Marvelous Meringue!

Let me tell you something my friends, there is nothing like wrapping up a family meal with a nice slice of homemade pie to really cap off the gathering. Rarely do we save room for dessert when dinning out, but when it come to the holidays, there always seems to be one more button we can loosen just to get that little slice of heaven in. This holiday season, I final had the opportunity to work with my future mother-in-law, Patti Harris to learn her secrets to a making a fantastic and oh so flakey pie crust.


As I am sure you can imagine, I was a little hesitant, coming from a background of baking with substitutions to make things healthier, when she pulled out the white sugar and Crisco! Oh ya, Crisco. But, I was dying to know how she does it when she makes her delicious lemon meringue pie (An absolute must have if my "soon-to-be" father-in-law, Bob Harris is around. Throughout my culinary journey I have learned that there is just no substitution for good old fashioned sugar and butter, or shortening in this case. Funny because the next day I spoke with my Uncle Paul in Ireland who relayed to me that the real secret to amazing pie is lard! I know he speaks the truth since I come from a Hispanic heritage were my grandmother made the most amazing baked goods, all with the help from her can of lard.

Now, if you air on the healthier side like me, do not be put off by all this. It is once a year we get to indulge (maybe a few other times too), so don't worry about it. Life is way too short to flip out about the small stuff and miss out on these amazing treats (I just need to practice what I preach right there).

Check this out--->

The Crust
(Makes 2 bottom crusts for 9' pie dishes or a top and bottom)
-2 cups flour
-1 tsp salt
-2/3 cup shortening
-5 to 7 tbs cold water or 1/4 cup

It was fantastic to see Patti work with the ingredients as I was always told that baking is about exact measurements, and cooking is about pinches and dashes of this and that. She seemed to work a little more on the side of pinches and dashes or all the years of making great pies has just made her a hot shot with eye-balling the measurements (Deffinatly the later).

-Mix together the flour and salt
-Add the shortening and use a pie dough cutter to mash/cut it all in together to form a dough.
-Add the cold water at the end.
-Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead it into a 2 even balls.
-Take a rolling pin and roll the dough out into flat circles large enough to overlap the edges of the pie plate.
-Fold the dough over and move it onto the pie plate.
-Pat the dough down into the plate and trim the edges up.
-Use extra dough to fill any rips in the dough and assist in making a decorative boarder around the crust.
-Take a fork and fork the dough around the bottom and sides.
-Place in a preheated oven at 350 (F) until lightly golden and smelling wonderful.

(Note: this crust does not have to be prebaked if you are doing a pumpkin pie filling)

Filling
-3 cups cold water
-2 cups sugar
-1/2 cup corn starch
-1/4 tsp. salt
-12 large egg yolks
-1 cup lemon juice
-4 tbs. unsalted butter

-Combine water, sugar, cornstarch, and salt in a sauce pan over medium heat and bring to a boil while whisking constantly. When the mixture turns translucent, add a little of the mixture to the egg yolks to temper them (adding the all in at once without tempering them will give you scrambled eggs because of the heat), then slowly add the yolks to the main mixture and whisk constantly.

-Bring the mixture back to a boil and remove from heat. You need to keep whisking the mixture the whole time so it does not burn.

-Add the lemon juice and butter and whisk together until well melted and incorporated.

-Fill the two prepared pie crusts and top with the meringue (Follows)

Meringue
-8 large egg whites (Used from the separated eggs)
-1 tsp. vanilla
-1 cup granulated sugar
-1/2 tsp. cream of tartar (tartaric acid to help the eggs achieve a higher volume since there is no unlined copper mixing bowls around)

-In an electric stand mixer, whisk the egg whites until they begin to turn pale. Add the cream of tartar and beat them until they begin to rise in volume.
-Once the egg whites have doubled in volume, slowly add the sugar a little at a time to incorporate it well.

(Note: 1 egg white should give you 1 cup of meringue as you increase its volume and beat air into it)

-The mixture should now hold beautiful and gloss stiff peaks.

-Top the filled pies with the meringue and slap a little at the top with an icing spreader to get those signature meringue peaks.

-Bake the pies for about 20 minutes at 325 (F) or until the meringue is golden brown.

-Allow the pies to cool to room temperature before serving.

This recipe has truly given me a renewed interest and love for lemon meringue pie. That interest was originally killed years ago when my little sister, Rachel, gave the whole family a mild case of food poisoning, or at least made us all incredibly sick with some sort of lemon like dessert.

This was such an easy thing to make and I promise it will be a hit at your next gathering of family or friends.

Thanks for reading and wishing you Seasons greetings,
Bon Appétit!