Pop's Birthday Lemon Meringue Pie

Our family likes desserts of all sorts, but there is one sweet which reigns supreme, especially with my father, and that sugary delight, to the shock of some, is not cake. Indeed, with that in mind, for more than four decades, Pop has been treated on his birthday to one particular cake alternative.

He gets lemon meringue pie.

He gets his special lemon meringue pie.

Bat says she got the original from a women's magazine, back about the time I was starting kindergarten, so that puts it at the mid-1960s. Since then, she's made a few alterations, to keep everybody happy with this springtime treat.




Pop's Birthday Lemon Meringue Pie

Pastry crust

Ingredients:

1 large egg yolk
2 Tablespoons ice water
1 Tablespoon lemon juice
pinch salt
1 stick (1/2 cup) butter
1 1/2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
2 Tablespoons sugar

Directions:

Beat yolk lightly and add ice water, lemon juice, and salt. Cut or work butter into flour, then add, along with sugar, to the egg mixture. Work ingredients together until they form a soft ball. Wrap in plastic and allow to chill in refrigerator at least 1/2 hour.

Remove from fridge, pat into 9" pie pan, flan ring, or springform pan. Place sheet of foil inside shell and fill with weights (beans or rice will do if you don't have ceramic pellets for the purpose). Bake in moderate oven (350º F) for 25 minutes.


Filling

Ingredients: 

6 egg yolks
1 1/2 cups sugar
grated rind of one lemon (about 1 Tablespoon)
1/2 cup lemon juice

3 Tablespoons butter
4 Tablespoons corn starch
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups boiling water

Directions: 

Beat egg yolks well, add remaining ingredients except boiling water, and beat again thoroughly. Combine with boiling water and pour into top of double boiler. Cook over hot water until the mixture thickens , then allow to cook 5 to 10 minutes longer over simmering water.

Pour into baked shell.

 

 Top with meringue.


Meringue

Ingredients:

6 egg whites
pinch salt
12 Tablespoons sugar

Directions:

Beat egg whites until they form soft peaks. Add cream of tartar and salt, continue to beat until whites are stiff but not dry. Add sugar, a little at a time, beating in thoroughly. Spread meringue over surface of the pie completely, including the edge of the crust. (If you want to keep the meringue from weeping, and would like a slightly drier meringue, you may wish to add 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar, or 1 teaspoon vinegar and 2 teaspoons corn starch).



 Bake in moderate oven (350º F) 15 to 18 minutes, until the peaks are delicate light (golden) brown.

Serve room temperature or chilled.

 If there are leftovers (it is to laugh!), keep refrigerated.

Update: finally realized I had not listed tha amount of lemon juice required. It would have made an amazingly bland filling, without the stuff...

Cheesy baked potato soup

Today, I had enough baked taters that, had I wanted to, I'd have been able to make that mountain of mashed that Richard Dreyfus sculpted in Close Encounters of the Third Kind.

Sometimes, when you have too many baked potatoes, there will come a point when you no longer want twice-baked or cottage fried spuds, but want something a little more appropriate for the damp and chilly evenings of early spring. My pop is a big fan of soups, and I do follow in his footsteps, there.

The fun thing about soups, in my mind, is that you don't really need a recipe to make it right. All you need, besides a mess of leftovers (or fresh stuff, if you must), is a little courage and some tastebuds. And a stock pot.

I had all of the above, and lots more.

Besides the potatoes from the land at the top of the bean stalk,

 

I had carrots, 

celery,

onions,

ham,

sweet pepper, 

extra-sharp cheeses,

other dairy products,

and water. Plenty of water.

And thus was a pot of soup begun.

Cheesy Baked Potato Soup

Ingredients:
1 1/2 quarts water
2 large carrots, sliced(about 1 cup)
1 small onion, chopped (about 1 cup)
2 stalks celery, leaves included, chopped (about 1 cup)
1 clove garlic, crushed or finely minced
Salt, pepper to taste

3-4 cups baked potato
1 large sweet bell pepper
2 cups chopped ham (you may also opt for lean bacon)
1/3 cup corn starch
!/2 cup water
1 (4 oz) small brick light cream cheese (neufchatel)
1/2 cup sour cream
1 cup whipping or heavy cream
4 cups extra-sharp semi-moist cheeses (my choice is a mix of 3 parts extra-sharp cheddar and 1 part smoked gouda)

Directions:

In a 4-quart or larger pot, bring water to a boil.  Clean and chop onions, celery, carrots, garlic, add to pot. Add salt & pepper.



 Return to boil, reduce and simmer at least 3 hours, or as much as 24 hours.Allow to cook down about 20%. If it reduces too much, just add some water back in. The water should look like tea - the longer it simmers, the darker it may have gotten.  Scoop out the bits of vegetable and discard* (don't worry if the pepper remains in the water. It won't ruin anything). 

About an hour before serving, return water to boil. Add chopped ham, allow return to simmer over medium heat.

In a small dish or cup, mix corn starch and 1/2 cup water. Add to pot. Stir until slightly thickened. Reduce heat to low.

Peel the looser, papery skin off the potatoes, but don't worry about anything that shows determination to stick with its original tuber. We admire that in vegetable matter. Let some stay on.




Chop those spuds into cubes, about 1/2 inch or so, but keep them smaller than bite size.



Clean, seed, and chop the sweet pepper.



Add cream cheese to pot (I recommend putting it on a plate and popping it into a microwave oven until it's mostly melted – about 40 seconds at full, before adding, but, if you don't want to do so, or your nuke is misbehaving, just add it to the liquid in small chunks, and whisk in thoroughly. Don't be disheartened if tiny dots of it rise to the surface. They will eventually work themselves into the soup).



Add in sour cream. It, too, may start out with those little white dots on the surface. It, too, will mix in eventually.

Once it looks like it's mostly dissolved into the liquid, add the rest of the ingredients (cream, cheeses, potatoes, peppers).

Stir well, simmer on low heat until about 10 minutes before serving. Allow to stand and cool slightly. Serve hot with biscuits or a hearty bread and butter.

Serves many.



*You are not required to throw the vegetables away – I've used them in frittatas and other dishes, even to give a lift to mashed taters (mixed with sweet taters, too!).

Note: If you have a little frozen, fresh, or leftover steamed corn, you may enjoy stir-frying it in browned butter until caramelized, and serving as a garnish with some fresh chopped celery leaves.