Raspberry pavlova redux

Transcendent

A picture is worth a thousand words. I have four of them. Truly flawless food.

Raspberry pavlova redux

You might remember that in my post back in October, Grand Final fever – part deux, I made a chocolate and raspberry pavlova from Nigella Lawson. Back then I gave it a rating of trusty, saying that I had to turn down the oven temperature and also use fresh raspberries. I promised to make it again in summer when the fresh raspberries were out.

Start with a flawless meringue base...

Well, it’s now summer (with a vengeance – they’re forecasting 38C, or 100F, for Christmas Day), and fresh raspberries are in stock, but at $8 for a small punnet, they’re a bit pricey. However, they’re only in season for a few weeks a year, so I thought that morning tea for my last day at work would be a great occasion to make it again. This pavlova screams Christmas – well, an Australian one, at least – but Christmas Day at my mother-in-law’s is just too full of food to do this justice, so I thought I would make this for an appreciative crowd, my now ex-work colleagues.

...top with raspberries, cream and chocolate...

Wow. They were blown away. So was I. Things were looking good the night before when I made the meringue base – and learning from last time, I turned the oven down. Everyone’s oven is different, so I really recommend a bit of trial and error when it comes to oven temps. My oven is a fan-forced one, so it’s really hot, and Nigella’s temps of 180C and 150C were far too hot – you’ll see I burnt the last one (and also the first time I made it before that). Looking at other recipes, I noted that Donna Hay cooks her pavlovas at 150C, turning down to 120C, so I did that, and – meringue perfection. I was really proud of myself when it came out of the oven crisp but not burnt!

...consume gorgeous crispy shell, with chewy centre...

Then this morning, I brought in the cream and raspberries, but forgot to bring beaters to whip the cream with. It was looming as a disaster, when the day was saved by my boss Ros and teammate Ben, who came to the rescue by beating the cream by hand with a fork. Thanks guys! The cream is now perfect, too.

Top with the raspberries, sprinkle chocolate on top – and stand back and let the crowd devour. The last image (taken by Ben, thanks again) of the last piece was taken just before someone came and ate it – so once again, a clean plate.

...and watch the crowd devour for an instant hit!
(Photo by Ben J.)

But, my goodness. This is easily one of the best desserts I have ever made. And I make a lot of desserts, so this is saying something. The chocolate meringue was lovely, light and crisp on the outside; gorgeous and chewy on the inside, just like a meringue should be. The combination of chocolate meringue, double cream and fresh, tart raspberries made for an unbelievably amazing flavour combination. I really recommend you give this a go. It’s not hard either. The tricky part is the meringue and once that’s perfected, it’s just cream and raspberries on top.

I used Betty to whip the egg whites; that was her last job for the year and, in fact, here in Australia for a while, as I’m packing her up and taking her to Switzerland when I move in two weeks’ time. I look forward to more cooking adventures with her then!

Sauces galore

Tragedy

Don’t blame this cheesy disaster on the recipe though – it’s my fault

Triumph

Greeks provide a tasty zing to lamb cutlets

Sauces galore

So I’m having a slightly lazy week this week when it comes to cooking. Some weeks I just don’t feel very inventive. This week I decided to use sauces as an example of how to provide a bit of jazz to ordinary food. First was gnocchi with creamy Castello and spinach. Castello is a type of soft, cow’s milk cheese. It comes in a blue variety, but I’m not a fan of blue cheeses, so I use the white variety, which has a mild, subtle taste.

Gnocchi with creamy Castello and spinach

I won’t say where exactly this recipe is from, as it’s actually from a local guy who runs food classes. The food class I attended was great, and so is this recipe usually, so I don’t think it’s fair to name the chef given the poor rating is based on my mistake. I’ve provided the recipe on how to make the gnocchi as well, but wanting dinner to be quick, this time I simply used good quality homemade gnocchi from my local Italian grocer. I have made gnocchi before, but for me it was a bit of a disaster. I’ll readily concede that Emperor D has the upper hand here, expertly making gnocchi a couple of times.

But back to the sauce; it was tragic. It’s actually my fault though. I’ve made this a couple of times before and it’s usually pretty good. This time I think I over seasoned it. It was very salty; I seasoned with salt once the cheese had melted, and then again when the dish was complete, just before serving. Add to that the pecorino I use has a slightly salty taste to it, and the whole thing was salty to the point of being almost unbearable. I couldn’t finish it.

Seriously though, I hope you give this a shot and do better justice to it than I did this time around. It’s ridiculously easy and super quick (well, if you’re using store-bought gnocchi); you can plate this up in the time it takes to boil the water and cook the gnocchi.

Lamb cutlets that have been marinated in Greek marinade

I had much better luck with Greek marinade on my frenched lamb cutlets. I can’t tell you where I got this recipe from either, simply because I don’t remember. But this is a great, simple marinade recipe with some fantastic, zingy flavours. The rosemary, thyme, and oregano work really well with the garlic and olive oil, and of course the lemon gives it that amazing Greek tang that I love.

Try and marinate meats for at least 30 minutes before cooking; and of course, there’s no need to add extra oil to the fry pan or barbeque. You’ll add more flavour during the cooking process if you baste with the leftover marinade using a pastry brush or baster. I’ve only ever tried this with lamb – as Greek marinade seems to cry out for lamb – but give it a try with chicken as well.

Lastly, just some advance notice that I may not be posting as often over the next couple of months. Christmas is a busy time anyway (although I do hope to post a few recipes I plan on making over Christmas), but it will be even busier for Emperor D and I as we pack up our house and move overseas. I’ve been fortunate enough to score an amazing job opportunity in Geneva, Switzerland, where I’ll be headed very soon after New Year. I’m really looking forward to posting from Geneva – no doubt I’ll have to try some Swiss recipes. Fondue, anyone?