Baking with Rachael and Paula

I was disappointed that on Rachael’s "Thanksgiving in 60 II" she didn’t bake the pecan pie, since there was a recipe in the November magazine. But…she made up for it by baking last week on her talk show. Personally I have to measure ingredients because I tend to underestimate when I eyeball things.

Anyway, yesterday I baked a lemon meringue pie with lemons we brought back from CA. For the crust I followed Rachael’s recipe that went along with the pecan pie. It was easy to put together, no cutting in shortening with a pastry blender. Her recipe has 1 1/2 cups of flour, 1/2 teaspoon of salt, 1/3 cup + 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil, and 3 tablespoons of milk. I found a similar recipe in Joy of Cooking that recommends this sort of crust for pies that don’t require baking the filling in it for a long time, since the oil gives it a strong flavor. (I didn’t think it tasted bad, just different.) Joy also says you can pat the crust in the pan, which is even easier (I rolled mine out). I blind-baked it for about 14 minutes at 425° F.

For the pie, I used Paula’s recipe from Lady & Sons Too. It’s a typical lemon meringue pie, except for the order in which you mix together the filling. Her recipe calls for mixing in the lemon juice & rind at the very end. Most other recipes, you mix it in and cook it with the rest of the ingredients.

The lemons were not very tart so the filling didn’t have a strong lemon flavor. I like how the meringue topping came out. For the filling, I think next time I’ll add the lemon juice & zest earlier and cook it all together, maybe it won’t be as soggy that way. I was surprised Paula’s recipe only called for a tablespoon of butter, I think Joy’s recipe has four tablespoons. I felt like something was missing, I’m not sure if the butter made that much of a difference or if it needed more lemon zest. It tasted like lemon meringue pie! I guess what was disappointing was that it wasn’t anything outstanding, just OK.