Lemon Bars with Meringue

I have decided to start the project off with a dessert.  Baking is not my strong suit, I am not terribly precise with my cooking and rolling out crusts and measuring ingredients really stresses me out.  It seems that more often than not, I will put hours into creating the perfect dessert only to have it literally fall flat.  There is not anything worse than going to all the trouble, putting the knife in, and well you know.  So let's see if Mr. Keller can change my mind about things.

I selected the lemon bars with meringue as my first recipe attempt, well mostly because I had all of the ingredients on hand or so I thought.  I quickly realized that four lemons does not amount to one cup of lemon juice so I improvised with a few limes in the mix...we'll see.

The first part of the recipe is a homemade crust made of butter, flour, and sugar.  The rolling part was actually pretty easy.  Usually when a recipe requires me to get the rolling pin out, I end up wanting to use it on something besides my dough. It just always seems to be either too sticky or too dry and I can't even get it to a point to be rolled (see my admission above as to not measuring things).  I am proud to say that this dough was perfect and ready to roll, but it did call for a lot of butter so the odds were in my favor. 

After baking the crust and letting it cool, I got to work on my lemon curd which was made using a metal bowl over a saucepan of simmering water.  Poured the curd into the crust and into the freezer for a few hours.  This is what it looked like before making it's way to the freezer....

The recipe calls for a meringue piping but does admit that you can use whipped cream along the side instead.  Since I really want to master baking and the picture in the book looked so pretty, I decided not to cheat and set out making my meringue. This recipe was different from other meringue recipes in that it called for a simple syrup to be mixed in which I had never done.  It turned out beautifully and I was glad I took the extra time.

After freezing for a few hours, I was ready to remove from the pan and cut into bars.  Sadly the crust stuck to the pan and separated from the bars. I am not sure how this is the case as it had so much butter in it...wouldn't that negate nonstick spray?  Oh well, the end pieces I managed to salvage and dollop with my perfect meringue which I browned with a kitchen torch.

The lemon bars turned out pretty good although I didn't have too many to serve after the crust fiasco...good thing there are only two of us to eat them.  Even with my lime substitution, the lemon taste was right on par and the texture of the bar was very creamy.  I will have to say the best part was the meringue.  While I still cannot declare myself a baker, the result was pretty good for a first attempt.  If you are reading this and have a suggestion for the crust problem I had, please send my way.

The finished product...

Introduction

Cooking your way through a cookbook... I know it's a little Hollywood and I can't say that isn't where I got the idea.  I have about 150 cookbooks sitting on my shelf and while I have cooked perhaps one or two recipes from each one, I can't help but feel that I am missing some opportunity by picking and choosing out only a few recipes from each one.  I decided that I wanted to cook every recipe on every page out of one of my books.  I started by googling the idea and was amazed at how many people are doing the same thing.  This further convinced me that I too can do this, and if I am going to go to all the trouble...why not go ahead and blog about it?

I'm not a writer, chef, comedian, or likely blogger but my hobby is food.  I like to cook, try new restaurants and dishes, and most importantly eat.  Some of my travels have taken me to fantastic restaurants with creative and excellent food and I want to bring a part of that back to my kitchen.  For that reason, I have selected Ad Hoc at Home by Thomas Keller.  http://www.amazon.com/Ad-Hoc-Home-Thomas-Keller/dp/1579653774/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1288547414&sr=8-1I.  I received this book as a gift last year and sadly up until this point it has taken on more of a home decorating coffee table fixture status than a cookbook but that is about to change!  While I haven't experimented much with the recipes, I have browsed the pages and admired the pictures and the stories that accompany each one.  The book is approachable for the home cook and doesn't require a lot of expensive equipment or complicated techniques. 

While many people would say that the ingredient list is accessible, those same people may not live in a small town like I do.  In the past the many dishes for lamb, fish, quail, etc. that I admire from the pages has also discouraged me from trying at home because my local supermarket is more of a beef, chicken, or pork kind of place. However, the book has a great index of recommended sources and with the Internet shopping that is available, I will not let this be an excuse!  I plan to document my search for ingredients, progress of making my way through the book, hopeful successes, and certain mishaps.  So here goes...