Tonight I (Alex) made dinner for Max because he had to take the NYC Specialized High School Test this morning–so he deserved a break and one of his favorite meals: roast beef and Yorkshire pudding.  I also made an arugula/pine nut/goat cheese salad and petite (small) green peas.  For dessert I made Strawberry Pavlova (a meringue cake filled with whipped cream and fresh berries).

Max: I was so happy Ali made me my favorite meal. It was really a special night. The Yorkshire Pudding tasted wonderful, and the Roast Beef was a perfect medium-rare. Generally I don’t like meringues, but the Pavlova cake made out of strawberries and meringue was the best one I have ever eaten. Thanks so much!

For the roast beef, I put salt and pepper on it and then threw it in the oven at 325 degrees for about 2 1/2 hours. Then I let it stand for 15 minutes while I cooked the Yorkeshire Pudding. Even through roast beef is a very simple dish its sooooo good, one of my personal favorites.

For the Yorkshire pudding, I whisked 6 eggs, half a teaspoon of salt, a little flour and milk.  The most important step is pre-heating your baking dish in the oven with either butter or pan drippings (from the roast). It needs to be piping hot before you add your egg mixture: and then the egg mixture poofs up!

Yorkshire pudding looks kind of funky but looks can be deceiving.  It is so good that we all wished we had made a double recipe.

Salad was very straight forward: Arugula, goat cheese, tomatoes and pine nuts. Most important step: toasting the pine nuts! And don’t burn them.

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For the Strawberry Pavlova, the most important thing is planning ahead because you have to bake the meringue cakes for a long time at a very low heat, but it’s actually a pretty simple recipe:

Whip egg whites with sugar and corn starch to make meringues; bake, cool.  Whip heavy cream with a little sugar and vanilla. Slice berries. Layer meringue cakes with whipped cream and berries.