The hardest parts about making this pie are getting ahold of Key limes, and zesting and juicing all those little marbles (you will want to zest the Key limes first, then juice them). Everything else is pretty simple. I make a couple kinds of crusts with this pie, either a macadamia crust or a chocolate crust. Either is delicious, and both are simple to make, especially if you have a food processor. The trick to this pie is to bake it for much less time than you think, and then to let it sit in the turned off oven for the remaining time that you would have baked it. This results in a smooth, crack free, and perfectly custardy pie. Oh, there is one more difficult part in making this pie - waiting for it to cool so you can eat it!

1 1/4 cup Nabisco's Best chocolate cookie crumbs
1/4 cup sugar
6 tablespoons butter, melted

2 14 ounce cans sweetened condensed milk
1/2 cup sour cream
1 cup Key lime juice
grated Key lime zest for garnish
lightly sweetened whipped cream for garnish

Preheat oven to 350˚F. Combine crumbs, sugar and butter. I do this all in my food processor, first pulsing to grind up the cookies, then adding the sugar and melted butter. Press crumbs into bottom and sides of a 9 inch pie pan. Bake for 10 minutes.

Combine sweetened condensed milk, sour cream and key lime juice. Stir until smooth. Pour into pie pan. Bake for 12 minutes at 350˚F, until tiny bubbles form on the surface. Turn off oven and let pie sit in closed oven for 25 minutes – do not allow to brown. Remove from oven and allow to cool to room temperature. Chill at least 2 hours before serving. Garnish with whipped cream and lime zest.

Sesame Green Beans

These green beans are supposed to approximate the kind you can get at a Chinese buffet. They are tasty, I know what goes in them, and they are relatively quick to make.

1 1/2 pounds green beans (fresh or frozen - I often use the 24 ounce package of Trader Joe's haricots verts)
3 tablespoons sunflower oil
1 cup slivered almonds
10 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1/4 cup soy sauce
3 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
1/4 cup toasted sesame seeds

Heat oil over medium high heat in large pan. Saute green beans and nuts and toss briefly. Add garlic and continue to saute. Pour in soy sauce and sugar and stir until soy sauce reduces and sugar dissolves. Sprinkle with pepper and toss to mix.

Remove from heat and toss in sesame seeds. Serve.

Labels: Homemaking, Recipes, Tales from the Kitchen

// posted by Ranee @ Arabian Knits @ 2:41 PM