Key Lime Pie

This past week we received a bunch of key limes in our "bountiful basket". I knew exactly what I wanted to make with them, Key lime pie. I don't think I had ever tasted one before. This was delicious and so simple. I actually just bought a graham cracker crust for the sake of time. (If you do purchase a crust omit the first baking, just add the filling.) We got together with the neighbors for dinner and it was a hit! I found the recipe at Two Peas and their Pod, who adapted it from Epicurious.

Key Lime Pie

For the crust:

1 1/4 c graham cracker crumbs

3 TBS sugar

5 TBS butter melted

For the filling:

1 (14-ounce) can sweetened condensed milk

4 large egg yolks

Zest of 1 large lime

1/2 c lime juice

1.Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In a medium bowl, stir together the graham cracker crumbs, sugar, and melted butter with a fork. Mix until graham cracker crumbs are moist. Press Mixture into a 9 inch pie plate or dish. Pat down the bottom and sides. Bake for 12 min. or until golden brown.

2. While the crust is baking prepare filling. In a medium bowl, whisk together the sweetened condensed milk and egg yolks. Whisk until well combined. Add in the lime zest, and lime juice. Whisk well. Set mixture aside. It will thicken up as it sits.

3. When the pie crust has cooled to slightly warm or room temperature, pour the lime filling over the pie crust. Bake for 15-17 mints. Remove from oven and cool on cooling rack. When cool, chill the pie in the refrigerator. The filling will set up as it cools. Chill for at least one hour before serving.

4. Serve cold.

Sausage & Potato Pasta

My brother C.J. lived in Italy for 2 years and came home with some great recipes. I couldn't find my original instructions (which were vague), so after a brief conversation with my sister this is what I came up with. So there are some variations to how C.J. would make it. I added some onion. This is a very filling meal!

Sausage & Potato Pasta

1 lbs ground pork sausage

2-3 russet potatoes, peeled and diced

1/2 tsp rosemary

1 lbs favorite pasta

olive oil

2 c cream

1/4 of an onion, diced

salt

pepper

In a large frying pan combine the sausage and the onion and cook till meat is browned and cooked through. Remove the onion and sausage mixture to a bowl and set aside. Add the potatoes to the pan and cook them in the sausage grease. If needed add some olive oil. Sprinkle the potatoes with rosemary, and season with salt and pepper. Cook the potatoes till they are tender to a fork. Add the meat and onions to the potatoes in the pan, and add the cream. Stir till well combined. Let simmer (while pasta is cooking) stirring occasionally. Check your seasonings you may want to add more rosemary and salt and pepper.

Cook your pasta and serve with the sauce.

Lemon Meringue Pie

This recipe is found in "Grandma's Gracious Goodness", my mother's recipe book so is available to all the family. The reason for the post is that I have a husband that doesn't cook much but loves pies. When I finally got tired of granting his frequent requests for pies, (I am not much for pie), he decided to make his own and started with apple and then moved to lemon. Problem for me is that lemon pie is the only kind that I truly love and I ate more than my share. Well, he now claims the title of king of the lemon pie in our home and he has made some delicious ones that I have enjoyed very much. So, here is the recipe.

Grandma's Lemon Pie

1/2 C sugar
4-5 TBS cornstarch
1/4 tsp salt
1/1/2 C water
3 egg yolks (or 2 eggs if you are not making meringue)
1/2 C sugar
2 TBS butter
1/3 C lemon juice
grated rind of 1 lemon
3 egg whites
6 TBS sugar

Combine 1/2 C sugar, cornstarch and salt in double boiler. Gradually blend in water. Cook over boiling water, stirring constantly until thickened. Cover, cook 10 minutes longer, stirring occasionally. Beat together egg yolks and 1/2 C sugar. Blend a little hot mixture into egg yolks mixture, then stir all into mixture in double boiler. Cook 2 minutes stirring constantly. Remove from heat, add butter, lemon juice and rind. Cool. Pour into baked 9 inch pie shell. Top with sweetened whipped cream if not making meringue.
Meringue:
Beat 3 egg whites until foamy. Add the 6 TBS sugar, 1 TBSP at a time, beating well after each addition. Continue beating until stiff peaks form when beater is raised. Spread meringue over top of pie, making sure that it touches crust all around. Bake until lightly browned, 15 to 20 minutes, in a 350 degree oven. Cool at room temperature away from drafts.

Naan Bread

After talking with son, C.J., about Turkish breads and other foods that he enjoys, I got on line and found this recipe for Naan bread. It was posted by Lola Mansurov and she also had recipes for some of the other dishes that C.J. mentioned. I will be trying those dishes in the near future.
This is a flat bread that is baked on a pizza stone although it can be done on baking sheets. I did mine on a pizza stone and by the time I finished I had gotten better at shaping the bread. I had to throw the first try away as it was such a mess. This is time consuming as you bake each piece separately (on a baking sheet you can do two) but I thought it fun and we liked the results.

Nann Bread

2 C warm water
1 C warm milk
1 TBS yeast
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp sugar
1 egg
2 TBS oil
4 1/2 C flour
sesame seeds (optional)
butter (optional)

Mix together the first six ingredients plus 1 TBS of the oil. Mix well. Add flour and quickly mix into a dough. It should be a soft dough and relatively sticky. If it is too sticky, rub oil onto your hands to knead in bowl till smooth . (I had to add more flour as it was a rainy day with lots of moisture in the air). Rub remaining oil over dough and cover. Place dough in a warm place to rise till double, about 40 minutes.

Preheat oven to 500 degrees. If using a pizza stone, place it on center rack of oven while heating. Turn dough onto lightly floured surface and divide into tennis ball size pieces. Flour fingers and work quickly to keep dough from sticking. Let dough balls rest 10 minutes.

When dough is rested, work one ball at a time on a floured surface, pressing it to a 6-7 inch circle. Gently pick it up and toss it from left palm to right palm several times. This creates a triangular or oval shape. If you wish you can spread the dough with butter and sprinkle with sesame seeds. (I used spray butter and the seeds). Open oven and gently place dough on pizza stone. (I put the dough on my pizza paddle and slid it onto stone). Bake for about 3-5 minutes (It took mine 5-6 min.) and take out when the top has golden brown spots. Use wooden spatula or pizza paddle to remove from the oven. Continue with remining dough balls.

If you are using a baking sheet instead of a stone, you can fit two pieces on and it will take a bit longer to bake.

Peach & Raspberry Crumble

This is another Giadda De Laurentiis recipe with a few change ups. She used strawberries, which I'm sure is delicious too.

Peach & Raspberry Crumble

2 TBS fresh lemon juice (about 1/2 large lemon)

1 1/2 TBS arrowroot flour (I used corn starch)

2 cups raspberries (I used frozen) (or 1 lbs strawberries, halved)

1 1/2 lbs yellow or white peaches, peeled, pitted and sliced (I used white)

1/2 c light brown sugar

Topping:

2/3 c flour

2/3 c oats

1/2 c sliced almonds

1/4 c light brown sugar

1 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 c butter chilled, cut into 1/2-inch cubes

Butter an 8x8 glass baking dish. Set aside.

For the filling: In a medium bowl, whisk together the lemon juice and arrowroot until smooth. Add the berries, peaches and brown sugar. Gently toss until the fruit is coated. Pour the fruit mixture into the prepared pan.

For the topping: In the bowl of a food processor, combine the flour, oats, almonds, Brown sugar, cinnamon, and salt. Pulse until mixed. Add the butter. Pulse until the butter is the size of peas. Sprinkle the mixture over the filling and bake for 40 to 45 min. until the filling is bubbling and the top is light golden. Serve with whipped cream or ice cream.

Honey-Peanut Butter Cookies

These are the cookies to make if you like sweet things. They are just a bit too sweet for me but everyone else seemed to enjoy them. They came from Taste of Home, submitted by Lucile Proctor. The main change I made in them is to add chocolate chips. Nothing like a bit of chocolate to put temptation in your way.

Honey-Peanut Butter Cookies

1/2 C shortening
1 C creamy peanut butter
1 C honey
2 eggs, lightly beaten
3 C flour
1 C sugar
1-1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
Chocolate chips, (optional)

In a mixing bowl, combine shortening, peanut butter and honey. Add eggs and mix well. Combine dry ingredients and add to peanut butter mixture, mixing well. Roll into 1 to 1-1/2 inch balls and place on ungreased baking sheets. Flatten with a fork dipped in flour. Bake at 350 degrees for 8-10 minutes. Makes about 5 dozen.

Brussels Sprouts with Pancetta

Some of you are probably familiar with "Bountiful Baskets". We tried it out this week. What it is, is you pay your $15 and you get a variety of fruits and veggies. This week Brussels sprouts was one of the things we got. I have to be honest I had never eaten one, let alone tried cooking one. I'm determined to not waste anything we received, so this will be a week full of trying new things! I adapted the recipe from Giada De Laurentiis on Food Network.

My husband and I enjoyed them. The little boys at first said they liked them, due to the novelty but by the end of dinner it was a "have to eat item" which they did finish what was on their plates. :)

Brussels Sprouts with Pancetta (bacon)
1 lbs fresh Brussels sprouts, trimmed
2 TBS olive oil
3 ounces paper-thin slices pancetta, coarsely chopped (I used bacon)
2 garlic cloves, minced
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
3/4 c low-salt chicken broth
1/8 c Roasted Pine nuts (optional-I enjoyed this addition)

Partially cook the Brussels sprouts in a large pot of boiling salted water, about 4 min. Drain.
Meanwhile, heat the oil in a heavy large skillet over medium heat. Add the pancetta (or bacon) and saute until beginning to crisp, about 3 min. Add the garlic and saute until pale golden, about 2 min. Add the Brussels sprouts to the same skillet and saute until heated through and beginning to brown, about 5 min. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Add the broth and simmer until the broth reduces just enough to coat the Brussels sprouts, about 3 min. Add the pine nuts if desired at the end, long enough to warm through.
-I added additional time to the boiling of the Brussels sprouts and the simmering at the end because mine looked on the big side and I also cut them in half after the initial boiling.

Lemon Bars

I have been wanting to make these for weeks. They bring back childhood memories. (We didn't have them often.) I looked at a few different recipes and they were all basically the same, so I combined and omitted what I wanted and this is what I came up with. Enjoy!

Crust:

1 C butter, softened

1/2 c powdered sugar

2 c flour

For the crust mix the above ingredients in a bowl, then press into a 9x13 pan. Bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes, until lightly browned.

Filling:

4 eggs, beaten

4 TBS flour

2 c granulated sugar

2 lemons, juice and zest

pinch of salt

1 tsp baking powder

Mix the filling ingredients together then pour over slightly cooled crust. Bake again for 20-25 min at 350. They may seem a little bit runny but they will firm up as it cools. I store mine in the fridge and eat them chilled.

Tortillas

Being tomorrow is Cinco de Mayo I have the perfect recipe for you to try. I got this tortilla recipe from a friend (Vonie, who I believe got it from one of the local Hispanic ladies). Every time I make these I think -how easy and delicious, why don't I make these more often! I'll post a picture with in the week. I usually cut the recipe in half for my family. Enjoy!

Tortillas
4 c flour
2 tsp salt
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 c shortening
Mix the above ingredients together like a pie crust. Add 2 cups warm/hot water. Roll into 24 balls. Roll out thin and cook on non-greased skillet.

Meatballs in Dill Cream Sauce

The original recipe came to me from a beef mini-cookbook that was sent from Taste of Home and was submitted by Mildred Sherrer from Texas. I have tweaked the ingredients for the meatballs to suit my own taste but the sauce is as the original. I rarely have ground pork,(original recipe called for half beef and half pork) so have substituted just ground beef for the meat portion and added the milk and the egg. I like that the meatballs are cooked in the oven instead of frying.

16 oz. ground beef
1 small onion, finely chopped
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground pepper
1/4 tsp dried thyme
1/4 tsp dried marjoram
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1-1/2 C fresh bread crumbs
1/2 C milk
1 egg

Sauce 2 TBS butter or margarine
2 TBS flour
1-1/2 C beef broth
2 TBS snipped fresh dill or 1 tsp dill weed
1/2 C half-and-half cream

Cooked buttered wide egg noodles, optional (would be good served on mashed potatoes as well)

Combine the first 10 ingredients and shape into 1-1/4 in balls. Place on a rack over a baking pan and bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes. Meanwhile, for sauce, melt butter in a large skillet. Blend in flour and cook stirring constantly for 2-3 minutes. Add broth, stirring until thickened, about 3-4 minutes. Stir in dill and meatballs. Reduce heat to low and simmer 15 minutes. Pour in cream and continue stirring until thick and smooth. Serve over noodles or potatoes or use as an appetizer with wooden picks. Yields 6 main-dish servings.

I used my cookie scoop to make the meatballs and it made 42.