Sunday, April 24, 2011

Merengue Pie Crust


I came across this recipe here.  It seemed like such a wonderful idea! You can fill it with chocolate cream or vanilla custard or lemon curd or strawberries or just about anything that goes well with merengue, and it was so easy to do.

4 egg whites
pinch of salt
1/2 tsp cream of tartar
1 cup + 2 tbsp superfine sugar (I used powdered sugar)
3/4 teaspoon of vanilla extract.


Preheat the oven to 375F degrees the reduce it to 200F degrees. (I lowered it to 180F)

Line a baking sheet with parchment and draw a 10-inch circle on it. Turn paper over.

With an electric mixer, beat the egg whites, salt and cream of tartar in a bowl until the whites form soft peaks. Add sugar 2 teaspoons at a time, while continuing to beat until the merengue is stiff and glossy. Beat in the vanilla.


Spoon meringue into the traced circle, smooth with a spatula and shape like a shallow bowl.
Place in the lower third of the oven, and bake for at least 5 hours (the longer it stays in, the surer you can be that the shell will arrive at crisp perfection). Then turn off the oven and leave the meringue in the turned-off oven to cool, preferably overnight.


Before placing it in the oven.

Fully cooked and cooled. I wished it had looked prettier, but it tasted great!

Friday, April 8, 2011

Jiffy Hush Puppies


I've had this package of Jiffy corn muffins in the pantry for a while, and since I was going to make batter-fried fish tonight I thought I'd take it out and transform it from muffins to hush puppies which would go better with the fish. Here's what I did, and they turned out very well...

1 package Jiffy Corn Muffin Mix
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1 cup milk
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup finely chopped onion
1 egg
Oil for frying

Mix all these ingredients together in a bowl. Heat the oil and Drop the batter 1 teaspoon at a time, into the oil. Fry until golden brown, turning the hushpuppies during the cooking process. Transfer to paper towel lined plate.