Tradition is Over-rated
Who needs pumpkin pie? Well.. I do but that's only half of my Thanksgiving pie needs covered. What I need is...
Yeah, so my mother is a Key West native, I lived there for awhile myself so of course I have taken up the tradition of making the hotly contested pie.
Seriously, the fights over this pie are insane. It would all be simple if you just did it right from the get go. None of this food coloring, use any old limes, substituting whipped cream for merenge bullshit. And who needs lime garnish?
Let's try a real recipe!
First, use fresh Key Limes and only Key Limes. If fresh are unavailable, Nellie and Joe's has a bottled version you can buy. It's what I use up here in the North where people have never once laid eyed on a yellow lime before.
So, we have 1/2 cup of juice. Now we need 3 egg yolks. Save the whites for later. Now add 14 oz of sweetened condensed milk. Mix this all and pour into a graham cracker crust.
Science fact: The pie is already cooking! The acid of the limes is already cooking those eggs! Cool huh?
Now we take those 3 egg whites from before and with a mixer (electric, doing this by hand is possible but suicide quickly follows) go ahead and start beating those on a medium speed, getting them frothy as you very slowly add 1/2 cup sugar. A tip: Use a metal bowl if you have it, for some reason it works better than a glass or plastic bowl.
See the sweet merenge balance out the tart there? Yeah, this is why you NEVER USE WHIPPED CREAM!
Alright, it should start to get thick and stiffen up. If you can make peaks out of it or hold the bowl upside-down and it doesn't move, you did it right. Be careful not to overmix, though I don't see how you could..
Go ahead and dump that stuff on the pie filling and use a spatula to.. well, there's no other way I could put this.. sort of spank the merenge and form little peaks with it.
Now off to the oven. 350 degrees does it! Now, you can use a timer but I find that watching it is easier. You want the peaks to just start turning brown. Too much time in there and the merenge gets crunchy.
Yay! Now let it cool for about 30 minutes before you pop it in the fridge to cool down fully and have the filling firm up.
Now, you notice one thing about this? There is no green color to the pie. Yes it uses limes, but Key Limes are yellow when ripe. It's a tart filling and the merenge is used to balance the tart with sweet. Also, when you make one pie, it should only take you about 20 minutes. So it's a fairly easy pie as far as ingredients but I warn you now, the merenge is a bitch. I've had times where it NEVER firmed up. Once you get the hang of it though, go to town, this is one awesome dessert!
Yeah, so my mother is a Key West native, I lived there for awhile myself so of course I have taken up the tradition of making the hotly contested pie.
Seriously, the fights over this pie are insane. It would all be simple if you just did it right from the get go. None of this food coloring, use any old limes, substituting whipped cream for merenge bullshit. And who needs lime garnish?
Let's try a real recipe!
First, use fresh Key Limes and only Key Limes. If fresh are unavailable, Nellie and Joe's has a bottled version you can buy. It's what I use up here in the North where people have never once laid eyed on a yellow lime before.
So, we have 1/2 cup of juice. Now we need 3 egg yolks. Save the whites for later. Now add 14 oz of sweetened condensed milk. Mix this all and pour into a graham cracker crust.
Science fact: The pie is already cooking! The acid of the limes is already cooking those eggs! Cool huh?
Now we take those 3 egg whites from before and with a mixer (electric, doing this by hand is possible but suicide quickly follows) go ahead and start beating those on a medium speed, getting them frothy as you very slowly add 1/2 cup sugar. A tip: Use a metal bowl if you have it, for some reason it works better than a glass or plastic bowl.
See the sweet merenge balance out the tart there? Yeah, this is why you NEVER USE WHIPPED CREAM!
Alright, it should start to get thick and stiffen up. If you can make peaks out of it or hold the bowl upside-down and it doesn't move, you did it right. Be careful not to overmix, though I don't see how you could..
Go ahead and dump that stuff on the pie filling and use a spatula to.. well, there's no other way I could put this.. sort of spank the merenge and form little peaks with it.
Now off to the oven. 350 degrees does it! Now, you can use a timer but I find that watching it is easier. You want the peaks to just start turning brown. Too much time in there and the merenge gets crunchy.
Yay! Now let it cool for about 30 minutes before you pop it in the fridge to cool down fully and have the filling firm up.
Now, you notice one thing about this? There is no green color to the pie. Yes it uses limes, but Key Limes are yellow when ripe. It's a tart filling and the merenge is used to balance the tart with sweet. Also, when you make one pie, it should only take you about 20 minutes. So it's a fairly easy pie as far as ingredients but I warn you now, the merenge is a bitch. I've had times where it NEVER firmed up. Once you get the hang of it though, go to town, this is one awesome dessert!