Saveur Cooks Authentic American - Editors Of Cook's Illustrated Magazine [58]
Sopaipillas
The puffy, deep-fried dough squares known as sopaipillas in New Mexico are just one of a number of delicious fried breads found on both sides of the United States–Mexico border. Often dusted with sugar or drizzled with honey, they are a cousin of Mexican buñuelos and American Indian fry bread and are best eaten seconds after coming out of the frying oil, when they’re at their lightest and crispest. Pictured is Gabriela Bojalil, a home cook in Puebla, Mexico, who gave us this recipe.
2¼ cups flour
1½ tsp. sugar
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. kosher salt
¼ cup milk, at room temperature
1½ tsp. canola oil, plus more for frying
¼ cup sugar mixed with 1 tsp. ground cinnamon, for serving
1 cup honey, for serving
Serves 8–12
1. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt; add the milk, vegetable oil, and ½ cup of lukewarm water and stir until a sticky dough forms. Transfer the dough to a lightly floured work surface and knead until soft and no longer sticky, about 2 minutes. Cover the dough with a damp cloth and let it rest for 15 minutes. Divide the dough into 3 equal pieces, form each into a ball, and cover again; let rest for 30 minutes.
2. Pour canola oil into a 6-qt. Dutch oven to a depth of 2 inches and heat over medium-high heat until a deep-fry thermometer reads 370°F.
3. Working with one dough ball at a time, roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface into an 8-inch square. Cut the square into 4 equal smaller squares, and repeat with the remaining dough balls to create 12 squares total.
4. Place 4 squares in the oil and fry, turning once, until they’re golden brown on both sides, about 2 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the sopaipillas to paper towels to drain. Repeat with the remaining dough squares. While hot, sprinkle the sopaipillas with cinnamon-sugar, drizzle with honey, and serve.
Key Lime Pie
This Key lime pie is based on the one served at Joe’s Stone Crab, a Miami restaurant. You can use tiny, intensely flavorful Key limes or bottled Key lime juice, though ordinary Persian lime juice works well, too.
1 cup plus 2½ tbsp. graham cracker crumbs
1/3 cup sugar
5 tbsp. unsalted butter, melted
1½ tbsp. lime zest (from 2 limes)
3 egg yolks
1 14-oz. can sweetened condensed milk
2/3 cup fresh lime juice, preferably from Key limes
1 cup heavy cream, chilled
1 tbsp. confectioners’ sugar
Serves 8
1. Heat oven to 350°F. Pulse cracker crumbs, sugar, and butter in a food processor to combine. Press evenly into bottom and sides of a 9-inch pie pan. Bake until lightly browned, about 10 minutes. Let cool.
2. In a medium bowl, beat lime zest and egg yolks with a hand mixer until pale and thick, about 5 minutes. Add milk and beat until thickened, 3–4 minutes more. Add lime juice; mix until smooth. Pour filling into pie crust; bake until filling is just set in the middle, 8–10 minutes. Let the pie cool.
3. In a medium bowl, whisk cream and confectioners’ sugar to stiff peaks. Spread whipped cream over the top of pie and chill 2–3 hours before serving.
Sour Power
Tangy, creamy Key lime pie derives its tartness from its tiny but powerful namesake fruit, the Key lime. Native to Asia and grown now in tropical and subtropical regions worldwide, the Key lime, a Ping-Pong ball–size citrus fruit also known as the West Indian or Mexican lime, is the most widely used lime in kitchens outside the United States. It’s an essential ingredient in everything from salads to noodle dishes to marinades, prized for its dynamic acidity (which is at its greatest when the fruit is green and unripe) and copious juice. Mixed with eggs and sweetened condensed milk, the Key lime’s zest and juice make for an intensely citrusy pie filling. The flavor of the Persian lime, the cultivar most readily available in U.S. markets, is much milder by comparison. So, why aren’t Key limes as widely used here as in the rest of the world? It has to do with the fruit’s checkered new-world