Key Lime Pie with Marshmallow Meringue

This is another recipe I bookmarked during early quarantine and finally got the ingredients to make. I was underwhelmed by all the key lime pies I tried in Florida a couple of years ago (ahhh, remember when we could ride planes to go on vacation?) and wanted to see if I could make it better at home.

Notes:

• My filling ended up more brown than most key lime pies I've seen or consumed, and darker than the recipe author's photos. Most recipes have you whip the filling with a hand mixer (a process which aerates it and tends to lighten the color) but this one does not. My sweetened condensed milk may have also been the cause -- it was past its best-by date (but tasted and smelled normal).
• I put an extra egg yolk in the filling (one of the yolks broke during separation). It does not appear that this significantly affected it, except maybe to make it more silky.
• I used the lime zest but not the green food coloring because I don't like the bluish tone of most green food colors (it doesn't match the shade of green that lime is!) plus it was already pretty brown and I didn't want to risk making the color look even weirder.
• Since I don't have a kitchen torch, I used the broiler set to high and put the pie on the second highest rack to toast the meringue. The recipe author is not kidding -- it browns FAST. Mine was very slightly burned after 30 seconds so I'd recommend about 20-25 seconds. Watch it very carefully.
• The meringue wept a LOT once I put it in the refrigerator. The liquid soaked the graham cracker crust and made it hard to get out of the pie plate.
• I ate the pie at room temperature and cold from the fridge, and this pie is decidedly better cold from the fridge. It tastes a little too bitter at room temperature.

Verdict: It's not quite what I was hoping for but it was definitely edible. I'd try it again but I would whip the filling with a hand mixer, and maybe put less sugar in the meringue because I think that's what made it so weepy. My search for a really delicious key lime pie continues, and next time I think I'll try the more traditional whipped cream topping instead of meringue.

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RECIPE: Key Lime Pie with Marshmallow Meringue (Jess Pryles)

Miso and Black Sesame Caramel Popcorn

This recipe entered my social media orbit earlier this spring and I just had to try it. Salty and sweet? Sign me up.

Verdict: It was OK. The fact that I only had miso with dashi (fish broth) in it made it taste kind of odd, but in general everything else was great. I will likely try again when I have miso without dashi in it.

 

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RECIPE: Miso Black Sesame Caramel Corn (Smitten Kitchen)

Whipped Coffee (Dalgona Coffee)

A friend of mine introduced me to whipped coffee, and it looked intriguing enough that I had to try it for myself. I found that this drink originated in South Korea, and having recently fallen down a rabbit hole of Korean street food videos this made me extra excited.

before whipping

I am still trying to find an answer for what makes it work scientifically. So far, the best explanation I have found is that the instant coffee has less oil in it than regular ground coffee, and this lack of oil allows it to whip into this fluffy voluminous texture.

after whipping

Notes:

• I used instant espresso instead of regular instant coffee because I liked the taste better and the granules are smaller, allowing for quicker dissolving.
• I mixed 1% milk + half-and-half to get something resembling whole milk, but you can use any type of milk you like to drink.
• I used a hand mixer like this recipe calls for, but used both beaters in a metal bowl because only putting one beater on it seems really weird to me.
• It says the vanilla is optional but I added it because I like the flavor.
• It whipped up much faster than the recipe said it would, maybe 2-3 minutes at most. I'm not sure if it's like meringue where if you over-whip it, it collapses? I didn't want to find out.

Verdict: It's a little hard to drink unless you have something to mix it with, so I kept a dessert spoon handy. The texture of the whipped part is really pleasant. I have made it twice so far and will keep it around for whenever fancy coffee mood strikes.

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RECIPE: Whipped Coffee (Leah Maroney, The Spruce Eats)

Stuck-Pot Rice with Lentils

I had this recipe from Smitten Kitchen saved for quite a while. Now that people seem to be freaking out a little less about hoarding dry beans during the pandemic, we were finally able to find lentils at the grocery store so I could try making this. I served it with yogurt marinated chicken.

This is the first time I've tried to cook a tahdig type rice dish, and I was worried that it would be undercooked when I flipped it onto the serving plate, but it worked! I'm so pleased with how it turned out, and it tasted wonderful too. I would absolutely make this again. Below it is pictured with a garlic lemon yogurt that I thought made it taste especially good (using a scaled down version of this recipe: 1/3 cup yogurt, 1 clove smashed and chopped fresh garlic, 1 tbsp fresh lemon juice).

 

Notes:

• I had a shallot lying around and cooked that with the onions.
• I added ~ 2 tbsp butter to the pot when it was time to slowly fry the rice and I think it helped to both keep it from sticking and add a bit of extra color.
• I added 1/4 tsp turmeric to a batch once and it made the rice a pleasant yellow color.
  
• Note to self: I set the burner to 4 ticks on the back burner with 2 parts, and the bottom rice part was ever so slightly burned in the middle after 35 minutes. Either 4 ticks for less time or 2 ticks for 35 minutes on the back burner. I think I cooked it on the front burner on 2 ticks last time and it did not get browned or crunchy.
  

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RECIPE: Stuck-Pot Rice with Lentils

Basic Pancakes

I don't often eat pancakes, and when I do make them I like oatmeal pancakes the best. However, I found myself craving plain pancakes recently, and landed on this basic recipe.

Notes:

• I ended up with about 10 4-inch pancakes from this recipe as written.
• These are a good blank canvas for any kind of toppings you might want to add. I gave mine a dessert type treatment with chocolate sauce (it was leftover ganache that never firmed up to its intended consistency), fresh berries, and chopped almonds.

Verdict: This was an easy recipe with solid results. If I ever feel like making plain pancakes again I'd happily use this recipe.

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RECIPE: Easy Basic Pancakes (Martha Stewart)