The New Recipe Challenge: Pumpkin Meringue Pie

The most beautiful pie in the world

Look at this pie. It's like, the most beautiful thing in the world. Just read the caption; it says it right there. This pic is not mine. It is not the pie I made. I am a mere mortal, incapable of creating such a heavenly pie. Here is mine. 

My photography skills are fierce, eh? The secret: have 2 Old Fashions, use unnatural light only and work with your phone camera. Ok back to the pie.

I brought this to a Christmas dinner that some friends were hosting. I ran out of time, so I whipped up the meringue and placed in a ziplock bag at home. After dinner I piped the topping and browned under the broiler in my friends' kitchen. Not sure if the meringue lost volume in the transportation, but I got nowhere near the height shown in the recipe's image. Jeez Louise, I forgot how much I love meringue though. I'm realizing that anything with egg whites is an instant win in my book. Meringue, marshmallows, egg white drinks, egg white omelets... Just kidding about the omelets. I mean, they're ok and all. Anyway- PIE! I was talking about pie. The pumpkin portion was fantastic, a little sweeter and darker than a typical pumpkin pie. The meringue was amazing against the custard-like filling. 

The dessert was a success with the rest of the dinner guests as well. One asked for the recipe, another went back for a large second helping, and James started raving and didn't stop until two days later. 

Some modifications I did: I don't care for (american) cinnamon, so I used only half a teaspoon and added a tablespoon of cardamom instead. I have no 8" spring form pan so I just used my regular 9.5" pie pan. (I also used my go-to pie crust recipe, from Joy of Cooking.) This meant no "deep dish" presentation, and surprisingly, the pumpkin filling part of the pie took perhaps an additional 15 minutes to cook. 

Repeat Factor: Absolutely will make this again. 

Next Time: Cut the sugar in the meringue and work on incorporating an additional flavor into it instead? Maybe the cardamom can go here. Or fresh ginger?

Deep Dish Pumpkin Meringue Pie

The New Recipe Challenge: Green Tea Shortbread Cookies

I've had a bag of matcha in the cupboard for a while now. I think originally for flavoring/color in icing? Anyway, was invited to a cookie exchange recently, so I thought it was a good excuse to try out that green tea powder. These Green Tea Shortbread Cookies were simple enough to try. Not sure if the powder breaks down after some time, but my dough, while definitely green tinted, was nowhere near as vivid as the dough shown with the recipe. 

As far as the flavor, this was a nice shortbread. The green tea flavor was very subtle (another sign that the powder may have been old?) After dusting with sugar, I dusted the cookies again with straight matcha powder in an attempt to layer up the tea flavors. However, whenever any hint of moisture hit the powder, the tea bloomed into a dark smear. While this didn't negatively affect the taste, it made for a certainly unattractive cookie. No one likes eating what appears to be a moldy cookie.

Repeat Factor: Possible, but Low

A decent recipe, but not really wowing my pants off, if you know what I mean. 

Next Time: Lay off the powder at the end. ;)

the New Recipe Challenge: Coconut Noodle Salad with Caramelized Limes

EEEEGAAWWWD where to even start with this one. First off, the recipe is sorely lacking in detail. Of course I take this as free license to start freestyling right off the bat. Heavily. I've got about a 50% success rate when I do this with new recipes. That's pretty good odds of strong, unequivocal failure. And I'm chalking this one up on the FAIL side. 

Where did it all go wrong? Well, Numero Uno Bad Sign: I suspect this is supposed to be a cold noodle salad. But nowhere does it REALLY say that. So I decided to make it hot. No protein mentioned in recipe, so I decide to add shrimp. The amount of noodles seemed large, but that's the one thing I apparently didn't have the mind to question. Dressing is supposed to be on the side; I'm going to cook the shrimp in it instead. An entire tb of sugar? I do half. Oh and hey- why don't I try to do this in one pan, just to make it fun? 

Verdict: Overcooked shrimp on a massive amount of almost gummy, bitter rice noodles, not enough discernible liquid left over for moisture, no real understanding what the hell the limes are doing on this plate, blah blah blah. The limes were a mystery all to themselves. They never caramelize- just seeped copious amounts of juices that had to be drained half way through. The peels made for a very bitter component, especially contrasted against the juice-soaked sugar (this flavor combo was the only redeeming element of the experience.) While not exactly palatable on their own, the pulp squeezed from them was intriguing when blended with the dressing. Speaking of dressing, the dish was edible once another side of the coconut cream and fish sauce was added for moisture (this time, with the sugar.) The dish fared better when eaten as leftovers for lunch the next day- debased to the microwave status of ready-to-heat dishes like Annie Chung Pad Thai. 

Next time: What of these limes? Must explore.

Repeat factor: Non-existent for this recipe. 

Another bad sign: I don't like how "caramelised" is spelled in the dish's name. Click through to see for yourself.  

the New Recipe Challenge: Chocolate-Caramel Pecan Tart

Ah holidays; yes! My favorite excuse to overeat sugar! I made this tart for a Thanksgiving dinner. While pumpkin pie is normally my go-to, the friend that had invited me had already called dibs on creating the most awesomest of all holiday pies. Seemed a perfect time to venture out into the great unknown. Tarts. And now, with no further adieu, Chocolate-Caramel Pecan Tart.

Verdict: DELICIOUSNESS IN SMOKY NUT FORM
Smoky nuts, salty hint, flakey crust- this is nowhere near the cloying goo of a typical pecan pie. 

I had no tart pan with removable bottom, but just threw the crust into a spring-form cake pan. At first I was dismayed to find that my crust shrank in considerably from the edges, but really, turned out to be no big thing. So don't worry about what kind of baking pan you use. 
The bit about cooking the corn syrup for 8-10 minutes... complete lie. Just watch it carefully- it turns fast. Luckily, Mama was on hand and coached me through most. Including a bit where she stopped me from scraping gritty bits of sugar back down to the goey mass. Apparently that is a big no-no in candy making, and I narrowly escaped turning my batch into a gruesome crystalline mess. Or something. 
Next Time: I doubled the salt as well- and I probably could have used even more. Other than that- I'm not changing a thing. 
Repeat factor: Very high. 

the New Recipe Challenge: Chipotle Pumpkin Soup with Chorizo & Apples

Wow, it's been a while! So hectic, much time, blah blah blah. 
Ok, now on to the good stuff; I've been pushing myself to try one new recipe a week. 
Last week I made a large batch of this Chipotle Pumpkin Soup. The recipe can be found here.

Verdict: A solid recipe, that definitely got me thinking about other directions to take this, should I attempt again. 
I usually find smoked paprika a bit heavy handed, and that was no different here. I doubled the coconut milk. The chorizo (as much as I detest cooking it, the oil, ugh) was absolutely necessary to the texture of the soup,  that fatty grease was perfect drizzled over the top! The apples were also an awesome addition- I wanted much more than what the recipe called for. The acorn squash halves functioning as bowls? Completely superfluous, but I had to. 

Next time: Double the coconut milk and omit the cheese. Change out the spices to perhaps some star anise, coriander seed, cardamom, or a chili blend a little more sophisticated. Rethink the protein addition? Halve the recipe as well. 

Repeat Factor: Yes, but doubtful in this exact form again.