Wednesdays Unplugged – Lemon Meringue Pie & Sesame Crusted Pork Chops

As Wednesdays Unplugged developed over the past year a cup of quotes to share was added to top off our family meals, much like Chinese fortune cookies. I will be sharing one with you each week along with a recipe or two.

The cup holding the quotes has its own family history, given to my grandmother more than 60 years ago by her family in Norway.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

"I have found that if you love life, life will love you back." ~ Arthur Rubenstein

RECIPE(S) OF THE WEEK

As I tried to figure out what to start with in my recipe sharing I thought of ‘eat dessert first’ and decided to share a recipe for my favorite pie…lemon meringue. The photo below is of the one I made for dinner last week…long gone!

I couldn’t resist also sharing another recipe from last week…simple but delicious ‘Sesame Crusted Pork Chops’. I never used to care much for pork chops, usually found them rather dry and tough…until I learned that the key is not to overcook them. These are juicy and delicious!

LEMON MERINGUE PIE with brown sugar meringue

recipe from Cuisine at Home

Crust

1 ¼        cups all-purpose flour

2             T. sugar

½           tsp. table salt

½           stick unsalted butter, cold, cubed (4 T.)

1. Whisk flour, sugar and salt together in a bowl. Cut in butter and shortening with a pastry blender until butter is pea-size.
2. Add ice water, stirring with a fork until dough comes together but is neither dry nor sticky. Wrap dough in plastic, flatten into a disk, and chill at least 30 minutes.
3. Preheat oven to 400° with rack in the lower third; coat a 9” pie plate with nonstick spray.
4. Roll dough on lightly floured surface to about 1/8” thick. Fold in quarters and transfer to pie plate. Turn under and crimp edge, trim excess.
5. Freeze pie shell until firm, line with foil and fill with beans or rice (to prevent the sides from sagging).
6. Place pie plate on a baking sheet and bake until crust is set, 20-25 minutes.
7. Remove foil and weights, return crust to oven and bake until golden, about 10 minutes longer…set out to cool.
8. Reduce oven temperature to 300°.

Filling

4             eggs

4             egg yolks (reserve whites)

1              cup sugar

¾           cup fresh squeezed lemon juice, strained

½           cup heavy cream

1              T. lemon zest, minced

1/8         tsp. table salt

1. Whisk eggs, yolks, and sugar together in a bowl until smooth.
2. Stir in remaining ingredients, then pour filling into pre-baked crust on a baking sheet (so it’s easier to move).
3. Carefully transfer the pie to the oven and bake just until filling is set in the center, 25-30 minutes.
4. Allow pie to cool 20 minutes on a rack, then cover with plastic wrap and chill at least 6 hours or overnight.

Brown Sugar Meringue

¾           cup light brown sugar (NOT dark)

½           cup sugar

¼           cup water

4             egg whites (reserved)

¼           tsp cream of tartar

1. Preheat oven to 400°.
2. Stir both sugars and water together in a saucepan. Heat over medium until sugars melt, swirling pan often; do not stir (this may cause the sugar to crystallize). Increase heat to medium-high and boil, swirling frequently, until it reaches 250°. Remove syrup from heat.
3. Beat egg whites and cream of tartar at medium-high speed in a stand mixer with whisk attachment while sugar syrup boils. When whites reach soft peaks, begin drizzling in hot sugar syrup. Once syrup is incorporated, turn mixer to high and beat until meringue is stiff and glossy.
4. Spoon meringue on the pie, spreading it to seal at the crust. Create decorative peaks and valleys in the meringue.
5. Bake until meringue is golden, 8-12 minutes – do not over-bake or filling will become soft.

SESAME CRUSTED PORK CHOPS

recipe from Cuisine at Home

1              tsp. salt

¼           tsp. Chinese five spice power

4             boneless center-cut pork chops (5 oz each)

2+          T. white sesame seeds

2 +         tsp. black sesame seeds

               Orange marmalade

2             T. peanut oil

1. Preheat oven to 375°.
2. Mix salt with five spice powder and sprinkle on both sides of pork chops. Combine both types of sesame seeds in a shallow dish. Brush one side of each chop with marmalade and coat that side with sesame seed mixture.
3. Saute chops, seed side down, in oil in a large ovenproof sauté pan over medium heat. Cook until golden, about 3-4 minutes, then turn chops over and transfer pan to the oven and roast until cooked through, about 8-10 minutes.

Sharlene Hensrud, RE/MAX Results – Email – Website