Key Lime Pie Redux

Another year, another key lime pie for my father-in-law's birthday! It's been such a hit I think it will be an annual event :)

Same recipe with a couple of tweaks-- 1) less sugar in the crust (2 TBL...down from 1/4 cup) and 2) served with whipped cream on the side instead of topped. (I actually broke out the food processor this year so the crust looks as it should!) Next time I make it I might use my fluted tart pan instead.

A good spring/summer treat if you are looking for a quick and easy crowdpleaser!

Race Weekend

Everyone has their hobbies/interests. For some people (like me), it is cooking. For others it’s mountain biking or kayaking. For Jason’s dad, it’s cars. He is a true car aficionado---he knows everything there is to know about cars, does all his own auto maintenance, and has even built at least one car completely from parts. Some of this he has passed on to Jason who has his own encyclopedia-like knowledge of car makes/models and does most of the maintenance on his own car (interestingly enough, though, he has not offered to do any of the maintenance on mine yet!).

In addition to knowing a lot about cars, Jason’s dad also races them. Yes, that’s right—races them. In fact, Jason’s dad has raced cars for over 40 years! (He took a few years off while Jason and his brother were little at Jason’s mother’s request, but other than that he’s been racing steadily for the last four decades.) For the 3+ years Jason and I have been together I have heard a lot about the race car and the various race tracks his dad goes to several times a year but had never experienced a race weekend for myself.

Until last weekend, that is.

That’s right. Last weekend Jason and I (along with his mother) served as “pit crew” for Jason’s dad’s race in Summit Point, WV.  Truth be told, being pit crew was not as glamorous as what you see on TV which is a good thing since I know next to nothing about cars and how they work. Basically it meant that we got to be in the holding area for all the cars and help out the driver (in this case, Jason’s dad) if need be. Jason actually did quite a bit to help get the car ready (e.g., checked tire pressure, jacked the car up, changed from the dry tires to the rain tires and then back again), but I mostly sat around and soaked it all in.

Jason checking the tire pressure on his dad's care before the practice/qualifying run

There were 9 different race groups at Summit Point—each group consisted of different types of race cars. You may not know this but a lot of “regular cars” can be made into race cars. In fact, Mazda Miatas are the most popular class of cars to race in the mid-Atlantic area (because, according to Jason’s dad, they are relatively inexpensive and easy to handle). But there were two race groups of what I would call “real race cars” and Jason’s dad was in one of them (in fact, his race group is the fastest group). He drives a Formula Ford, here is what it looks like:

 This is the race car in the pit paddock

Unfortunately, despite how much cooler these cars are than boring old Mazda Miatas (which are dime a dozen if you ask me), they are dying off a little bit—his dad’s race group only had 8 cars in it (compared to like 40+ in the Miata groups) and he was the only Formula Ford running. Which meant that he “won” his race and got a checkered flag.

Jason's dad pulling into the grid (where the cars enter/exit the track) after his victory lap with the checkered flag.

All in all, it was an interesting weekend—I definitely learned  a lot more about cars than I probably ever needed to know but I feel like I got to know my father-in-law a lot better in the process.

An action shot of the race (not very close up given I don't have a good zoom lens) but you can see one of the other car types (a DSR) coming up behind Jason's dad's car. Considering they were going close to 100 mph when I took the picture, it's pretty good, don't you think?

Some Jerk (Chicken)

As you may remember, we had dinner with Jason’s parents last weekend to celebrate his dad’s birthday. His mother had planned to make some sort of mango and avocado salad to go with the meal only to learn at the last minute that Jason’s dad does not like mangoes.  His loss was our gain and we went home with two very ripe mangoes. When trying to figure out what to make this week, I was determined not to let the mangoes go to waste. The logical choice was some sort of mango salsa. And jerk chicken seemed like the perfect accompaniment.

If you are unfamiliar with the dish, the “jerk” in jerk chicken is a marinade with a wonderful mix of sweet/fruity and spicy flavors.  Be sure to marinate the chicken for a good long while so it can soak up all the flavors (if my chicken had been thawed I would have done so overnight but instead I settled for 8 hours during the day yesterday).  Served with mango salsa and some corn on the cob, you have a fantastic summery meal.

Jerk Chicken with Mango Salsa
Adapted from recipes by Ellie Krieger and Emeril Lagasse

Ingredients:
4 scallions, trimmed and coarsely chopped
½ -1 habenero or scotch bonnet pepper (depends on how spicy you want it)
2 large garlic cloves, peeled and roughly chopped
1 teaspoon freshly ground ginger (not the dried stuff you find in the spice aisle)
4 TBL lime juice
2 TBL soy sauce
1 TBL brown sugar
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1 teaspoon dried thyme
2 chicken breasts
2 mangoes, pitted and diced
½ red onion, finely diced
½ red pepper, diced
½ cucumber, peeled and diced
1 teaspoon lime zest
Salt and pepper

1.Combine scallions, habenero pepper, garlic, ginger, 2 TBL lime juice, soy sauce, brown sugar, pumpkin pie spice, and thyme in a blender until you have a smooth paste. Pour over chicken breasts and marinate for 8 hours or overnight.
2.To make salsa, combine mango, red onion, red pepper, cucumber, remaining 2 TBL lime juice, and lime zest in a bowl. Add salt and pepper to taste.
3.Remove chicken from marinade and broil or grill (about 5-6 minutes per side or more depending on thickness). Serve with mango salsa.

Ties that Bind

Navigating relationships with the in-laws can be a challenge for any newlywed. Juggling two sets of traditions, expectations, and desires to spend time with you on nationally recognized holidays while trying to build your own traditions (as a family of two) and not hurting anyone’s feelings in the process can be stressful (to say the least). I can’t imagine what it will be like once kids are factored into this little equation!

Jason and I are fortunate that both sets of parents live relatively close by (within easy driving distance). The proximity allows us to spend time with them outside of the usual holiday gatherings on a fairly regular basis.  Still, the newness of our familial ties can be felt; at almost 8 months in we are still trying to figure out how these interactions are supposed to work.  I sometimes worry that my mother-in-law, for example, still feels the need to entertain me and/or treat me like a guest when we are at their home rather than treating me like just another member of the family.  So I was really happy that she asked me to make a key lime pie for Jason’s father’s birthday this weekend.

Back in March, Jason’s dad mentioned that he liked key lime pie but that Jason’s mother never made one. So I told him I’d be happy to make one for him sometime. Fast forward to a month or so ago when Jason’s mother asked him if I’d be interested in making a pie for his birthday. The answer, of course, was yes!

Key lime pie is pretty easy to make and I’ve made them before. But in the weeks since confirming that I would, in fact, make the birthday pie, I started to freak out. What if it didn’t turn out well? What if my recipe (clipped from the local newspaper when I was in high school) wasn’t really that good? WHAT IF MY CRAPPY PIE RUINS HIS WHOLE BIRTHDAY?!?

My initial plan was to make trial run pie sometime before the main event to make sure that my pie still passed muster. That plan crashed and burned when I realized 1) I was going to be gone practically the whole month of April; 2) my book club (where I was originally going to test my pie out) decided to meet at a local restaurant this month given everyone’s busy schedules which nixed the need for my bringing a dessert; and 3) given my efforts to eat better/lose weight, baking a whole pie just for Jason and I was not a very good idea.

Instead, I decided to do a little recipe research, to make sure my original recipe was, in fact, in line with all the other recipes out there for key lime pie (it was).  And then I just reminded myself that I am a pretty good cook and that, even if the pie fails miserably, it is the thought that counts. 

Oh and if all else fails, I can always buy a pie and pass it off as my own.

NOW,  I feel better.

My rustic looking crust

It doesn't quite meet my Type A standards but I guess it will do.

Key Lime Pie
Adapted from a recipe I cut out of The Daily Press sometime in the late 1990s

Ingredients:
1 sleeve of graham crackers
¼ cup sugar
6 TBL of butter, melted
½ cup fresh lime juice (preferably key limes if you can find them)
1 (14 ounce) can of sweetened condensed milk
3 egg yolks
Whipped cream (optional)

1.Make the crust: Preheat the oven to 350. Place graham crackers into food processor and pulse until you have fine crumbs (Note: I was being lazy last night and did not feel like getting out my food processor so I crushed the crackers by hand-- the results were a very rustic looking crust. I am now kicking myself for not using the food processor!) Mix graham cracker crumbs with melted butter and sugar. Pat into pie plate. Bake until golden brown about 8-9 minutes. Allow to cool completely on wire rack.
2. Once pie shell has cooled, mix together the sweetened condensed milk, lime juice, and egg yolks until well-combined. If you want, you can add a little lime zest too. Pour into pie shell and bake at 350 for 10 minutes. Cool on counter or wire rack and then chill for 6 hours or overnight.
3.If you want to, you can make some whipped cream to top the pie (or simply to serve with it). Since I was making this to take somewhere, I opted to decorate the top of the pie with the whipped cream which meant that I needed to stabilize it (otherwise it would have deflated and separated before it came time to serve—eww). To make whipped cream that won't separate (I hope), start by placing 1 teaspoon of unflavored gelatin in 1 TBL of water in a small bowl. Microwave for 10 seconds or so until gelatin has melted. Place 1 cup heavy cream in a cold bowl (I like to stick it in the freezer for awhile beforehand). Add in gelatin and whip until combined. Add 2 TBL powdered sugar and ½ teaspoon of vanilla and whip until you have stiff peaks. Top pie as you would like. Refrigerate until ready to serve.


PS On an unrelated note, I added a gadget (on the bottom right of the page) that displays my "followers" (sounds so cult-ish, doesn't it??). I'd love to know who you all are so please consider making it official :)