Lusciously Sweet and Tart Lemon Merengue Pie

Luscious Lemon Merengue Pie

While I was contemplating what to do with a huge bag of lemons from SAM's Club, I realized I really wanted Lemon Merengue Pie. But not a quick mix or partial prepared recipe. I wanted a full on from scratch recipe. This has no canned sweetened condensed milk, no pre-packaged pie crust... This is the real deal. All from scratch. I read several recipes and this is what I came up with. My house smells so good.

This recipe is a combination of three recipes. One for the crust, one for the filling and the other for the merengue. This I think is the best Lemon Merengue Pie I've ever had... I'm a Texas girl who LOVE Lemon Merengue Pie. So, that's saying a lot about how delectable this pie is. The filling is not too sugary sweet or too tangy. It's the perfect blend of the two. It is nice and thick, perfect for slicing and perfect blend of merengue to filling ratio. Perfection in one bite. Don't take my word for it, make it and try it for yourself. I think you'll agree.

Ingredients:

Lemon Zest Pie Crust (makes 2 8" pie crusts)
2 cups sifted flour
1 tsp salt
1/2 cup oil
1/4 cup milk
2 tsp lemon zest

Directions for Pie Crust:

Preheat oven to 425 Degree F.

Combine flour and salt. Sprinkle lemon zest into dry ingredients. Measure in measuring cup oil and milk without stirring. Add all at once to flour mixture and slightly until bleached with fork. Roll 1/2 of pastry to 1/8" thickness between two pieces of waxed paper to fit pie plate. Place in pie pan crimping edges. Place parchment paper over prepared pan and then pour dried beans or whole wheat on top of parchment paper. (This keeps the bottom crust from puffing out and keeps the shape of the crust while baking.) Bake in preheated oven for 12- 15 minutes until lightly browned.  Remove parchment paper and what ever you used to keep it held down. Set aside pie crust while you make the lemon filling and merengue.

Lemon Filling
1 1/4 cups sugar
1/4 cup cornstarch
3 Tbsp all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups water
3 yokes, lightly beaten
2 Tbsp butter
1 1/2 tsp grated lemon peel
1/3 cup lemon juice (fresh from real lemons)

Directions for Filling:

• For filling, in a large saucepan, combine the sugar, cornstarch, flour and salt. Gradually stir in water until smooth. Cook and stir over medium-high heat until thickened and bubbly. Reduce heat; cook and stir 2 minutes longer.
• Remove from the heat. Stir a small amount of hot filling into egg yolks; return all to the pan, stirring constantly. Bring to a gentle boil; cook and stir 2 minutes longer. Remove from the heat. Gently stir in butter and lemon peel. Gradually stir in lemon juice just until combined. Pour into the crust.

(Filling part comes from http://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/classic-lemon-meringue-pie)

Merengue
3 egg whites
1/4 tsp cream of tartar
1/4 cup sugar

Directions for Merengue:

Preheat oven to 350 Degree F.

Beat egg whites with cream of tartar until soft peaks form. Gradually add in sugar, beat until stiff peaks. Spread merengue over filling in the prepared pie pan. Seal to the edge of crust bake for 12-15 minutes or until the top is golden brown.

Apple, Pear, Squash Crumb Pie

I know it looks a lot like my apple crumb pie. It is similar, but different. This time I had some leftover brown sugar, butter and cinnamon spaghetti squash, and it tastes so much like apples, I thought it might be good in a pie. I cut up my apples which were starting to go soft, and the spaghetti squash, and I realized that my home canned pears would make a yummy addition. So, out came a jar of pears that I canned last year. :) I made my favorite pie crust, and put that on the bottom, then I filled the middle with yummy goodness, and then topped it with the amazing crumb topping from my previous apple crumb pie. Here is how to make your own version. Enjoy :)

Ingredients:

Filling:

1 cup spaghetti squash precooked with butter, brown sugar and cinnamon.

3 red delicious apples peeled, cored and diced

3 gala apples peeled, cored and diced

1 pint jar of canned pears, diced

3 tbsp flour

1/4 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp nutmeg

3/4 cup sugar

1/2 lemon - juice

Topping:

2 cups flour

1/2 cup quick oats

3/4 cup melted butter

1 packed cup brown sugar

Crust:

2 cups sifted flour

1 tsp salt

1/2 cup oil

1/4 cup milk

This will make two 9 inch pies.

Preheat oven to 350F. Mix the crust ingredients together and roll out and place in your pie pans. Set Aside. Peel, core and dice the apples, dice the pears, and mince the spaghetti squash and place together in a bowl. Squeeze the lemon on top and mix in, to help the apples not change color. Lightly toss together in a separate bowl the flour, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg then toss together with the fruit mixture. make sure all is well incorporated. Spoon mixture into the prepared pie pans. 1/2 in each pan.

In a separate bowl mix together the crumb topping. Stir well. Lightly crumble on top of each pie, use 1/2 of mixture on each pie.

Place pies in the oven for 50-60 min. Pies will bubble and crust will lightly brown.

Remove and let set, until cooled.

Serve and enjoy :)

Personal Beef Pot Pies

Ok, well, I think this is such a great idea that I had to make personal beef pot pies. My kids absolutely love pot pies! We are all kind of pot pie junkies... well, anyways. I had this leftover beef stew that I made last week and I was trying to think what to do with it now. Then when I told my son that I was making pot pies he said he wanted beef pot pies. Well, then it hit me... use the leftover beef stew, it's practically what is inside anyways. So, I used the leftover beef stew from last week, and make this yummy beef pot pie. You can really put just about anything in it. I was going to make a chicken one, but this worked even better, less time to make, and so healthy! :) and yes, I made the crust from scratch. :) Courtesy of the Deseret Cookbook. :) I doubled the pie crust recipe since I was making 6 individual pot pies, double crusted. :)

Crust Ingredients: (makes one double crust)

2 cups flour (sifted)

1 tsp salt

1/2 cup oil

1/4 cup milk

Combine the flour and salt. Then measure in a measuring cup the oil and milk WITHOUT stirring, then add all at once to the four mixture, the milk/oil mixture. Stir slightly until bleached with fork.

Roll out 1/2 pastry to 1/8" thickness between two pieces of wax paper to fit pie plate. Remove the wax paper and place rolled out crust into pie plate.

Fill with filling either sweet or savory, then with remaining pastry dough, roll out to 1/8" thickness the same way, place on top of filling, cut off excess dough and flute edges either with fingers or a fork. Make slits or decorations as desired for escape of steam. Bake according to individual recipe.

Filling:

Left over Beef stew, can be found further down in my blog.

*Bake in a 375F oven for 30-35 min. Checking at 25 min to see if browned on top and bubbly/done :)

I used an egg wash (1 egg and a little water) brushed on top of my pies and then sprinkled with a little Ms. Dash. For added flavor and flair.

I hope you enjoyed this, I will use this same pie crust for my other homemade pies. You will see it again.. :)