Creamy Key Lime Pie

One thing about traveling is you experience local flavours in cuisine. One of my favourite culinary taste sensations came from a trip to Florida where we tasted Key Lime Pie for the first time. A little diner called Nellie's in Springhill is where we found this gem.

My entire family loved key lime pie and after coconut cream pie adventure the other day my son and husband wanted me to try a key lime pie.

I surfed recipes online and settled on one that I think is the closest to what I was looking for. Thank you Kelly at Recipezaar for sharing this recipe. It's easy peasy to make and delicious. I added a little lime zest into the recipe as well and made it in a 10" springfoam pan. A regular pie pan would suffice as well.

Ingredients
6 egg yolks
2 cans condensed milk (I use Eagle Brand)
1 cup fresh squeezed key lime juice (or bottled, I used fresh and it was about 7 limes)
whipping cream (sweetened)
lime for garnish

Directions:
Gently whisk the egg yolks until smooth. Add the two cans of condensed milk and continue whisking slowly to combine well.
Slowly add the lime juice, again, whisking slowly until thoroughly combined.
I used the low setting on my kitchenaid mixer to combine the above.

Prepare your shell using 1 1/4 cup graham cracker crumbs with 1/4 cup of butter and 1/4 cup sugar. As mentioned I used a springfoam pan, but you can use a premade graham pie shell from the grocer as well.

Once well combined (see picture below), place in a preheated oven of 325 degrees Fahrenheit for about 40-45 minutes. Remove from the oven and place in the fridge for 4-6 hours and top with whipping cream.

It's tangy and sweet at the same time. The texture is fabulous and it's definitely a keeper here. Ridiculously easy to make.
Filling before baking

This is the pie baked (excuse the fingermarks courtesy of our 7 year old)

Now with whip cream

Creamy Cheesy Chicken Pot Pie

This one has turned into my 14 year olds favorite "comfort" food dinner. It is scrumptiously yummy, and is a good way to use up vegetables in the refrigerator.

I use this as a base and adjust the veggies to whatever I have sitting in the fridge. You can do this recipe two different ways. One with biscuits on top in a casserole, or you can use deep dish prepared frozen pie shells and make them as a pie. Either way they are fantastic.

Ingredients:
500 grams of chopped cooked chicken breast (cut them fairly small)
1/2 cup chopped onion (I use shallots)
2 tbsp shredded carrots
2 tbsp diced celery
1 cup chopped broccoli
1/2 tsp salt
2 cups cream of chicken soup (or cream of mushroom soup)
1/2 cup grated old cheddar
1/3 cup cream cheese
1/4 cup grated parmesan

For biscuit topping:
1 egg
1 cup bisquick
1/2 cup skimmed milk
1 tbsp vegetable oil

I'm going to type the instructions exactly as originally given but I have made substantial changes to it over time.

Put a dab of oil into a large pan. Saute the onions and celery until soft. When that is done add 2 cups of soup plus one cup of milk to the pan and mix well until heated. Add the cheeses over low heat until it's all melted and mix well. Stir in the remaining vegetables and pour into a casserole dish.

Set Aside.

In a large measuring cup combine egg, oil and milk. Give it a little scramble and add to the Bisquick mix in a seperate bowl, until smooth and well combined.

Spoon batter over the chicken mixture in the casserole dish. Bake uncovered for 1/2 hour to 45 minutes in oven at 375 degrees.

If using pie shells, pour the chicken mixture into the pie shell (you may need two shells depending on the size). Cover mixture with second shell by inverting the frozen shell over the mixture and leaving it there for a second. The heat from the chicken mixture will defrost the pie shell and it should slip right out of the foil. Fit it to the underside and pinch the edges closed. Be sure to poke some holes in the top to release moisture. Bake at 375 for 45 minutes.

So, how does my creation differ? Not much actually. The soup, cheeses and milk remain constant but I tend to use two full cans of soup and adjust the milk accordingly. I use wayyyy more veggies and chicken than called for. I have lots of kids so it must be done. I use a minimum of two chicken breasts, and whatever veggies I have kicking around (plus the onion...the onion is a must). I have tossed cauliflour in, peas, carrots, corn, broccoli into it. Sometimes a couple, sometimes all of them. Experiment with different concoctions to see what you can come up with. I have to admit, the cream chicken soup works better than the cream of mushroom but in a pinch cream of mushroom will do.