Nigella Nigella Nigella

I had been searching for some photos I had taken with the old digital camera about two/three years ago. Well, I found it last night! Wahoo.

So I'd like to share a Nigella Lawson recipe with you. Her new show starts on October 1 on the Food Network. If you've ever uttered the words "food porn" in your life, watch her show!!!! I can't wait.

I had made the following recipe once. I don't remember if there was an actual occasion for this or if I was just being nice?! We lived on the Hill and Lord and Lady B and The Kara were joining us for dinner. When it came time for dessert, I finalized the assembly in the kitchen, took a picture and brought it out. We ate the whole thing...without serving plates! We just dove in with large spoons. DIVINE!

Chocolate Raspberry Pavlova
page 189, Forever Summer

You just cannot beat a pav in summer, and in particular this dark beauty. The crisp and chewy chocolate meringue, rich in cocoa and beaded in nuggets of chopped plain chocolate, provides a somber, almost purple-brown layer beneath the fat whiteness of the cream and matte, glowering crimson raspberries on top: it is a killer combination.

for the chocolate meringue base:
6 egg whites
1 cup granulated sugar
3 TB unsweetened cocoa powder, sifted
1 tsp balsamic or red wine vinegar
2 oz bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped

for the topping:
2 1/4 cups heavy cream
1 very full pint of raspberries
2-3 TB coarsley grated bittersweet chocolate

Preheat the oven to 350 and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Beat the egg whites until satiny peaks form, and then beat in the sugar a spoonful at a time until the meringue is stiff and shiny. Sprinkle over the cocoa and vinegar, and the chopped choclate. Then gently fold everything until the cocoa is thoroughly mixed in. Mound onto a baking sheet in a fat circle approximately 9 inches in diameter, smoothing the sides and top. Place in the oven, then immediately turn the temperature down to 300 and cook for one to one and a quarter hours. When it's ready it should look crisp around the edges and on the sides and be dry on top, but when you prod the center you should feel the promise of squidginess beneath your fingers. Turn off the oven and open the door slightly, and let the chocolate meringue disk cool completely.

When you are ready to serve, invert onto a big, flat-bottombed plated. Whisk the cream till thick but still soft and pile it on top of the meringue, then scatter over the raspberries. Coarsely grate the chocolate so that you get curls rather than rubble, you don't want the raspberries' luscious color and form to be obscured, and sprinkle haphazardly over the top, letter some fall, as it will, on the plate's rim.

Serves 8-10 (or not if you eat it all)