Lemon Pie

There were plenty of things I could have and should have been doing this weekend. There were plenty of things we planned on and talked about doing.  What did we actually do?  Sit in front of the couch and watch every minute of the Olympics on the DVR.  We are huge Olympics nerds.  We even watched all the cycling.  So I figure, while I am parked on the couch, I could at the very least post a new recipe in between swimming finals.  Here we go:

Make no mistake--this is the best lemon pie.  Ever.  I think Bobby's already had me make this 3 times this summer!  He says he prefers it, even to key lime pie, which--if you know Bobby--is fairly shocking.  But it really is delicious.  It's pretty simple, so I don't encourage cutting any corners, because it's not a complicated recipe--and I think hand squeezing the lemon juice, doing homemade whipped cream, and a homemade graham cracker crust...that's what makes the pie!

And I promise it isn't tough--because if it was tough, I wouldn't do it :-)

Anne's Best Lemon Pie Ever

• 1 and 1/4 c graham cracker crumbs (I use the Reduced Fat Honey Maid--the only 'corner' I cut)
• 2 and a 1/2 Tbs powdered sugar
• 4 Tbs butter, melted
• 6 egg yolks
• 2 (14 oz) cans sweetened condensed milk
• 1 cup fresh lemon juice (~5 lemons)
• 1 cup whipping cream
• 2 Tbs powdered sugar

Pre-heat oven to 350.

Use a food processor or blender to crumble the graham crackers into crumbs.  Inside the box of graham crackers they'll be divided into three little packets.  You'll use a whole packet and then 2-3 crackers from a second packet.  Processing them takes seconds, and it's easier to press into a crust if the crumbs are really fine.  In a medium sized bowl, mix the crumbs with the 2.5Tbs powdered sugar.  Add the melted butter until well blended, and then press the mixture into the bottom and the sides of a 9in pie plate. Try to press the crumbs into an even amount--something I'm still struggling with perfecting.  I usually pour them all in the middle and then work them up the sides of the pie plate, taking care not to make the edges too thick.

Bake the crust for 10 minutes, and then cool on a wire rack for 30 minutes.While baking and cooling the crust, whisk together the egg yolks, sweetened condensed milk, and lemon juice.  As mentioned, you cannot beat fresh squeezed lemon juice.  It takes a while to get a cup--one lemon makes about 1/4c juice, and I like to get a 5th lemon just to be safe and if I don't use it, I garnish with it.  Use a wire mesh strainer to get rid of lemon seeds and any pulp that accumulates.  

Pour pie filling into the crust after it's cooled, and bake  at 350 for 15 minutes. Afterwards, cool on a wire rack for an hour, before covering and placing in the fridge for  4 hours to chill.  Honestly if you can chill it closer to 8, that is significantly better. 

Right before serving, use an electric mixer (yay KitchenAid!) and the wire-whisk attachment to make the whipped cream.  Beat the whipping cream on high speed until foamy.  Gradually add the remaining 2Tbs powdered sugar.  Stop beating when the whipped cream has 'soft peaks'--but I like it a little more firm, so I beat mine until it's reasonably sold (as seen above).  Garnish--if desired--and serve!  Soooo yummy!

Mexicali Crab Cakes

Crab cakes are great any time of year--but they're especially great as a light summer dinner.  My original recipe for crab cakes is here, and it has kind of an Asian-flavor twist to it.  This recipe I found in my Cooking Light cookbook and was absolutely shocked I hadn't made them before!  And we absolutely loved them--I can't wait to make them again.

One of the best things about making crab cakes is that they sound really fancy, but really, they take hardly any time at all.  You mix all ingredients in a bowl, form cakes, and bake them--usually all in under a half hour.  As far as I can tell, there's only one secret to crab cakes--and that's high quality canned crab.  My mom always said to buy the most expensive cans of crab in the store.  I follow that advice every time and it never disappoints!  So while this dinner is quick, easy, tasty, and makes you look good--note that it's not the cheapest.  But quality crab is worth it :-)

Mexicali Crab Cakes

• 1.5 Tbs margarine or butter
• 1/4 c finely chopped celery
• 1/4 c finely chopped red bell pepper
• 1 finely chopped and seeded jalepeno
• 1/4 c mayo (although we recently learned you can easily substitute fat free greek yogurt, plain, just as well and it's much healthier than mayo)
• 1 tsp chopped fresh cilantro or parsley if preferred (but being totally honest I think I used dried and it was fine!)
• 1 tsp Dijon mustard
• 1/2 garlic salt or garlic powder
• a few cranks of the pepper mill
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• 3/4 cup Panko or other breadcrumbs
• 1/4 chopped green onions
• 1 lb (about 2-3 cans) lump crab meat
• 1 can whole-kernal corn

OK I know that looks like a lot of ingredients, but don't let that deter you.

Pre-heat your oven to 450.  Melt the margarine/butter in a small skillet over med-high heat, and add celery, bell pepper, and jalepeno.  Saute for about 3 minutes or until tender.

In a medium to large mixing bowl, mix your mayo or yogurt with the cilantro, dijon, garlic salt, pepper and egg.  Add in the celery mixture, Panko, green onions, crab, and corn--stirring until well mixed.  Hand-form about 8-10 small cakes, or 6 large ones as shown above.  As an option, you could also dredge the cakes in crushed cornflakes if you wanted a crispy exterior.  Place on a baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes.  After 15 minutes, carefully flip the cakes, and bake an additional 6 minutes on the other side.

The recipe recommends serving with a cocktail sauce or salsa...I used sweet chili sauce because I'm obsessed with sweet chili sauce and think it should be on most things.  Serve with whatever works for you!

Black Bean Burgers

OK, OK I'm a little late in the burger post, since most people probably did their burger-grilling yesterday.  But it's summer, which means you never really put the grill away--and these vegetarian burgers can actually be baked as well.  Just giving you all some options!

Bobby and I love all kinds of burgers--beef, bison, turkey, salmon, and our new favorite--black bean burgers.  Oddly enough, Bobby picked up this recipe at our gym--the little Orlando Health Wellness Center.  Every month they post a featured recipe--and Bobby brought this one home one day.  It's a little spicy--but a lot of the spice could easily be omitted too.

So if you didn't get your burger-fill over the July 4th holiday, give these a try soon!  

And on a side note--we had a laid back 4th (which I guess is just kind of what happens when it's mid-week).  Bobby was on call in the ICU overnight on the 3rd so he napped most of the day, and then later he grilled some chimichurri-marinated chicken tenders, and we paired that with chips and homemade guacamole, watermelon, and lemon bars.  Putting in a plug for some past blog oldies-but-goodies.

Black Bean Burgers

• 1 16oz can of black beans, drained and rinsed

• 1/2 green bell pepper, cut into 2in pieces

• 1/2 onion, cut into wedges

• 3 cloves of garlic, peeled

• 1 egg

• 1 Tbs chili powder

• 1 Tbs cumin

• 1 tsp Thai Chili Sauce or hot sauce

• 1/2 cup bread crumbs (we use Panko)

If you're grilling outdoors, pre-heat your grill on high and lightly oil a sheet of heavy-duty aluminum foil.  If you're baking, pre-heat the oven to 375 and lightly PAM a baking sheet.

In a medium bowl, mash the black beans with a fork (or a potato masher, in my case) until they're thick and pasty.

Then, in a food processor (or blender if you don't have one--or you could hand-chop if you were really committed), process the bell pepper, onion and garlic.  Stir that mixture into the beans.

In a small bowl, stir together the egg, chili powder, cumin, and chili sauce--and then add to the bean mixture.  Mix in Panko or bread crumbs until the mixture is sticky and holds together pretty well.  Divide it into four patties.

If grilling, place patties on foil and grill about 8 minutes on each side.  If baking, place patties on the baking sheet and bake them for about 10 minutes on each side.

As you can see from the photo, we like to have these with whole wheat buns, fresh spinach leaves, a slice of tomato, and a tick topping of hummus (we prefer the Publix-brand roasted red pepper hummus for added flavor).  With the hummus, you really don't need to add any cheese.  If you do want cheese--I'd omit the hummus and add a slice of pepper jack.  Or you could do a regular hummus and some crumbled feta.  Just some ideas to keep it interesting!