April 26, 2012

KEY LIME BARS (a 4 banana difficulty level)



I will tell you right from the top, I will not post about Citrus related Desserts for the rest of the year.  OK, maybe if I'm motivated to do 1 of my favorites, a Key Lime pie!  For all intents & purposes this will conclude the month of Citrus Desserts.  Combining my recent surge in Lemon Bar postings and my love for Key Lime Pie, I decided that Key Lime Bars using the Lemon Bar recipe

http://www.anymonkeycan.com/2012/04/lemon-bars-3-4-banana-difficulty-level.html

would be a good thing.  It was a good thing!!  But it was more work than this monkey is used to doing to make a dessert.  It takes a lot Key Lime squeezing to get an adequate amount of Lime juice...maybe I won't make that Key Lime pie after all...  I may have to drop the "Key" from the title and just make "Lime Bars."  Or maybe use:

http://www.anymonkeycan.com/2012/04/my-moms-lemon-bars-2-banana-difficulty.html?utm_source=BP_recent

recipe and use the Lemon Cake Mix, but use Lime Juice and Zest in the filling to make "Lemon Lime Bars"...

Enough blabbering, today 'this monkey' is going to show you how to make Key Lime Bars!

WHAT YOU NEED:

(for the crust)
1 1/4 c All Purpose Flour
1/2 t Salt
1/2 c Powdered Sugar
8 T Butter - softened about 30 min at room temp & cut in 1 inch pieces

(for the filling)
6 Large Eggs - at room temp
1 c + 2 T of Granulated Sugar
3/4 c Key Lime/Regular Lime Juice**
1/4 c Lime Zest**
1/8 t Salt
4 T Butter - melted
3 T Half and Half
1/2 c All Purpose Flour (optional)

Powdered Sugar to dust the tops if desired

**2 lbs (45-50 Key Limes) AND 3 Regular Limes should meet your needs**

WHAT ELSE YOU NEED:

8"x8" Pan
Parchment Paper
Mixer with Paddle Attachment
Rubber Spatula
Box Grater or Lemon Zester
Strainer
Whisk
Medium Bowl
Large Dish
Cooling Rack


WHAT YOU DO:

(making of the crust)
1. Butter the Edges of the Baking Dish with the Butter Wrapper, then line the dish with Parchment Paper
2. Whisk the Flour & Salt together.
3.  Using the Mixer with Paddle attachment, cream the 8 T of Butter & Powdered Sugar.

4.  While the Mixer is on Low, slowly add the Flour/Salt to the Creamed Butter & Powdered Sugar until just combined.
Will look coarse at this point

5. Pour this mixture onto the Parchment Paper (in the Baking dish) & press down into a crust. Refrigerate for 30 min.


6.  You may want to give yourself a head start and start juicing the Key Limes (NOT THE REGULAR LIMES YET) at this point because it take a little while...

7.  Pre Heat Oven to 350 deg
8.  Zest the REGULAR Limes & Juice them as needed to add to the Key Lime Juice to equal the 3/4 c of Lime Juice
9.  Bake the Empty Crust for 30 minutes (until Golden Brown)
Make sure to get a good golden brown crust otherwise you could end up with some doughy or soggy Bars since the filling is quite runny before baking!

10. While the Crust is baking, Whisk the Eggs, then add the Granulated Sugar & whisk until combined


11.  Now add the Lime Juice & Zest as well as the Salt. Stir together


12.  To this, add the Melted Butter & Half & Half and Stir; Also add the OPTIONAL flour if desired

13.  Pour the Filling onto the Warm, Golden Brown Crust

14.  Bake at 350 deg for 30 min

15. Let cool in the Pan on Cooling rack for about 30-45 minutes
16. Use knife to loosen edges as needed. Then using the Parchment paper, carefully lift the Key Lime  Bars out of the Baking Dish & back onto the cooling rack.
17. Using a Small Turner between the Bars & the Paper, Carefully slide the PARCHMENT PAPER OUT FROM UNDERNEATH OF THE BARS leaving the Bars on the Cooling Rack for about 30 minutes longer to cool


18.  Cut into small squares, dust with Powdered Sugar if desired & serve

The juicing of all of those Key Limes really make this a time consuming recipe.  Maybe it's worth it, I just don't know.  Maybe I'll have to try this recipe with Regular Limes instead to see what that tastes like...next year!  Right now, I'm Lemon/Lime Bar-ed out!!

So I'm not exactly thrilled with the Key Lime Bar presentation.  It looks a bit like a green chile and egg casserole if you know what I mean.  A dusting of the powdered sugar would fix that or it might be worth it to reduce the Zest amount by 50% to see what that may look like.

Nonetheless these do taste nice and limey just like I was hoping for!

Until next time, your friendly neighbor web Monkey!!

April 20, 2012

LEMON BARS (a 3-4 banana difficulty level)


The other week I made my mom's Lemon Bar recipe that I grew up on.

http://www.anymonkeycan.com/2012/04/my-moms-lemon-bars-2-banana-difficulty.html

Today, I try another Lemon Bar recipe.  It's a bit of a hybrid recipe based on a version from Cook's Illustrated (CI) and the version from Barefoot Contessa (BC).  I decided to meld the two recipes together because the Barefoot recipe seemed to have an excess of sugar & butter and the CI recipe had a few extra steps with which I did not want to fool.

So, here we go, Recipe number 2 of the Monkey Month of Lemon Bars!

WHAT YOU NEED:
(for the crust)
1 1/4 c All Purpose Flour
1/2 t Salt
1/2 c Powdered Sugar
8 T Butter - softened about 30 min at room temp & cut in 1 inch pieces

(for the filling)
6 Large Eggs - at room temp
1 c + 2 T of Granulated Sugar
3/4 c Lemon Juice**
1/4 c Lemon Zest**
1/8 t Salt
4 T Butter - melted
3 T Half and Half
1/2 c All Purpose Flour (optional)

Powdered Sugar to dust the tops if desired

**5-6 Lemons will probably meet all of your Lemon needs**

WHAT ELSE YOU NEED:
8"x8" Pan
Parchment Paper
Mixer with Paddle Attachment
Rubber Spatula
Box Grater or Lemon Zester
Strainer
Whisk
Medium Bowl
Large Dish
Cooling Rack

WHAT YOU DO:
(making of the crust)
1.  Butter the Edges of the Baking Dish with the Butter Wrapper, then line the dish with Parchment Paper
2.  Using the Mixer with Paddle attachment, cream the 8 T of Butter & Powdered Sugar.
Pre Creamed

Post Creamed

3.  Whisk the Flour & Salt together.  Then, while the Mixer is on Low, slowly add to the Creamed Butter & Powdered Sugar until just combined. 
Will look coarse

4.  Pour this mixture onto the Parchment Paper (in the Baking dish) & press down into a crust.  Refrigerate for 30 min.

(making of the filling)
5.  Pre Heat Oven to 350 deg.
6.  Zest & Juice the Lemons
Lemon Zest from Box Grater

7.  Bake the Crust for 30 min (make sure it is Golden Brown)
Make sure to get a good golden brown crust otherwise you could end up with some doughy or soggy Bars since the filling is quite runny before baking!

8.  Whisk the Eggs, then add the Granulated Sugar & whisk until combined


8.  Now add the Lemon Juice & Zest as well as the Salt.  Stir together.
9.  To this, add the Melted Butter & Half & Half and Stir.
10.  Finally add 1/2 c of All Purpose Flour & stir until fully combined.
This mixture will be quite thin

11.  Pour the Filling onto the Warm, Golden Brown Crust

12.  Bake at 350 deg for 30 min

13.  Let cool in the Pan on Cooling rack for about 30-45 minutes
14.  Use knife to loosen edges as needed.  Then using the Parchment paper, carefully lift the Lemon Bars out of the Baking Dish & back onto the cooling rack. 
15.  Using a Small Turner between the Bars & the Paper, Carefully slide the PARCHMENT PAPER OUT FROM UNDERNEATH OF THE BARS leaving the Bars on the Cooling Rack for about 30 minutes longer to cool.

15.  Cut into small squares, dust with Powdered Sugar if desired & serve.

And that was another version of lemon bars.  They definitely are a different type of Lemon Bar compared with last week's version.  This crust is more pie crust-eque.

One difference between CI and BC was that BC added 1 c flour to the filling & CI did not add any.  I ended up adding 1/2 c because it seemed like the filling was too thin.  This really did not add any thickness to it, so it was probably not necessary.  The next time I make these I will probably give it a go without the 1/2 c flour to the filling.

I've sampled a BC Lemon Bar before and it was very good, but a little on the sweet side for me.  That's probably the reason I eschew the powdered sugar dusting as a finishing touch.  I want the Lemon to shine!

Enjoy!

Until next time, you favorite neighborweb Monkey!

April 15, 2012

MY MOM'S LEMON BARS (a 2 banana difficulty level)


At the beginning of the "No Sweets January Challenge" my buddy Rudy told me he absolutely loved Lemon Bars & he asked me if I had a good Lemon Bar recipe I could post.  I told him my mom makes great Lemon Bars, but he'd have to wait until January was over.  Well I'm just a little behind, but without further delay, here is the recipe for "My Mom's Lemon Bars" with some mild monkeying around...

WHAT YOU NEED:
1 Box of Lemon Cake Mix
2 Eggs
2 T Lemon Zest**
1 Stick of Butter - Melted

8 oz Cream Cheese (regular) - softened
2 Eggs
2 c Powdered Sugar
4 T Lemon Zest**
3 T Lemon Juice**

**3-4 Lemons should cover all your lemon related needs**

WHAT ELSE YOU NEED:
9x13 inch pan
Parchment paper or Cooking Spray
Medium Bowl
Large Spoon
Zester or Fine Grater
Strainer
Wire Rack

WHAT YOU DO:

1.  Pre-Heat oven to 350 deg (325 deg if using a glass pan)


Will have consistency of Play-doh
2.  Mix together Cake Mix, Eggs, 2 T of Lemon Zest, & Melted Butter.


3.  Wipe the edges of the pan with the butter wrapper as needed AND then wipe your hands thoroughly with the butter wrapper as the dough is quite sticky.  Place the dough onto the Pan lined with Parchment paper or sprayed with Cooking spray.

4.  Spread the dough into a thin layer on the bottom of the pan.  Pat the edges down slightly lower since the dough tends to rise at the edges.



5.  Mix together the Cream Cheese, Eggs, Powdered Sugar, 2 T Lemon Zest, & Lemon Juice.


6.  Pour over the Cake Mix layer.

7.  Bake at 350 deg for 30 min (if using a glass pan, 325 for 40 min)

8.  Cool to room Temperature on a Wire Rack (about 45 min)

9.  Serve and Enjoy!!  (Dust with Powdered Sugar if that makes you happy...)

This is a pretty straight forward Lemon Bar recipe and it is quite delicious, although I may be a bit biased since the recipe is from my mom.  Just be aware that the crust is more cake like since a Lemon Cake mix is used.  A lot of Lemon Bars seem to have crust that can be more flaky like a pie crust.

See, 'anymonkeycan' make great tasting Lemon Bars because 'this monkey' just did!

Until next time, your favorite neighbor web monkey!