Lime-Coconut Cream Pie

I haven't made a cream pie for a LONG time, and this one sounded fantastic with the lime (we can't resist anything that has lime!).

LIME-COCONUT CREAM PIE

(modified slightly from Cooks Illustrated)

Crust:

6 ounces animal crackers (I like Barnums best)

2 T unsweetened shredded coconut

1 T granulated sugar

4 T butter, melted and cooled

Filling:

1 can coconut milk (full-fat, not light)

1/2 c heavy cream

1/2 c milk

1/2 c unsweetened shredded coconut

1/2 c granulated sugar + 1 T

3/8 tsp salt

5 large egg yolks

1/4 c cornstarch

2 T butter, cut into 2 pieces

1 tsp vanilla

zest grated from 1 lime (about 1 1/2 tsp)

Whipped Cream/Garnish:

1 1/2 c heavy cream (cold)

2 T granulated sugar

1/2 tsp vanilla

1 T unsweetened shredded coconut, toasted in small skillet until golden (watch carefully or it will get too toasty!)

For crust: Heat oven to 325. In food processor, pulse animal crackers, coconut, and sugar to fine crumbs, 18-20 one-second pulses, then process about 5 seconds more until powdery. Transfer crumbs to bowl and add butter. Toss with a fork until crumbs are evenly moist, then empty into 9" pie plate. Using bottom of ramekin or drinking glass, press crumbs evenly into bottom and up sides of pan. Bake until fragrant and medium brown, about 15 minutes, rotating midway through baking time. Set on wire rack to cool while making filling.

Filling: Bring coconut milk, cream, milk, shredded coconut, 1/2 c sugar, and salt to simmer over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally so sugar will dissolve. In medium heavy bowl (a heavy bowl will make it easier to quickly whisk the mixture while tempering the eggs), whisk yolks, cornstarch, and remaining 1 T sugar until well combined. To temper the eggs: gradually ladle about 1 cup of hot milk mixture over egg mixture, whisking briskly and constantly until combined. Whisking constantly, gradually add remaining most of remaining milk mixture to eggs, then return mixture to saucepan and cook until thick and mixture just boils, whisking constantly, about 1 minute. Off heat, whisk in butter, vanilla, and zest until butter is fully incorporated. Pour hot filling into shell and smooth surface with spatula. Press plastic wrap directly against surface of filling and refrigerate until firm, at least 3 hours and up to 12 hours.

For topping: Just before serving, beat cream, sugar, and vanilla with electric mixture until soft peaks form. Top pie with cream and sprinkle with coconut.

The milk mixture with the unsweetened coconut. If you're not familiar with it, you can usually buy it in bulk sections of the supermarket or whole foods store (next to the nuts, grains, and granolas in my store). Using this instead of the bagged sweetened coconut makes it so the pie is not overly sweet.
The cooling crust waiting for the filling.

The egg mixture, ready to be tempered. It's a fairly thick mixture so it's a little tricky to whisk quickly, but very important!

The almost-complete filling with the lime zest added.

The beautiful finished pie right before serving. We really liked this dessert, my only complaint (because I have a MAJOR sweet tooth) is that it could have been a tad sweeter, but I think everyone else liked that it wasn't so sweet. The lime flavor was very subtle, next time I might even try and mix a little lime juice with the filling or cream topping. We'll see . . . !

The Truly Delicious "Big Mouth Burger"

Well, the warmer weather means my favorite season--Grilling Season! We do try and grill as much of the year as we can but it's much more enjoyable in nice weather!

One of our favorite things to grill is homemade burgers. I truly believe these are some of the best burgers I have ever eaten. Combined with the homemade hamburger buns (see my earlier posts), they simply can't be improved upon!

GRILLED CHEESEBURGERS

(modified slightly from The Best Recipe Grilling and Barbecue from Cook's Illustrated)

1 1/2 pounds hamburger (I don't recommend it any leaner than 85% for grilling!)

1 tsp (or to taste) kosher salt

1/2 tsp (or to taste) freshly ground black pepper

1/2-3/4 c cheddar cheese (can use other cheese if desired: blue, feta, monterey jack, etc.)

Place hamburger in large bowl. Break up with your fingers so the meat is loose. Add salt, pepper, and cheese. Mix gently with your fingers until combined. Divide into burgers (this amount of meat for us usually makes about 4 good-sized burgers). Shape into 1/2-3/4" burgers gently, pressing meat so that it holds together but is not tightly packed. After each burger is formed, lay on a flat surface and press gently into the center of each burger a slight but definite circular indentation (about 1/2" circumference). The purpose of this is to make the center of each burger slightly thinner than the rest of the burger so the burger will cook at a uniform rate. After preheating and cleaning grill, cook each burger about 3 minutes on each side. Do NOT press down on hamburger with spatula during grilling. Serve immediately with your favorite condiments and toppings (some of our favorite toppings are tomatoes, pickles, avocados, mushrooms, lettuce). Tell me if it's not one of the best burgers you've ever had.

Update on Homemade Naan . . .

I know I haven't posted in a while . . . life just gets crazy and some things have to go by the wayside! I have a couple of posts I will sit down and work on soon, but wanted to give an update on the homemade naan bread from the shakshuka post. The recipe I listed makes a TON of dough, enough for 16 large pieces of naan. This is way too much for my family, and you can half the recipe, but it was too much of a pain for me last time. So, AFTER rising, I divided the dough in two, wrapped one half securely in press and seal wrap and stuck it in the freezer (I labeled it, too, because I don't know about your freezer but sometimes there are a few mystery items . . . ). Last night I wanted shakshuka again but didn't have the time to make the dough. So I took the frozen dough out, let it sit on the counter for a while (maybe 45 minutes), then divided it into 8 and rolled and cooked the naan according to the original recipe. When I divided it, some pieces were fairly cold and a tiny bit frozen still, but working with it warmed it up and when I rolled it, it was just fine. I was pleasantly surprised, the resulting naan was great, the only difference between the fresh dough was that the frozen resulted in slightly chewier naan, but it was still tasty and DEFINITELY worth the time/work savings for last night's dinner.
You can freeze other doughs, I've had varied results with them. Pizza dough tends to work out okay, bread dough is okay but I don't think it's as light with frozen/thawed dough. Just make sure if you're going to freeze dough that you do it AFTER the initial rise.
Enjoy!