Caramelized onion, goat cheese, and heirloom tomato and Lemon Curd Cream Pavlovas with Farmer's Market Strawberries (Kopie)

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buckwheat-thyme tart/quiche
makes one 9" tart

for buckwheat pastry:
100 grams buckwheat flour
160 grams AP flour
1 egg yolk
1 Tbspn fresh thyme
1 tspn salt
1/2 tspn freshly ground black pepper
1 stick (4 oz) butter, cold, cut into Tablespoons
3-4 Tbspn water

1. Combine the ingredients in a food processor and pulse just until a dough begins to form.
2. Remove the pastry dough from the food processor, form into a ball, wrap with plastic wrap or parchment paper and chill for 30 minutes.
3. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
4. Roll out the pastry crust. Prick the bottom of the crust several times with a fork. Then, line the pastry with parchment paper and weigh it down with pie weights (or dry beans, which is what I use).
5. Bake for 15-18 minutes, until the pastry just begins to turn golden. (You may want to remove the beans and bake for 5 minutes longer, if the bottom is a bit soft still.)
6. Remove from the oven and let cool.

for filling:
butter, for pan
1 extra large red onion, sliced
1 extra large sweet yellow onion, sliced
1 egg white
1 egg
170 grams European style plain yogurt
goat cheese, as much or as little as desired
8-10 oz. heirloom tomatoes, cut to size
salt and pepper, to taste
fresh thyme

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
2. In a frying pan on the stove, heat the butter and add the onions. Sprinkle lightly with salt. Cook the onions over medium high heat until they are caramelized. Remove from heat and distribute evenly in the bottom of the prepared tart crust.
3. In a bowl, whisk together egg white, egg, and plain yogurt. Add a little bit of salt and pepper. Pour over the onions in the tart.
4. Spoon small scoops of goat cheese into the tart and distribute the heirloom tomatoes.
5. Sprinkle the tart with salt, pepper and fresh thyme.
6. Bake in the oven for ~30-40 minutes, just until the edges of the quiche begin to set. Remove from the oven and let cool. Tart can be reheated in a 350 degree oven for ~10 minutes, if desired, or it's good cold, too!

Tip: If you want to skip the egg mixture, that works perfectly fine, too, though you probably want to bake it for a little less time (~20-30 minutes), just long enough to melt the goat cheese and cook the tomatoes.


Lemon Curd Cream Pavlovas with Farmer's Market Strawberries
makes 4-5 individual sized pavlovas

for meringue:
180 gr egg whites (~6 egg whites)
200 gr superfine sugar*
2 Tbspn corn starch, sifted
2 tspn white vinegar
2 tspn vanilla extract

1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees F. Prepare a baking sheet lined with parchment or a silpat.
2. Begin whipping the egg whites on low until they become foamy. Then, increase speed to medium-high, gradually adding the superfine sugar. Beat until glossy stiff peaks.
3. Whisk in the corn starch, vinegar, and vanilla extract, being careful not to overmix.
4. Spoon the meringue onto the silpats, shaping the meringues with spoons for your desired size. Make an indent with the back of a spoon on top of each meringue.
5. Place the meringues in the preheated oven. Immediately lower the oven temperature to 250 degrees F and bake for an hour to an hour and a half, until the outside of the meringues are dry. Turn off the oven and allow the meringues to cool inside the oven.

for lemon curd cream:
adapted from David Lebovitz's Improved Lemon Curd recipe
1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
50 gr sugar
1 large egg yolk
1 large egg
pinch of salt
3 Tbspn unsalted butter, cut into small cubes
zest of one lemon, freshly grated
1 cup heavy whipping or manufacturing cream, cold
2 Tbspn powdered sugar

1. Prepare a fine mesh strainer over a bowl.
2. In a double boiler (or, if you're brave like David Lebovitz, cook this directly on the stove over low heat), whisk together the lemon juice, sugar, egg yolk, egg, salt, and cut butter. Cook over simmering water until the butter is completely melted and the mixture thickens enough to coat the back of a spoon.
3. Remove the lemon curd from heat and strain through the prepared sieve. Mix in the freshly grated lemon zest. Allow the curd to cool completely.
4. In a chilled bowl, whip the cream just until stiff peaks form. Whisk in the powdered sugar and then quickly fold in the cooled lemon curd, being careful not to overmix. Use immediately (though, if you whip manufacturing cream properly by hand, this cream should stand in the refrigerator for at least several hours without breaking down).

for assembly:
strawberries, hulled and chopped
vanilla sugar
lemon juice

1. Place the chopped strawberries in a bowl. Sprinkle lightly with vanilla sugar and lemon juice and mix to combine. Let sit for a few minutes (or in the refrigerator for few hours, if you want to make this ahead of time.)
2. Top each meringue with a generous helping of lemon curd cream and macerated strawberries.

*Tip: to make superfine sugar, weigh regular sugar and grind in a food processor for several seconds.

Enjoy!
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