Key Lime Pie.

As a foodbuzz publisher I receive all kinds of fun opportunities and challenges. For the  next six weeks I get to choose a Daily Special once a week that inspires me to whip up something tasty. I post about it here and give you a handy link back to Foodbuzz Daily Special so you too can feel a little inspired or hopeful too. The daily special features some fun kitchen gadget or utensil. Today it is these really cool (http://www.foodbuzz.com/daily_special) silicone ball - heat resistant whisks. I have to say that as I was whipping up the key lime pie, I couldn't help but think I wanted one of these funky and fun new whisks.

This pie is also inspired by the fact that I received a large amount of key limes in my Bountiful Basket purchases a week ago. I have always wanted to make a key lime pie from scratch and now I had an overflowing bounty of the the green little gems. So, while most of this recipe is from fresh ingredients and not pantry items, I hope it will be a reminder that delicious things can come out of your kitchen when we use in season items or what we have around us. I am a big believer in getting the best out of what you have. And occasionally that means a tasty, tart key lime pie.

Disclaimer: I always thought key lime pie was low fat. Not so my friends. Not so. It is decidedly high in eggs and fat but it is refreshing and tasty. This recipe comes from my favorite pie book Tarts With Tops On ( A deliciously naughty title, don't you think). I made some very minor changes. Also, there are recipes for key lime pie that call for sweetened condensed milk. This is not one of them. I just happened to be out of that ingredient. So I went for the butter loaded version.

Key Lime Pie

1 graham cracker crust (homemade or store bought) I would suggest not using the chocolate graham crust. It was a little too bitter for this recipe.

3/4 Cup Sugar

4 Whole eggs and 2 egg yolks. (make sure you save those egg whites in the freezer for another day)

Juice of 4 to 5 key limes

grated zest of 2 limes

1 Cup butter, diced

Whip Cream

1 1/2 Cups heavy cream
1 Tb sugar
1 Tb of vanilla

To make pie. Beat together eggs and egg yolks, sugar, lime juice and zest with a whisk in a glass heat resistant bowl. Cook the mixture in a double boiler.  Place glass bowl over simmering ( not boiling) saucepan of water. Water in saucepan should not touch glass bowl. Continue to gently whisk until mixture thickens to a soft set pudding consistency. Remove from heat and whisk in butter until melted. Pour into a precooked crumb crust and chill for 2 to 4 hours until set.

Whip cream until soft peaks form, add in sugar and vanilla beat for a few seconds. Top pie with whip cream.

Grilled Sourdough Pizza Melt

Let's talk pepperoni. Pepperoni is versatile and practical. It can be stored for at least 4 months on the shelf (if you buy the shelf pepperoni), in the refrigerator or longer in the freezer. It is relatively inexpensive and it is well-loved on pizzas everywhere. It is therefore a fun addition to your food storage.

So, in case you are wondering what a pizza melt has in common with the theme of this blog it is that I always keep pepperoni on hand. And when you are eating out of your food storage or pantry it offers a comforting change of pace. You can add it to so many things. Although we are going to discuss canning meat in the next couple months ( I got a new and huge pressure canner) today I am urging you to add a little simplicity and variety to your store of meat. After all, we don't always want to eat tuna fish and canned chicken.

This Pizza Melt is a different way to grill up some pizza heaven. If you are a bread baker you can always whip up some of your own sourdough bread. I cheated and bought the daily discount bread from the bakery. $1.45 for a loaf of heavy bakery bread is a steal and I would be lying if I told you I always bake my own bread.

The Pizza Melt

butter or margarine
a pack of pepperoni slices.
shredded cheese ( stock up on shredded cheese when it is on sale and throw it in the freezer.)
1/2 cup of pizza sauce.
sourdough bread slices
olives -- optional

Heat a grill on the stove to medium. Butter one side of each slice of bread. Coat one slice with pizza sauce, layer with cheese, pepperoni and olives. Top with remaining slice of bread and grill until golden. Turn and repeat.

Easy!

Low Fat Refried Bean Wraps

I always have a few cans of refried beans stashed away. They are a great protein source, side dish and if you buy the lowfat version, healthy. I love the nonfat lime chile refried beans but my new favorite is black bean refried beans. I love black beans and I will choose them over pintos or kidneys any day. I also have a favorite recipe for those cans of refried beans. I am still looking for more good ways to use refried beans in recipes. They are a pantry staple. And please don't tell me about the famous refried bean pie. I have heard it is delicious. I am just not brave enough to try it yet and I really am a big fan of fruit pies. So I don't really want to try refried bean pie. On the other hand, I love these roll-ups. I have used them for years as an appetizer for potlucks. I always get requests for the recipe.

Last week I tried them with my new fave black bean refried beans and I ate the whole thing for lunch. It was a tasty low fat meal that was a nice change from my regular lunch diet of salads. You can adapt this recipe from one to six wraps.

I am going to give you the directions for one. It is an easy no-cook recipe that can easily be doubled or tripled.

Flour tortilla

2 TB non fat or low fat black bean refried beans or chile lime refried beans (heated)

2 TB Low fat or non fat sour cream

1-2 TB of salsa

2 tsp chopped olives
1 green onion

1 Tb of shredded cheese (optional)

Layer ingredients in order on top of tortilla. Spread each layer to within an inch of edge. Roll tightly and chill for at least 10 minutes.

For an appetizer roll tightly in plastic wrap and chill at least 1/2 hour. Remove and slice into 2 inch slices. Serve.

Heritage Cooking and Shoyu Chicken

It is shameless promo time again. Yep, May's issue of Alive! Utah is up and that means we have an all new Taste section. I did not write the feature article this month. It was written by my new friend Adrianne Tawa. But she has a lovely article discussing the role of cooking as a part of our heritage. We all bring our mothers or fathers into the kitchen with us when we cook. I love when I cook my Grandma's recipes. It is like I can feel her puttering around the kitchen.

Adrianne's lovely article is followed up by some absolutely yummy Polynesian recipes. She lived in Hawaii (although she spent much of her life in Utah) and married a native Polynesian from New Zealand. Therefore, Polynesian cooking has become a huge part of her family's heritage. So if you are feeling like a little reminiscing about the cooks who shaped your early kitchen experiences or if you just want some easy and delicious recipes hailing from the islands go check our latest Taste section. Heritage Cooking

I did, however, write the accompanying article on How to Make Your Own Cookbook online.
An excerpt:

"Little scraps of paper tucked into boxes, handwritten recipe cards splashed with sauce and smudged with flour: is this the state of your family recipes? Well-loved recipes are a family treasure. In many ways they are a part of our family history. Fortunately, technology creates better organizing and preserving solutions for these kitchen treasures?"
The article: Make Your Own Cookbook

Creamy Hamburger Stew

It snowed in Southern Utah today, it snowed last week and the week before that. We are all a little ticked off here. We are cold and we want our sun back. Hey, I will even take the wind if it would just warm up and be Spring. So, that is my preface to a blog post on a creamy hearty stew recipe being offered up in May. Sometimes when you are feeling a little put out by the weather you just need warm comfort food, And this stew hits the spot. You should have seen the dissapointment when I announced that weekly soup day was a thing of the past for the next few months last week when I served up this family (and mommy favorite). WHAT? WHY? "Because it is just going to be too hot," I told my loyal soup  lovers. And then it went and snowed again today and I realized there will be a few cold blustery days ahead of us (and they better be just a few) and we,and maybe you, will need a good comforting soup to warm yourself up.


I have been making this easy soup that relies on basic veggies and pantry staples for years. You can also make substitutions and this soup still works. Substitutions below.

1 lb hamburger
1 tbsp of montreal steak seasoning.
1 tbsp of steak sauce (a.k.a A1)
3 Tb of dehydrated onions or 1/2 Cup onion chopped
1 tsp of garlic powder.

2 Cups of tomato juice or 1 1/2 Cups tomato sauce plus 1/2 cup to 1 Cup of water.
1 C. Potatoes, peeled and cubed
1 C. Carrots, sliced thin or shredded
1 C. or 1 Can of corn, drained. or 1 C. Lima beans
1 to 1  1/2 tsp salt
1 cup fresh swiss chard leaves or spinach leaves (optional)

White Sauce
2 T. butter
2 T. flour
2 C milk

Brown hamburger in large skillet with seasonings and onions.

Add tomato juice or sauce/water, vegetables and salt. Cover and simmer until veggies are soft. Add more water if you feel it is too thick for your taste. But remember we are adding a white sauce later.

In a small saucepan melt butter and stir in flour. Add milk and simmer until just thickened. Stir into hot stew and serve.

TIP: The key to a really flavorful hamburger stew is seasoning your hamburger well in the beginning. Bland hamburger equals bland stew.

Dessert Peach Burritos w/ Caramel Sauce

I had to squeeze in a little Cinco de Mayo post. And that's not all  that I am having to squeeze in after the awesome pork carnitas, seafood nachos, black bean refried beans (at least these were lowfat) and peach dessert burritos I stuffed myself with tonight. Oh it was good. And although I really have no reason to celebrate Cinco de Mayo I have to eat Mexican on this day. Perhaps it is for my two native Mexican born aunts. Love and miss those ladies.

OK these peach burritos are sweet little bites of heaven on so many levels. First of all I love that there was no frying involved ( all I could find were fried desserts for tonight), no flan involved -- sorry not a flan fan and so easy. Second they are super foodstorage, pantry friendly. Hey you can even make your own tortillas if you feel so inclined. I have a recipe for that --  tortillas.

Finally, they were a hit with the family -- every last one of them.

So without further ado.

Peach Burritos.

2 to 4 flour tortillas depending size. I used the biggest tortillas you have ever seen and therefore only needed two for my fam of 5.

1/2 cup peach preserves (I used cinnamon peach)
1 pint of canned peaches, drained
1 tsp of cinnamon (optional)

Caramel sauce.
1/2 Cup margarine or butter
1/2 Cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup water.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Make sauce

Heat sauce ingredients in a medium saucepan until boiling, stirring occasionally. Reduce heat and simmer 3 minutes. Remove from heat.

Spray a rimmed cookie sheet. Place tortilla on sheet before filling.

Spread burritos with peach preserves add a row of peach slices down the middle. Sprinkle with cinnamon.

Roll tortillas and cover with caramel sauce. Reserve about 1/4 cup.

Bake for 20 minutes.

Remove from heat and drizzle with more sauce.