We are also roasting a brined turkey. I will be using ideas from Sean Paxton, the Homebrew Chef.
Here’s a recipe I wrote during an obviously clever moment several years ago. I hope you guys enjoy it.
Key Lime Pie
As remembered by Jeff in March, 2006
Two packages of cream cheese. You may need to know that one package of cream cheese is 8 ounces. Two would make one pound. So if you want to make several trips to the store, first buy one package of cream cheese. That way, when you get back to the kitchen and find out the truth about cream cheese packaging you’ll have an excuse to escape your family and go to the store again.
Three quarters of a cup of fresh key lime juice. If it is December or January call me and I’ll pick some off Jim’s tree and send them to you. He has way too many. A dozen or two will be plenty.
One 14 ounce can of sweetened condensed milk. If you plan to make two pies, you’ll need to buy two cans of this. You can use this as another excuse later to go to the store if you’re making more than one pie.
One teaspoon of lime zest. This is pretty easy if you have some of Jim’s key limes. Use a grater. It may be easier to do this before you’ve squeezed the juice out of the limes, but that’s only for you folks who have read ahead. Don’t bother to actually measure this. Grate for a while or until you have a small pile. The small pieces of stringy looking things in the pie will make it look home made.
Mix all this together and pour it into a pie tin with a crust in it. Graham cracker crusts work well but so do the Oreo crusts that are sold off the same shelf in the store as Graham cracker crusts. Don’t look for these in the refrigerated section of the store. You’ll find them somewhere else, probably near the frosting on the bottom shelf because they’re not really big sellers. If you cannot find them on the first trip to the store you’ll have another excuse to leave later.
Refrigerate this for a while. If you have read the whole recipe and have made it to the store several times and still have 12 hours before it’s going to be served you’re doing well here. If not, stick it into the freezer for a while to accelerate the cooling then put it into the fridge. If you’re in post-Katrina New Orleans you probably have a new fridge so it won’t take quite as long as if you’re in Los Angeles with your old fridge.
For special effects, go to several stores looking for crème fraiche. At the last store buy some heavy cream and go home. Mix one cup of this with ¼ cup of confectioners sugar or some rum or maybe a little almond extract and beat it until it is really impressively full and thick. This may take several hours so be sure to have a book to read and a spare wrist in case one of yours gets too tired. If you like to micro manage this is a good spot to find a helper, perhaps a cousin or a sister-in-law with too much time or attitude.
Put the whipped cream on the pie. You can do this before you make the whole thing cold or later before serving if you prefer. It may be hours before your assistant gets it whipped impressively full enough so don’t worry if it’s not done ahead of time.
If you have a really sharp knife cut some of the remaining key limes paper thin and place them artistically on the top of the pie. If you do this properly none of your friends will believe you made it yourself, so you may not want to be too overly artistic here. Cut one or two of the slices slightly thicker on one side or a little off-centered to make it look like you actually constructed it yourself. Wear a Band-Aid on one of your finger tips for more authenticity.
Clean up the kitchen. Serve with Belgian Witbier.
