week #19 - pavlova with lemon curd from 'bon appetit desserts'

a day late, but once again, it's a long weekend, so not exactly a buck short.
but, to make up for being almost a buck short, i'm here with a celebration dessert in honour of not only the weekly recipe posts, but also of this lil' blog o' mine's 3rd birthday!

!

h a p p y  3rd

b l o g i v e r s a r y

!

three years have passed in a blink, yet some days it seems like it's been an eternity.  

the past year has been delicious.  nuff said.   there hasn't been too many blogging milestones, but there has definitely been some milestone recipe moments.

summer brought my favourite grilled veggie side dish, the almost-perfect quinoa burgers, the definitely perfect turkey burgers, easy-peasy cold brewed iced tea, and the beginning of many-to-come editions of 'listing it..'

fall brought a restaurant-worthy salad, muffins that already include the latte, and now award winning ribs (which are the bring you to your knees kind of great)

winter brought a new year's resolution list of 52 goals and the weekly cookbook recipe challenge, a new take on breakfast porridge, the honour of being a food52 competition finalist, 

and then winning (!) 

and spring thus far has brought momofuku's brussel sprouts (in honour of our NYC trip next week!), cookies filled with chickpeas, and today i bring you a pavlova worthy of celebrating three years of blogging!

pavlova had to have been invented by unicorns, angels, or fairies, because it is majestic, heavenly and airy, and when adorned with lemon curd, fresh berries and clouds of coconut whipped cream, it is practically perfect, in every way.

the first time i ever really encountered pavlova was in college while watching the goddess herself make her classic pavlova and i knew immediately while watching her cover that crisp disc in whipped cream and trickle passion fruit over top that pavlova would hold a high esteem in my list of favourite desserts.

 when done right, pavlova should be smooth, straw-coloured and so delicate on the outside that just barely breathing towards it will shatter it's exterior, and the inside should be silken yet sticky, and most importantly, marshmallowy.

pavlova is very sweet by nature, so should be paired with only lightly sweetened whipped cream, and tart fruit such as berries or passion fruit.  the addition of lemon curd, while not traditional, takes things over the top, and will have your guests coming back again and again.

the pavlova recipe i used, as well as the recipe for the lemon curd were pulled from what should really be called "the encyclopedia of fabulous desserts", as bon appetit desserts will not let you down if what you are looking for is something sweet and amazing to serve up at your next event, celebration, or even just a regular weeknight dinner.  as the slogan on the front of the book says, it's "the cookbook for all things sweet and wonderful" and that it is.  the book is enormous, and the recipes within are generally simple, with common ingredients, and easy to understand instructions, and while ever recipe doesn't include a photo, the photos that are included make you want to go make those recipes right away.  barbara fairchild is an authority on food, so i would honest to goodness trust every recipe in this book.

the pavlova is worthy of making again, but while the lemon curd was good, it wasn't as amazing as the chef's recipe, so i think i'll stick with that one in the future.  my only pavlova making tips for you, is while you can make the pavlova itself the day before, don't adorn it with any sauces, curds, creams, or fruit until right before you are going to eat it, as it will be a pile of mush before you get through your salad.  it's a make and eat right away kind of thing, a fair weather friend if you will.

the other thing i should mention, is the coconut whipped cream.  it may have changed my life forever, as i have a bit of a whipped cream addiction - if it's there, i'm gonna be the one to lick the spoons, the beaters, the bowl, and eat whatever leftovers are in my path.  it's like eating a cloud, and when i eat it, i'm in heaven.  but, alas, the whipped cream is just not good for us, so my visits to heaven are few and far between.  that is, until i recently discovered the gift that is coconut whipped cream, most elegantly outlined by oh ladycakes.  so easy, so amazing, so wondrous.  don't let the lumps in my photos fool you, i got lazy and skipped the step of sifting the powdered sugar (tisk, tisk) but usually it comes out luscious, billowy, and an easy stand in for it's much higher fat counterpart.  just make sure you get the right coconut milk, cuz i've tried it with the other stuff, and it just doesn't work. 

just look at that pile of perfection, waiting for it's guests to come for dinner and eat it!  

i can't think of a better way to celebrate a blogiversary!

listing it...

i really feel like everyone has a designated amount of luck given to them, and portions of it are used in different circumstances in life.  for example, last weekend, my luck might have been used to win the 17 million dollar jackpot, but instead the luck gods decided to send the chef and i over to a neighbourhood garage sale at just the right time to discover two beautiful le creuset dutch ovens for $30!  i'm definitely not complaining (however 17 million would have certainly come in handy!)

i've been hoarding lots and lots of links this month, and there's some real doozies in there for you folks!  so, enjoy your friday time-wasters (actually, it's gonna be a rainy long weekend here, so maybe you'll have some extra free time for link perusing!)

1. although i'm not a vegetarian, when i say that i try not to eat too much meat i get these same questions asked
2. this one is for all those design and space geeks out there.  i'd say  a combination of amanda hesser, lisa congdon, orla kiely, ruth reichl and yves st. laurent's would make me a pretty happy worker
3. i'm becoming completely enamoured by bill murray. this site makes me love him even more. 
4. totally wanna make one of these.  and one of these.  and one of these!
5. urban farming for cheaters.  and i'm totally a cheater.
6. so so funny. and pretty much totally how the chef and i talk in the kitchen "well, just mash the fucker, then add some garlic"
7. totally fascinating.  i have a goal to go wireless (no tv/internet/phone) for one weekend, never mind a year, and i'm struggling with when to do it?
8. dayummy!
9. wanna laugh till you cry?  be friends with these guys and apparently you will!
10. so.  not to be too morbid, but when i go off into greener pastures, i want my obituary to read like this, and i want this to happen at my funeral.  mmk?
11. so many funny things going on in this .gif!
12. best dog ever (thanks colette!)
13. another round of celebrity mean tweets!  funny every time!
14. this is pretty much the mantra i try to have in my life.  very little, if not nothing, is worth being aggravated over.  except for when you make over-easy eggs and the yolk breaks...totally cursing my way through that every.single.time!
15. completely interesting, borderline child abuse, and totally funny

tricky chickpea {chocolate chip chickpea cookies}

chickpeas + chocolate chips = cookies? 
cookies should not be the correct answer in this question, yet it totally is! 

i had seen these cookies all over the internet, and they were on my 'to-bake' list for ages.  i've now made them three or four times, so obviously chickpeas + chocolate chips makes one good equation!  the recipe can be found here, and i now follow it to the tee.  there were attempts that added flour, used agave instead of honey, and with added cocoa powder, but ultimately, the original is the best in my opinion. 

you can see that her cookies are paler, and rounder than mine.  i think that this recipe's success and turnout really depends on the ingredients that you use - not the quality necessarily, but the brand, and type.  also, my food processor is not super duper powerful, so it had to work pretty hard in order to make the dough smooth, which resulted in slightly warmed dough, causing my chocolate chips to melt slightly when added.  no biggie though, more chocolaty flavour is never a problem.

i wouldn't exactly call these 'health' cookies, as i imagine they are comparable calorie-wise to a typical cookie, however these pack a protein-punch and are much higher in fibre than their traditional counterparts.  and i always think that anytime you can add more beans into your diet it's good thing, so the more chickpea cookies the better, i say!

one tidbit of advice.  don't leave out the chocolate chips, and don't eat these anything less than warm.  they are excellent when heated up in the microwave even, but straight out of the oven is of course best.  i squished mine down a bit, but i like them best when thrown in the oven as balls as they come out extra doughy on the inside.  in fact, these cookies are more like 'dough balls' than they are cookies.

i can't help but think these would be an awesome after-school snack for kiddies, and they wouldn't even know you were up to sneaky good-for-you tricks!  

now go pour yourself a glass of milk (don't forget your oh-so-cute striped paper straws) and eat your chickpeas!