Pecan Kisses√

When I first arrived in Gainesville I became obsessed with sour oranges. My new friend Corky had a sour orange tree in her garden - a good orange tree turned 'native' after a hurricane. Her tree was full of oranges. She had been letting them fall to the ground and rot for many years. I experimented with sour oranges - cooking nearly everything that asked for key limes - and finding Sour Orange Pie (with a pecan shortbread crust) to be a hands-down winner. I couldn't get enough oranges. She stripped her tree and I filled my freezer with one cup portions of juice and grated rind so I wouldn't get withdrawals when the sour orange season was over. Here's the problem - I made so many dishes that involved egg yolks my fridge became literally overrun with egg whites. I don't particularly like meringues so I searched for a way to make a 'cookie' that uses up the exact number of egg whites that are left over after making a fruit curd or a sour orange pie!
Here they are! Divine little dairy-and-wheat/gluten free, meringue-like cookies. They use less than half the sugar of other similar recipes. Depending on how long you cook them they are crisp and crunchy (better than biscotti!), or soft and chewy! It is impossible to eat one of them. I have known grown men to eat 10 or more in one sitting!
This recipe makes about 40 tablespoon size cookies or about 60-80 small ones and is really quick and easy to cook up!

Ingredients
5 eggs (about a cup of egg whites) at room temperature
1/8 teaspoon of salt
1 cup soft brown sugar
2 cups of ground pecans (or 1 cup ground and 1 cup roughly chopped)

Turn the oven on to 250 degrees
Whisk the egg whites & salt till they form soft peaks.
Add the sugar gradually and carry on whisking until the peaks are stiffer (it's possible to get stiff whites with confectioner's sugar but the flavor isn't the same).
Fold in the pecans.
Line 3 cookie sheets or pans with lightly greased parchment. *
Drop even sized spoonfuls with half inch gaps (they shouldn't spread much).

Cook for 45 minutes (for chewy cookies)
Cook for one hour or a bit longer (for crisper cookies).

* Use a flavorless oil like safflower or sunflower or canola. I often don't bother greasing the parchment - once they are cool I peel off the paper carefully so as not to leave any on the cookies!

Sour Orange Pie√

This is key lime pie without the bitter edge, without the ghastly after-taste of citric acid that comes in every bottle of key lime juice and/or without the time-consuming work of squeezing a bagful of slippery key limes.

This is a pie to die for - it is utterly, exquisitely, eye-rollingly delicious. The crust needs a little work - it is a pecan, shortbread crust that is pretty damn good but I would like it to be a little crisper - a little more cookie-like, so that the juxtaposition between the crisp base and the soft filling create a kind of edible symphony! I achieved this one time but didn't make a note of the proportions I used. Grrr. The lovely orange flavors ring through more clearly than with a sweet orange and the rind colors it as well. One time I tried to intensify the color of the filling using prickly pear juice - I forgot that purple + white (milk) = pink and I ended up with the most disgusting looking pie in the world - the color of pepto-bismol. We ate that one with our eyes closed.

Ingredients for one 9-10" pie

The Pecan Shortcrust Base
6 oz flour
4 oz ground pecans (or chopped and toasted if you want a crunchy base)
5 oz brown sugar
6 oz cold unsalted butter
Turn the oven to 300 degrees
~Process the flour and butter lightly (or cut then rub the butter into the flour)
~Fold in brown sugar and the nuts~Add a little ice water to make it stick together~Pat into a buttered/floured pan. Use the bottom of a flat glass to flatten it gently.
~Bake for 45 mins or until light brown and smelling heavenly.

Set aside to cool for an hour or two. This helps with the final texture of the base – if you add the filling when it's still warm the base will be softer.

While you are waiting for it to cool you can separate the egg yolks from the whites and make a batch of Pecan Meringue Kisses!

Quicker, Easier Crust
2/3 cup rice flour
1/3 cup ground almonds
1/3 cup sugar
1 stick butter
pinch salt

Throw everything into a bowl and microwave on high for 30-45 minutes (until the butter is soft/melting). Beat it all until well mixed. Press into a 10" pan and prick with a fork.
Bake at 300 degrees for 45-55 minutes - until golden brown. Cool completely.

Quickest Crust of All
Of course you can use a pre-fabricated Graham Pie Crust and I often do ... they are just fine. I also squeeze a ton of oranges at once and freeze them in one cup batches so I can whip up a quick pie at a moments notice in a few quick minutes!!!

The Sour Orange Filling
5 large egg yolks
1 14 oz can of sweetened condensed milk
1 cup of sour orange juice
grated rind of 2 oranges or lemons

Turn the oven to 350 degreesBlend all ingredients for 20 seconds or whisk like crazy for a good minute.Pour into the cake pan and bake for 25-30 mins (to set the pie and kill the salmonella!)
If you add more juice it will need to be cooked a bit longer.
When it puffs up just a little and bubbles start forming it is done.Finishing TouchesTop it with some berries - in an untidy, uneven pile, or arranged carefully around the edge so every slice gets one (or more!)
A sprinkling of flowers from the garden are lovely
A mandala of small edible leaves (mint, lemon balm or cranberry hibiscus are perfect)!

Eat It!This pie is delectable warm, delicious cold, even better the next day.
Serve it with cream and/or a raspberry coulis (fresh raspberry sauce), or chopped strawberries.It lasts a good week in the fridge (not mine!) but remember that the crust becomes softer over time.

Working Notes!
If you prefer your pies more tart than sweet then add the juice of one lemon to ‘brighten’ it.
There’s no way around the tin of condensed milk – it’s a strange ingredient for a whole food nut but it works like nothing else.
Switch out the pecans for walnuts or hazelnuts.
The rind adds color and deepens the orange flavors in the tart. You can omit it if you like or replace the orange with lemon rind.
If you use lemon juice or rind try a Meyer’s lemon (my personal favorite) which has a slight tangerine tang to it.
Use a 'rasp' to grate the rind - it's super quick and easy and you only get the aromatic outside i.e. none of the white at all.

Update - A Happy Accident
We went to Sabina and Zeeb's beautiful new house for dinner tonight and they made a yummy fondue. I took a sour orange pie for desert but forgot to separate the eggs - I just threw 5 whole eggs into the blender and whizzed them with a cup of sour orange juice, some meyers' lemon juice and a can of sweetened condensed milk. I had to bake it for longer to set it (about 45 minutes). Instead of the thin dense pie the whole eggs made a lighter, slightly custardy tart. It was absolutely delicious. Maybe more so ...




Perfection
I never make my own crust any more - the ready bought organic graham crusts are the best. I use 3 egg yolks and 3 whole eggs with 1 can of sweetened, condensed milk, 1 cup of sour orange juice, the juice of a lemon topped up to 1/3 of a cup with sour orange juice, the grated rind of 2 tangerines. This makes 2 pies to die for.
Baked at 350 for 20-25 minutes they are perfection warm.


Use a pan with a removable side if you make your own crust – we Brits call these spring-form – I’m not sure what they are called in the US.

Sour Orange Ice Cream√

A couple of years ago for Barb Esrig's birthday potluck I decided to make an ice cream to accompany the cake she had ordered a cake from Jenny's (the very best cakes in town *).
I started wondering about adapting the Sour Orange Pie filling to make into an ice cream. I looked on line for ice cream recipes that used condensed milk and eggs but none involved cooking the eggs. I didn't like the idea of making ice cream with raw eggs so decided to make a quick 'custard' with the milks and yolks and to use that as my base. I thawed a couple of sour orange blocks from the freezer and mixed them in. It could not have been easier - or more delicious.

Ingredients:

6 large egg yolks
2 cans sweetened condensed milk
pinch of salt

1 cup half and half
1 cup whole milk
2 cups sour orange juice1/4 cup orange zest

Put the half & half, milk, condensed milk, and salt in a saucepan over medium heat.

While it is heating whisk the egg yolks in a ceramic or glass mixing bowl and then pay attention to the pan, stirring fairly frequently to make sure it doesn't stick or burn.

When bubbles start to form around the edges, remove from the heat.

Pour 1/2 of the warm milk mixture onto the yolks in a slow, steady stream, whisking constantly.

Pour the yolk mixture back into the saucepan and whisk again.

Heat the mixture over a low heat, and barely simmer, stirring constantly, until it thickens - or until it registers 165°F (about 5 minutes).

Strain the mixture into a large (ceramic or glass) mixing bowl and cool in the fridge for several hours or overnight. Cover it once it has cooled down otherwise the condensation will drip back into the custard and add 'water' to it.

Add two cups of sour orange juice and at least 1/4 cup of very finely grated zest (use a microplane, NOT a traditional grater).

Then freeze it of course - I use a machine that I pack with salt and ice - it works great but is a pain in the butt, fiddly, messy and incredibly noisy. If you do not have a machine then pour it into a tray and take it out of the freezer every hour or two at least 3 or even 4 times, whisking it like crazy each time otherwise it will freeze into a horrid, icy block.

The proof of the ice cream was in the eating and it proved to be a good one. Really good! So good that Ruth and Grace suggested I open an ice cream parlor. I can see it now: Miranda's Lemonade & Ice Cream Stand. It would open when I had freshly made ice cream in stock and close when I'd run out. I would make it from locally grown, organic produce (including organic milk/cream and eggs!) People would bring me fruit from their garden and they would get a pot of ice cream in return.
Notes: I am sure you could make it with all milk or all half and half or you could even make it with cream. It will be lighter and more refreshing with milk and get richer and creamier the more half and half and/or cream you use.

* Jenny's cupcakes are so fabulous that buying one is simply not possible. She is sometimes open in the evenings and on two memorable occasions Ellen and I found her open at dinner time. We had 3 cupcakes each. For dinner. At a certain age you cannot have a proper dinner and cupcakes and keep any semblance of control over your 'girl-ish figures'!