Amelia Bedelia Recipes

Book

Amelia Bedelia
by Peggy Parish

Sometimes, Amelia Bedelia gets confused about what other people are saying to her. When Mrs. Rogers asks her to change the towels, she snips up the towels with a scissors. Instead of adding stuffing to a chicken, she dresses it up in tiny clothes.

Try out Amelia Bedelia’s Dressed Chicken. For dessert, enjoy her famous Lemon Meringue Pie.

Cook

Dressed Chicken

Complexity: The easiest chicken in the book!
Time: 1 minute prep, 30+ minutes marinating, 25 minutes cooking.

Ingredients

Italian dressing
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

Directions

Place chicken breasts in a ziplock bag or tupperware container and add enough italian dressing to cover. Marinate in fridge for at least 30 minutes and up to four hours.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees and then cook chicken for 25 minutes or until done (a thermometer inserted in the center should read 165 degrees).

Cook

Lemon Meringue Pie

Complexity: Complex dessert, involves making pastry crust, meringue, and filling.
Time: One hour active baking, two hours chilling, 25 minutes baking in oven.

Ingredients

Crust ingredients

2 to 2 ½ cups flour
7 tablespoons unsalted butter, chilled, cut into pieces
⅛ teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons ice water

Filling ingredients

1-1/4 cups granulated sugar
2 oz. (1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons) cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon table salt
5 large egg yolks
1 oz. (2 tablespoons) unsalted butter, cut into 4 pieces and softened
1-1/2 tablespoons finely grated and minced lemon zest, plus 1/3 cup strained juice (from 3 medium lemons)
1 oz. (3 tablespoons) finely ground gingersnap cookies

Meringue ingredients

5 large egg whites, at room temperature
3/4 cup superfine sugar
3/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar

Directions

Make the dough:

Place one cup of flour, the butter, and the salt in a food processor. Process just until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs, 10 seconds. Add the ice water and pulse just until the pastry begins to hold together, about 6 to 8 times. Do not let it form a ball.
Divide the dough in half and place each half on a sheet of wax paper. Flatten each half of the dough into a disk. If the dough seems too sticky, sprinkle with additional flour, one tablespoon at a time. Wrap the pastry in the wax paper and refrigerate for at least one hour.

Shape the crust:

Butter the bottom, sides, and rim of a 9-inch glass pie plate.
On a floured pastry cloth or lightly floured work surface, roll the dough with a floured rolling pin (preferably covered with a rolling pin sleeve) into a 13-inch circle that’s about 1/8 inch thick. Roll the dough around the rolling pin, unroll it over the pie plate, and gently fit it into the plate without stretching. Trim the dough with your fingers to a 3/4- to 1-inch overhang. Roll the overhang under itself and flatten it slightly to cover the rim of the pie plate completely. Chill for at least 30 minutes before baking.

Bake the crust:

Position a rack in the lower third of the oven and heat the oven to 425°F. Using a fork, lightly prick the bottom and sides of the crust at 1-inch intervals. Place a piece of parchment paper in the crust, flatten it, and Fill 1/2 to 3/4 inch deep with dried beans or pie weights.
Bake the crust on a rimmed baking sheet until the edges begin to brown, 15 to 18 minutes. Let stand on a cooling rack for about 30 seconds, and then carefully remove the foil and beans. If the foil doesn’t release easily, don’t force it—bake for a few minutes more and try again. If any holes or tears appear, patch them by placing small pieces of the reserved dough scraps over the holes, let stand for a few seconds, and then gently tap them with your finger until they adhere. Reduce the oven temperature to 375°F and continue to bake the crust until deep golden-brown all over, 16 to 20 minutes more. Cool on a rack for at least 15 minutes. (Keep the oven on.)

Make the filling:

In a heavy-duty 3-quart nonreactive saucepan, whisk together the sugar, cornstarch, and salt. Whisk in 1/4 cup cold water until the mixture is smooth. Then whisk in another 1-1/4 cups cold water until combined.
Cook over medium to medium-low heat, stirring occasionally at first with a heatproof spatula, then continuously as the mixture comes to a boil, turns glossy, and thickens into a semi-translucent gel, 4 to 6 minutes. Whisk briefly to smooth out the mixture; then reduce the heat to low and cook 1 minute more, gently pulling the mixture from the sides to the center with the spatula to prevent scorching. Remove the pot from the heat.
In a medium bowl, lightly whisk the egg yolks. Gently whisk about 1/2 cup of the gel into the egg yolks; repeat with another 1/2 cup gel.
Pour the yolk mixture into the pot and gently whisk to combine. Over low to medium-low heat, cook the filling, gently pulling it from the sides to the center with the spatula, until it begins to boil, 4 to 6 minutes. Continue to cook, stirring as before, until the mixture thickens further(don’t worry if it clumps), about 1 minute more. Remove the pot from the heat and dot the filling with the butter, pushing it under the surface; let stand for a minute to melt. Gently whisk in the lemon juice and zest until smooth.
Sprinkle the ground gingersnaps over the bottom of the pie crust; pour the filling over the crumbs and smooth the top with the spatula. Let cool to room temperature before making the meringue, at least 30 minutes.

Make the meringue:

Bring 1/2 inch of water to a simmer in a pot that will hold the bowl of a stand mixer without letting it touch the water. Reduce the heat to low. Put the egg whites in the bowl off the heat and whisk (preferably with a balloon whisk) until frothy. Add the sugar about 2 tablespoons at a time, whisking for about 5 seconds between additions.
Put the bowl over the pot and whisk gently but constantly (you are not trying to incorporate air, but to keep the whites moving so they don’t cook) until the whites are very warm to the touch (they will register 115°F to 120°F on an instant-read thermometer) and the sugar is thoroughly dissolved (lift a ribbon of whites from the bowl with the whisk and rub the whites between your fingertips—you should feel no grit), 2 to 4 minutes.
Add the vanilla and cream of tartar, transfer the bowl to the stand mixer, fit with the whisk attachment, and beat, gradually increasing the speed from low to medium high over the course of 1 minute, until the egg whites form thick, glossy medium-firm peaks, 3 to 5 minutes total.
Using a soup spoon, drop some of the meringue in mounds in a ring around the edge of the filling. With the back of the spoon, spread the dollops of meringue over the entire surface of the filling and all the way to the crust’s edge. It is essential that all of the filling be completely covered by the meringue, without any air pockets, and that the edge of the meringue be anchored to the rim of the crust. Mound the remaining meringue on top and press with the back of the spoon to eliminate any air pockets without deflating the meringue.
Bake the pie until the meringue peaks brown, 5 to 7 minutes. Cool the pie on a rack away from drafts to prevent the meringue from shrinking. Let stand at least 1 hour before serving.