GRAPEFRUIT PIE - REALLY?

 

 So this is my adventure in testing a Grapefruit Pie recipe I came across in Sunset Magazine, Holiday Issue 2022.   I thought it is unusual, and I just so happened to have some Grapefruits and Oranges and Beets Powder.  So, here is my adventure result.

Recipe from Sunset magazine Holiday Issue 2022 says - for FILLING:

1.  14 oz. condensed milk  - I used 14 oz Eagle Brand Fat Free Sweetened Condensed Milk 

2.  5 large Egg Yolks 

3.  3/4 C fresh grapefruit juice, strained.  I only had 1/2 C, so I squeezed 2 Oranges

4.   1/4 C fresh lemon juice, strained

5.   2 tsp. grapefruit zest

CRUST is interesting that you make into a large sheet of cookies and crumble them up to make the crust.  I can use the same idea for other pies, too, then, I thought.

1.  2 C AP Flour

2.   1 C Powder Sugar 

3.   3/4 tsp. Kosher Salt

4.  6 tsp Beet Powder - I bought it from Walmart.  Walmart carries a lot of interesting items.

5.   1 C Butter, unsalted.  Cut into 1/2-in cubes and at Room Temp.

6.   3 Tbsp melted butter.

 

Filling - 

Mix in a bowl, 1 &2 well by hand with spatula or large spoon.  Then, 1/4 cup at a time, add liquid #3 and 4.  Mix well.  Do NOT use a mixer.  Blend gently everything, avoid creatting bubbles..  Add #5 zest.  Cover and Set aside.

Crust -

Food Porcessor:  In a bowl, mix ingredients 1 though 4 with spatula or whisk, if you prefer to do this by hand. Or use Food Process and process for 10 seconds.  Then, Add butter pieces and process - depending yon your processor - do in Long Pulse or ON for 30 to 60 seonds until the mixture should come together to form a dough.  

Transfer to a work surface or on top of a parchment paper. Gather the dough gently together.  

Preheat oven to 325'F.   

Spread the dough down and roll into 1/2 inch thick.  Or, roll the dough into 1/2 inch thick on top of  a 1/2 sheet parchment paper, then, transfer onto a baking sheet.

Bake 12-14 min untill 'cookie'ness, but not browned.

Remove and transfer the cookie to a cooling rack.   Once cooled, break into large pieces.  Transfer to Processor and Pulse into sandy crumbs.  Add the melted butter and pulse until combined.

Get your favorite 9" pie pan - glass or tin.  Press the cookies to form the shell.  

Chill pie shell for 20 min - make sure you don't have any smelly items in the refrige. ( The pie shell will act like an air filter.)

5 minutes before 20 min is up, Preheat overn to 325'F - Bake for 5 min the empty CRUST out of refrigerator. 

Remove from oven.

Cool it to room temperature.

Pour in the filling.

Bake for 15 min.

The filling will be loose when you insert tester or jiggle a bit, but that's okay.

Chill at least for 2 hours before serving.

Serves 6

So the taste?  I really like the tanginess and smooth texture.  As a tester, I think it turned out really good.   I think there can be some modification in the future to lower the "carb" and cholestrol somehow.  But I think it is what it is.  And just share the love and serve a very thin sliver of slices to enjoy with 12 people instead of 6.  ha, ha.... 

 

Add the crust ingredients into Processor and process.

Tranfer to the lightly floured work surface and form into a mass of dough.  Preheat oven to 325'F.  Roll out over the parchment paper or in baking sheet lined with parchment and roll out to 1/2 inch thick.  Bake into large sheet of cookie but not browned, then cool entirely.

Break the cooled cookie into pieces to fit into Processor bowl.  Process until sandy crumb.

Press into 9" pie pan.  Follow the instruction to bake for 5 min, then cool to room temp. Then, Fill.

Fill and bake for 15 min.  The golden yellow filling should turn pale.

The baked pie is still loose, but that's okay... it said.... so I trusted it.  Chill for 2 hours.

Enjoy the creamy refreshing slices of pie.

This pie is so tasty.  Slicing the quarter slice into three and server 1/3 of it is just delightfully satisfying I think.  Try it.  You will like it.

TIGER JAW SUCCULENT CACTUS

 I am getting better at taking care of cactus plants.  This is Tiger Jaw Cactus.  It tried to die while it was growing beautifully two summers ago.  I thought in summer, it's okay to water it, especially the sun heats the patio door close to 105'F at least during summer.  But it showed the sign of rot.  I quickly pinched off the top groups of new petals and replanted it.  Fortunately that saved the plant.  Now I have three pots of them growing happily.  To my surprise, they even flowered.  I think it is very rewarding when the cactus flowers.  You never know if they will flower or when.

They bloom open in the morning and closes as the sun goes down.

PRE-COOKED DUNGENESS CRAB ADVENTURE

 Back in January, I bought pre-cooked crab from COSTCO.  This is my first time ever to buy non-live crabs.  They can be disappointingly smelly and costly.  But COSTCO is one place you can return if the product is bad.  So, I tried.  And I was very careful in selecting a clean crab with large pinchers.  I was lucky.  The crab was fresh and tasted very good - not as good as the live ones, but it was very fat and meaty. 

 

Scrub clean and wash purchased crabs under fresh water.  Sprinkle salt to help with cleaning and getting rid of  'anything'.  Pull the top shell apart from the body.

 

Extra crab meats are picked and used for fried rice noodle or egg rolls.