January's Pie: Coconut Cream

That's right, I'm starting a pie of the month gig and I'm sneaking in this recipe for January just before the month ends. We've been serving these little babies at the restaurant since October and they've been hugely popular. I think what really makes the difference is that we fill the prebaked pie shells with the coconut custard to order and bake the meringue to order so the crust stays nice and crisp and the meringue doesn't "weep" all over the pie after sitting for a while. One thing to note here is that although I love meringue, I prefer this pie with a whipped cream topping so I'm going to provide that in the recipe. I'll also give you my meringue as well so you can choose - or you can save it to use as a topping on a different pie.

Coconut Cream Pie

Recipe fills a 9 inch prebaked pie crust - make sure it is cooked through on the bottom. To do this line pie crust with foil and pie weights (I use dried beans) and bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes. Remove pie crust from oven and let it cool long enough for you to safely remove the foil and pie weights; maybe 10 minutes. return to the oven and bake for an additional 8 minutes or so until the crust bottom is golden brown. For a good pie crust recipe search through my quiche post.

1/2 cup sugar

4 TBS cornstarch

1/2 tsp salt

2 1/2 cups whole milk, scalded

4 egg yolks

2 tsp vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups unsweetened shredded
coconut

2 TBS unsalted butter

Combine the sugar, cornstarch , and salt in a medium size mixing bowl. Whisk in the scalded milk. Set over a pot of simmering water (bain marie) and whisk until the mixture is slightly thickened. While whisking, gradually add the egg yolks into the hot milk mixture (this is called tempering in the eggs, so that you don't scramble them in the process). Place the bowl over a bain marie and cook until it is thick and custard like - stirring frequently so as not to curdle it. When the custard coats your spoon it is ready and you can carefully remove the bowl from the heat and add the vanilla and butter. Whisk to melt butter and add the coconut. Chill thoroughly before filling your cooled pie shell.

Whipped Cream Topping:

1 1/2 cups cold heavy cream

2 TBS sugar

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

toasted unsweetened shredded coconut

Combine cream, sugar, and vanilla and whip until you have a medium stiff peak - at some later date I'll try to include some photos of the difference between soft, medium, and stiff peaks for both whipped cream and meringue. For this pie - if you are making one whole pie and not individual ones, you will need your cream to be stiff enough to slice through without oozing everywhere, yet be careful not to over whip it and start making butter.

So now fill your pie, top it with whipped cream, and sprinkle with the toasted coconut. You should chill the entire pie to set it for at least 45 minutes so you can get a fairly clean slice. Or do what I do and buy some individual pie pans so you don't have to worry about that - just plop a pie on a plate and you're done!

And before I forget . . . the Meringue recipe . . . this is for French Meringue. There are three distinctly different methods: French, Italian, and Swiss and if you'd like to study up on the differences there's a pretty good summation at http://www.baking911.com/howto/meringues.htm.

Meringue

4 egg whites

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

Place egg whites in a very clean, dry mixing bowl and whisk on low until it gets frothy and opaque. Now increase the speed to medium and beat until you get smooth medium peaks then start gradually adding the powdered sugar a tablespoon at a time. Then beat on high until you achieve stiff peaks, ie. when you remove the whisk from the meringue it stands up on end maybe only drooping over a little bit. Once again be careful not to over beat - if it looks dry and separated you've taken it to far and, well, you need to start again.

Just a word - this mixture will be whisking for a while so once you add all the sugar go start washing the dishes or something and check it periodically. And also, I use a Kitchen Aid for just about all whisking and mixing that I do so if you're functioning without, I hope you've got some strong biceps and triceps cause you'll be working them.

If you're doing individual pies you can try my method of piping or spooning out little mounds of meringue on oiled parchment paper and putting them in the freezer until you are ready to serve. Then put them on a sheet pan, still on the paper of course, and bake them at 400 degrees until they are golden brown. After about 30 seconds of cooling, they should peel right off the paper into your hand and you can invert it onto the pie.

If you've made a nine inch pie, top the custard with he meringue, making pretty swirls and such with your spatula or knife, and then place the entire pie in the oven to brown the meringue. You'll need to cool it again once you've done this if you care about getting a good slice.

In the photo above the pie is served with a Passionfruit Caramel Sauce and candied fresh coconut. In the fall we did it with a Hot Buttered Rum, which I prefer if I absolutely had to have sauce. But really I prefer this pie, maybe all pie, sans the sauce. Except for presentation, I don't think it needs it. If you are, however, interested in these recipes please send an email; I'm happy to share them and they are not difficult to prepare.

Quiche Sera Sera

I'm going to try to post a recipe each week at the very least. It's a little more time consuming because I try to make each one and photograph it - and let me assure you, I don't really cook or bake that much at home. It's just so great at the restaurant with all the space and the equipment - and our glorious dish washers. I feel deprived in my own little kitchen.

But, something I do make quite often for my family is quiche. When I worked at The Daily Review Cafe and Aries Restaurant we made quiche everyday. My recipe is an adaptation of both of their recipes and it gets pretty rave reviews - even my children wolf it down. Andy usually eats a slice or two when he gets home late from a night's work at The Compound (he's the Chef de Cuisine . . . yes, it's an "office" romance.) So it's a great one to make and have in the fridge for leftovers or unexpected guests.

First make the pastry, which is a fairly standard pie dough recipe:

2 1/4 cups all purpose flour

1 tsp kosher salt

1/2 # (2 sticks) unsalted butter, cold and diced

1/4 cup to 1/2 cup ice water - depending on the level of humidity where you are

Place the flour and salt and butter in the bowl of a food processor and pulse until the mixture resembles a course meal. Slowly add the ice water and pulse a few times. Just to make sure not to over mix it, I dump it all into a large bowl and gently press it together to form a ball. Then divide the dough into four pieces and wrap each in plastic wrap - flattening it and forming into a disk with your hands which makes it easier to roll out into a circle later on. Take caution here because you really don't want to handle your pie dough too much because an overworked dough builds too much gluten - which makes it not only difficult to roll out, but tough in your mouth.

Let the dough rest in the fridge for at least 30 minutes. If it's gotten too hard let it sit out for while to soften, but not so long that it gets oily. You will have leftover dough, which is great because you can freeze it and use it for your next quiche or pie. Just thaw it in the fridge over night. Take your chilled and rested dough disk and roll it out on a lightly floured surface to about an 1/8th inch thickness. Brush off the excess flour - can be bitter once baked - and fold in half and place in your oiled pie plate. I use a 9 inch glass pie plate, which is nice because you can see when the crust is baked on the bottom. Crimp the edges if you're in the mood or just level it off with a pairing knife with the pie plate edge and then press it up just above the rim. Place it in the freezer for about 10 minutes.

Now we're going to par-bake the pie crust, in other words partially bake it without the filling so the bottom is nice and crisp. Line your chilled pie crust with oiled aluminum foil and weigh it down with pie weights. I use inexpensive raw beans as pie weights - any variety does the trick, but my favorites are garbanzos or pintos. Bake at 375 for 20 minutes. Take your crust out of the oven, remove the pie weights and foil and place back in the oven for about 6 more minutes until you can see that the bottom is dried out and very light tan.

While the crust is baking and cooling, it's time to make the egg filling and the various and sundry items you'd like to add to your quiche. Custard Filling:

4 whole eggs

2 egg yolks

1 1/2 cups heavy cream or whipping cream - same thin
a few grates of nutmeg

salt and pepper

Whisk all the ingredients together and set aside. Now you can decide what you want to flavor your quiche. I used spinach and assorted cheeses because that's what I had in the fridge, but the possibilities are endless. Here are some suggestions which can be combined in any which way:

caramelized onion or shallot

asparagus

zucchini

yellow squash

sweet potato

bacon

diced ham

chorizo

fresh herbs

roasted red pepper

goat cheese or any cheese really

crab meat

spinach

corn

jalapeno

tomato (you need to oven dry the tomato at a low temp otherwise it will add to much liquid to the quiche and it will never set)

leeks

Saute your veggies and cook your selected meats, making sure to season them appropriately. Mix together with the cheese and custard filling. Pour all of it into your par-baked pie crust and bake at 325 for approximately 45 minutes to an hour. I like to set my timer for 30 minutes then rotate the quiche because my oven tends to bake somewhat unevenly. Another 10 - 15 minutes then I start checking it every 5 minutes of so.

It should be light brown on top and a little puffed around edges and set in the middle. If there's a slight jiggle in the middle that's okay, but only very slight. Mainly, however, try not to over bake it because the eggs can curdle. Let it cool a bit before you try to cut it. My preferred method of serving is to chill it completely before I cut the slices and then warm them in the oven. It's nice because you get a nice, clean cut - but really who has time for all that?

Enjoy your quiche - whatever will be will be.