If it were easy…Pie, Part two: Banana Cream and Key Lime

You know, come to think of it, I wouldn’t have pie for supper every night even if it were easy.  For all my “meh” about pie, I bet you’re wondering why I even made them.  Thanks for asking!

Our church is part of the Interfaith Hospitality Network, (which I first wrote about here) a group that hosts up to five families (or up to 18 people)  experiencing homelessness.  They are busy during the day working to secure long-term employment and affordable housing, but in the evenings they come “home” to us (at the church) for dinner, rest, fellowship, and the peaceful grounding being treated like valuable human beings gives all of us.  Serving there is an intrinsically rewarding endeavor.  No two ways about it.

I like going in early during the week to help on something easy, hanging out later in the week, and reserving one night late in the week when I get to cook.  On Tuesday last week, I asked them what they wanted for supper Saturday, the night I was scheduled and they decided they wanted to make some of their own specialties, so we had a  cooking party:  deep-fried cream cheese wontons, chicken stir-fry, and my chocolate chip cookies (mixed at church by a ten-year old boy, though measured at home and baked there by me and another dad who wanted to make sure I got them right, i.e. browned them so they caramelized a little extra.)

It was great fun.  Every guest helped some with the meal and those of us cooking the most got to pick at the food.  It’s only right.

The thing is, one of the residents wanted to make pie- banana cream or key lime, an authentic one, she said, since she’s never had a real one.  I couldn’t keep that promise; there just was no time that night with all the other food.  So I made them on Tuesday and delivered them to the next church housing them.  Of course, it was an excuse to visit, see how things were going, hold the babies, and collect stickers from the kids. I got a couple very nice ones by the way.

Let’s get to it.  You saw my version of a perfect pie crust yesterday, right? Ten minutes at 350 and cool that puppy.  Listen, I made Old Fashioned Banana Cream which means this is 3 cups whole milk, 3/4 cup sugar 1/3 cup flour and one tsp salt.  I scald the milk first in a separate pan then pour it into the pan with the dry goods where it will thicken over medium high heat.  If you know custard, you know there is no time to stop and take pictures unless you want to burn it.  Three egg yolks blended in a separate bowl get a bit of the hot stuff tempered into them, then the whole slew of tempered yolks go into the milk mixture for a little more thickening.  If I could tell you times on this, I would.  It just has to look right.

Then off the heat, 2 T butter and a generous splash of vanilla stirred in.

Now, here’s a trick that came in very handy when a previous hot-spot on my pan floated a little burn chip into my beautiful creamy custard.  I actually poured the pudding through a strainer, leaving this heavenly texture.  I think burn flecks or no, I’m doing this in future.

Pour this over three cut bananas in the cooled pie shell when the pudding is…hmm warm, but not steaming hot. Then it sets up in the fridge.

Onto the key lime.  Graham cracker crust is   1.5 cups of crumbs; I make my own.  Thank God for my lovely food processor.  Then add 1/2 cup white sugar, and 4 T melted buttah!  Hands on this crust, perfectly fine.  Okay, also fun, I’ll admit.  Press it into the shell and bake for 15 at 350.  Watch it, though, cuz this is a pretty sugary crust.

Onto all those little limes.  I zested for garnish before cutting them up.  And yes, that’s the grater I use for nutmeg; works great for these tiny limeys.

Here’s the beauty of cutting, zesting, squeezing, and whisking: plenty of time to pray for the people who will eat this stuff.  Keep squeezing the limes until you have a cup of juice.  Supplement bottled lime juice if needed; I had to add about 2 T, that’s all.

Then it’s the lime juice (1 cup, remember)  Isn’t that just fresh?! 2-14 ounce cans of sweetened condensed milk, two whole eggs whisked together from this to this.

Into the pie shell, baked for 15 minutes on 325 degrees.  Cool that baby down a bit and then “frost” it with one cup of sour cream and 1/4 cup of confectioner’s sugar.  It’s so dainty swirled over the top and if people don’t like this layer, they can easily scrape it off and still enjoy the tart/sweet middle. Garnish with the zest and any graham mixture (if desired.)

Of course I brought Cool Whip for either pie.  I skipped the meringue even though my mom always added this to her Banana Cream; I’m just not sure people like it enough.  So, stacked and packed, away we went with just a modicum of traveling misfortune; a little of the Banana Cream o’er spread its crusty bounds… but oh well.

I had  a nice visit with the guests and since both pies needed setting up and chilling (Key Lime at least 2 hours) the pies were reserved for dessert the next evening when, no doubt, the flavors will have had even more time to marry.  I’ll check in and see if the pies turned out okay, but do I really care about that?  Heck no.  I want to see if the family of five got their stuff moved, if that 4.5 pound baby is still eating well.  If the young couple has had a chance to go see the grandparents.   The food is just an excuse.  And we all know it.

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