there is no other word for the perfectly prepared Key Lime Pie than Luscious!
I actually began writing a post this morning about Christmas cookie baking, but was quickly diverted as my brain cleared after a couple of sips of coffee – that will just have to wait till tomorrow. I very quickly decided that I could not miss the opportunity to write about my day yesterday – while my thoughts are fresh, my tummy still satiated (is that the word for how it feels the day after?) and while I am still sitting nearby one of their kitchens – and, by the way, like a kid in a candy-shop wishing, oh wishing, I could don my whites and toque and take part, for real!
I had the great honor of being indulged with a visit with two members of the Breakers Culinary staff – and not just any members, either! But, let me back up a moment…… My son Ryan has long been a huge fan (meaning daily indulgence) of the Breakers’ Key Lime Pie. Ryan has made a ritual of calling room service, well after dinner and ordering up a slice to savor while sitting on his bed and watching his favorite tv shows. I understand the gesture. There is nothing like sitting, often all alone, and just enjoying a moment or two indulging in one’s favorite dessert. Yes, it’s great to feast on desserts in the presence of one’s friends and family at the table, but there is just something about savoring something really special all alone in the privacy of one’s own space. I so totally get it. It’s just like one of life’s extreme pleasures – kind of like a secret rendezvous, only this is with an oh-so-special confectionary treat!
Anyway, yesterday I got a hands-on lesson on a great tenet of baking – how often, there can be a total inverse relationship between the degree of difficulty of a recipe and the number of ingredients therein and the great degree of subtlety required in its execution.
Yesterday afternoon, thanks to the great kindness and generosity of Executive Chef Anthony Sicignano, I was indulged with a private baking lesson at the Breakers! I had the wonderful honor of meeting with the Executive Chef after a correspondence which began with him a year ago, over how to make their famed Key Lime Pie. This was instigated by Ryan of course, after last year’s visit and then his pretty much instantaneous urging me to “add it to the Christmas menu”. Ok, I was game but first I needed a good recipe. Chef Sicignano was kind enough to share with me his insights and recipe last December and I went to work. They use a “double batch” approach which yields a high, cheesecake-like slice, of which we won’t discuss the calorie content. I apparently didn’t get all the secrets down right and, while my pie was certainly finished off, it lacked the finesse and fine taste and texture of theirs. Come to planning for this year’s Thanksgiving and I thought about asking for help again. Chef Sicignano again was kind enough to answer my prayers.
Yesterday at 3pm I happily, albeit somewhat tentatively strode into the Circle kitchen to meet him and have him introduce me to their Pastry Chef, Chef Giordano. The Breakers no longer allows guests into their main kitchens and while I was surely disappointed as I longed to see their setup and oogle their massive kitchens with all those rotating ovens – just because this would make me so happy. However, I was more than happy with whatever they would offer. I chatted for a few minutes with Chef Anthony, who, during this busiest week of the year in the Culinary Department, so kindly took his time to meet with me and arrange my visit. I was introduced to Chef Giordano and we went to work. Chef Giordano told me he was from Peru, was half Peruvian and half Italian, went to 4 years of cooking school in Tuscany and, when I told him I had been to Taormina in May, told me he had gone skiing at Mt. Etna! OMG – skiing at Mt. Etna? Wow and he went on about how beautiful it was. But, I digress………
Now, coming off my finally meeting Alice Waters a couple of weeks in Union Square and getting to chat with her about the re-opening of Chez Panisse and the California weather vs New York, I have been having a pretty giddy time lately, pursuing my culinary fantasies. And, yesterday was another great day in my continuum!
I got my very own private cooking lesson with Chef Giordano and a personal demo of plating….. and eating! Then, he presented me with my own 10″ Key Lime Pie to take home (ha-ha)! To say that Ryan is the luckiest kid in the world is such an understatement!
Anyway, for those of you who have made Key Lime Pie or read various recipes, you know as I do that it is a very simple and straight forward recipe – very few ingredients. And so, success must be all in the ingredient selection and the execution, right? Righty-oh, as I learned yesterday. I was sworn to secrecy on sharing the recipe and I will happily oblige but rest assured, I learned, hopefully a few more of the secrets of success to making this treat.
Of course, The Breakers has access to the very best of ingredients and takes great care in their selection and storage. And, of course, we are in Florida, home of the Key Lime. New Jersey is the recipient of a few Key Limes, during a few short weeks a year – and, of course, they are not at the peak of anything, not being in the “local” category.
Anyway, I will share a few “Key” (great pun, no?) thoughts about my prep lesson:
The graham cracker crust is very straight forward and the same as many recipes used in your typical cheesecake preparation, but I got a new approach for adding the crumb to the pan – by holding the pan perpendicular to the counter and gently applying the crumb to the sides first with your hand, rolling along as you go and ensuring a uniform application and then, doing the bottom last. Final crumb depth not to exceed 1/4″.
What I thought was amazing was that they bake these “pies” in a 10″ cake pan and not a springform pan, as I did at home last year. I honestly could not imagine getting these 10″ lovelies out of the pan without destroying them, probably totally in my hands, without a springform pan. Huh? How is this possible? But the one they gave me was “perfectly” unmolded and I mean perfectly unmolded! Wow is all I can say. I continue to have great doubt about personally being able to do this. Chef Giordano gave me the “demo” of the “swivel-shake” move that is required, often after a little kitchen- torch application! Ugh, shivers down my spine – can I really do this? Think about it – it’s a 10″ mass with a crumb crust – this is no light-weight task to unmold perfectly………..
We discussed how my “pie” didn’t cook all the way through, how I didn’t have a 10″ cake pan so I made mine in a 9″ springform pan, and I was instructed on how I must experiment with adjusting oven temp and cooking time in order to arrive at the optimum output. Also, I need to make sure my pie is slightly mounded in the center before taking it out of the oven to yield a perfectly flat, not-split top and perfectly and consistently baked filling. No concave and no flat pie removal – must watch very carefully. Again, this all sounds simple but it is not. And, no water bath either! No, I detected just a hint of a faux-pas on my part at even suggesting such a thing. No, not needed.
Anyway, also, must strain the pasteurized egg yolks, do not whisk the mixture of sweetened condensed milk, eggs and lime juice, but gently fold with a plain spatula. We had a discussion on the array of availability of ingredients and how, of course what I would be able to obtain at home would likely differ from their ingredients and yes, I’d have to just do the trial and error approach until I got it just right. Refrigeration temperature is also very important to prevent any re-crystalization of sugars. Wow, would I indeed ever be able to yield an enviable outcome? I don’t know, but for sure, I am much the better for my instruction.
I have probably forgotten a lot of the subtleties I learned in Pastry School already and have a great false sense of aptitude and experience, even considering my considerable age and experience in my own home kitchen with multitudes of recipes. But, I can tell you that yesterday was a great lesson for me. For, in a very short time, and with the opportunity to ask all my questions, one-on-one, I got a much greater appreciation for the “art” of baking. That probably sounds a little trite and simplistic, I know, I know. But, I can assure you, I came away with a pin-pointed reminder-lesson, one which really must be remembered upon undertaking any recipe, any day, – how a recipe which appears to be so very simple, can in fact be, quite persnickity and complex – 2 ingredients in the crust and three in filling – sounds so simple! However, I learned, yet again, the critical importance of refining oven temperature and baking time, some secrets on unmolding, a few more uses for that wonder in the kitchen that is parchment paper, how to refine the texture of ingredients going in, how to homogenize the mixture fully………. Yikes, who thinks this is a cushy and glamourous job, anyway?
I will go home today and think about my next attempt. I will more carefully plan out my approach. And, I will hope for the best, knowing all the while, I will get a performance review from one harsh critic who possesses that ever-picky and yes, quite well-refined palate he inherited from my Dad, Ryan. He’ll let me know, I know.
Anyway, I had a very fun day yesterday, and I’ll tell you one thing, I hold the world in which these professionals who work under such incredible stress and who must yield such perfect results under such great demands of scale in great wonder. Maybe if I were 20 years old again I wouldn’t be so in awe, but I can tell you, I am in awe of these people whose jobs depend, day after day, upon their great instinct for perfection.
Thank you again, Chef Anthony and Chef Giordano for the great gift of your time and kindness. Yesterday was one day for me to remember!
