Nigella Lawson's Mini Key Lime Pie Tarts

I swear the plague has hit my humble abode. I started feeling a little funny a few days ago. Well- it came full force and not until tonight did I feel well enough to even leave a horizontal position. But I’m slightly getting better. In fact, I felt so well today that I decided to return all of the 7 Project Runway DVD’s back to the library and make Nigella Lawson’s Mini Key Lime Pie Tarts. Those two things were quite adventurous for not leaving the house in 2 days.

I slightly adjusted her recipe. I didn’t have key limes, so I just used the limes I purchased at my local public market. I like my key lime TANGY so I added a ½ lime extra for the juice portion in the recipe. I also added the zest to the “batter” as well as on the tops of each individual tart. I thought it was a good mix of tart and sweet. I think these might be the cure I was looking for. Thanks Nigella!

Recipe Follows:

Nigella's Mini Key Lime Pies

1/2 cup unsalted butter
9 ounces graham crackers
2 large eggs -- separated
(7-ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
2 limes -- zested and juiced
pinch salt

Preheat oven to 325.

Melt the butter in a pan . Put the graham crackers, broken up roughly, in the processor, and blitz. Still processing, add the melted butter down the funnel and turn this wet sand onto a plate or into a bowl. Put a heaped teaspoonful of the biscuit base into each mini-muffin cup, press it around the edges and up the sides of the cup with your fingers, and let it harden in the refrigerator.
Beat the egg yolks until thick-I use an electric mixer for this- then add, still beating, the condensed milk and lime juice. If you;re making these the day before they're needed, keep the lime zest in an airtight bag.
In a separate bowl, whisk the egg whites with the salt until soft peaks form and gently fold into the yolk mixture. Using a dessert spoon ( and a teaspoon for scraping), fill the cracker-crusted mini-muffin pans. Transfer to the oven and cook for 10 minutes. Remove, let cool in the pans, then refrigerate for a day.
Turn out the mini key lime pies: turn the pan upside down and gently tap on the bottom until the pies fall out. If they're well chilled this works fine. Using a very fine grater, dust with the lime zest.

Meyer Lemon Pie

Yesterday was my birthday. 24 on the 24th. That's the first and last time that will happen. I'm not impressed by birthday's anymore. Actually I dread them. This one turned out to be pretty stressful, trying to stretch myself between different events with different people. I'm only one person people! What I prefer on a birthday is a nice dinner. In or out i'm not picky oOooo and Fondue! And that's just what we had yesterday, a nice dinner out and fondue in. It was a dream...

I went to visit family today and wanted to add to the dessert presentation, so I did some researching, looked at what I have a lot of and made a.....Meyer Lemon Pie.

Meyer lemons are crazy things! They taste like a cross between an orange and a lemon. They're even orange tinged,making them easy to identify. I thought that this pie would need less sugar next time, considering the lemons are so well, not sour. The only adjustment I made was to add another Meyer. I wanted it chock full. The pie turned out to be more of a curd. And I used a pie dough recipe that included a TON of butter. I wouldn't use that again, it definitely wasn't flaky or delicious. But, to everyone else it was quite the crowd pleaser. Isn't that great when others only see the good, while all you can think is, "i should've added that later on, this needs more____," Nonetheless, I was so pleased that my family enjoyed it-just wish I got better pics of the final product.

Recipe to follow:

Shaker Lemon Pie

Adapted by Smitten Kitchen

Makes one 9-inch pie

2 large lemons, preferably Meyers
2 cups sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
4 eggs
4 tablespons butter, melted
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1 egg white
Coarse sugar, for sprinkling

Dough for one double-crust pie [See recipes here and here.]

Thoroughly wash lemons, then dry with paper towel. Finely grate lemon zest into a bowl. Using a mandoline, slice lemons as paper thin as you can get them; remove and discard seeds. Add slices to zest and toss with sugar and salt. Cover and set aside at room temperature for 24 hours.

Preheat the oven to 425°F. Roll out half the dough 1/8 inch thick on a lightly floured surface, fit it into a 9-inch (1-quart) pie plate, and trim the edge, leaving a 1/2-inch overhang.

Mix the macerated lemon-sugar mixture with eggs, melted butter and flour until combined well. Pour in to prepared pie shell.

Roll out the remaining dough into a 12-inch round on a lightly floured surface, drape it over the filling, and trim it, leaving a 1-inch overhang. Fold the overhang under the bottom crust, pressing the edge to seal it, and crimp the edge decoratively. Beat one egg white until frothy and brush over pie crust, then sprinkle with coarse sugar. Cut slits in the crust with a sharp knife, forming steam vents, and bake the pie in the middle of the oven for 25 minutes. Reduce the temperature to 350°F. and bake the pie for 20 to 25 minutes more, or until the crust is golden. Let the pie cool on a rack and serve it warm at room temperature.

Middle Eastern Orange Cake

Yesterday I had the wonderful opportunity to visit with my grandfather. I always cherish our talks together. His father was born in Syria and I love hearing about the memories of his grandmother's authentic Syrian cooking. It makes me proud to be a part of that heritage. I was also looking around my place today noticing the ABUNDANCE of oranges. I came across a Middle Eastern Orange Cake in one of my unused cookbooks. I feel a little lame, I'm sure I could've found an authentic Middle Eastern orange cake from my grandmother, but until I find a copy, this will suffice. I loved the rich nuttiness of the cake, I was just wishing for some cardamom or spice or some sort. The recipe recommended serving it with whip-cream or creme fraiche, but I enjoyed it plain (with a little confectioner's sugar on top)

Yeah...I don't recommend going this route, but I didn't have any de-shelled. Oy

Recipe came from...

By Valerie Barrett