have come from food around grandma's table.  Later in her life, grandma became a caterer.
During the week leading up to Thanksgiving, grandma's garage would begin to fill with pies (a second refrigerator/freezer in the cold mountains). Her meringue tips always crested, and drops of sugar dew taunted me as I anxiously awaited grandma's lemon meringue pie.
My Thanksgiving just isn't complete without this pie

Sift and set aside
1.5 cups sugar
1/4 cup cornstarch
1/4 cup flour (sifted)
1/4 tsp salt

2 cups boiling water
3 eggs - separated (save whites for meringue)
1.5 tsp grated lemon zest (rind)
6 Tablespoons lemon juice

Separate eggs and place well beaten yolks into a medium sized saucepan.
Beat in dry mixture of sugar, cornstarch, flour, and salt.
Add lemon juice, lemon zest, and boiling water and cook over medium heat in a medium saucepan, stirring constantly, until it begins to boil and thickens.

Pour into a baked pie shell and allow to cool.

Meringue
Beat egg whites until stiff, but not dry.
Add 1/4 tsp cream of tartar and slowly add 6 Tablespoons powdered sugar, adding one tablespoon at a time.
Whip thoroughly.

Spread over cooled lemon filling, taking care that meringue seals all of the edges of the crust.
Bake at 325* for 20 minutes.

Cool before serving, and keep refrigerated.


Blueberry Meringue Pie

Our friend Ruthann has MS, and is in a nursing home.  Each Thanksgiving, she requests that we bring her some of this pie, that she remembers from her past.

This year, I experimented a bit, and came up with this no bake version.

4 cups blueberries
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup corn starch
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon butter
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 baked pie crust

Pour 2 cups of blueberries into the bottom of the baked pie crust.

In a medium pan, mix sugar and cornstarch and salt with wire whisk.
Add milk, and heat over medium heat.  Once the mixture is combined, whisk in lemon juice.
Add blueberries and cinnamon.

Cook stirring constantly, until mixture begins to boil and thicken.
Use a bean smasher, potato masher, or bottom of a glass, and smash berries.

Add butter and vanilla.
Pour over blueberries in pie shell and allow to cool.

Top with meringue.

Beat 2-3 egg whites until stiff.  Add 1/4 tsp. cream of tartar and 6 tablespoons of powdered sugar, adding 1 tablespoon at a time.  Whip thoroughly.
Gently spread over blueberry filling, sealing edges.
Bake at 325* for 20 minutes.

Allow to cool prior to serving.

Thursday, November 13, 2014

Easiest Ever Garlic and Rosemary Pork Roast

Here it is - the easiest, and amazingly tastiest pork roast ever. 
Make with your slow cooker or crock pot, a pork roast and two other ingredients. 
Fresh rosemary, and fresh garlic. 
6- 8 hours. 
The end. 

Okay - here are the explicit instructions:

1 pork roast - size doesn't really matter.  I actually usually start with a frozen roast, yes, as in a chunk of ice...plunk, it goes into the pot. (I use a meat rack at the bottom of my slow cooker though.)

Spread 4-5 (for a 2.5 lb roast) sprigs or branches of fresh rosemary over the roast.

Peel 4-5 large garlic cloves, crush them (place a wide knife/spatula/cutting board over them, and bring your hand down hard on top to smash them) and place on top of the roast, using the rosemary to keep them in place.

Salt and pepper if desired.

Cook for 6-8 hours, until meat is tender and falls apart.
Easiest Ever...Tasty as can be...And my kids love it.