CULINARY EXPLORATIONS

Update on my Culinary Travelling

2011-10-14T11:05:00.000+03:00

Dear friends,

I know I have been "away" for a while and not sharing my culinary travels, but I assure you the caravan has not stopped even though I have been lazy on the reporting side. Last weekend I hosted a little dinner with the Moroccan theme and the food was absolutely delicious. One of the recipes I used was from BBC Good Food "Spicy Chicken Couscous" without much amending it (instead of fresh apricots I used dried apricots cut half, because they are sweeter) and I can highly recommend it. Since I made a major miscalculation with portions (sometimes even happens to the best) I had to think something clever to do with the left-overs. Great ideas do not always come last! Since reheated chicken (any meat as a matter of fact) tastes pretty unpleasant, I opted for using this dish as a base for salad. So all I there was to do was to add some tomatoes, corn and avocado and drizzle everything with olive oil. For extra pleasure some Greek yoghurt can be used also on the side. As a secret I can tell you I actually liked the salad version more than the hot one.

Now to more serious news. I am participating at a local amateur culinary competition and I am one of the 77 participants who has been selected into the finals. To say I am happy is like to say nothing! (I'll spare you from wohoos and thousand happy faces.) Interestingly enough when I first participated I didn't think much of becoming successful with my recipe, but seems I underestimated myself. Anyway, finals take place on 6th November and I am supposed to create a cake (specific details of this part of the competition are not clear yet). Since I am up against just 5 persons (all female btw) perhaps it is not so unlikely to win that culinary trip to Paris? :)

RESTAUTANT BORDOO AT THE THREE SISTERS HOTEL, TALLINN

2011-08-09T16:59:00.000+03:00

Voted as the third best restaurant in Estonia in 2011 restaurant Bordoo in Tallinn is a must-visit if you value haute cuisine. Supposedly first restaurant in Estonia being viewed as a potential Michelin star candidate and I must admit probably least advertised eating establishment that deserves the highest praise in town. They use seasonal products, hence the menu is changed seasonally.
They have a 4-6 course tasting menus where the selection of dishes are determined each day. We chose the 4 course tasting menu which was following and all of them were just amazing. I am not sure I am capable to actually explain all the magic that landed on our table, but the ride was unforgettable and magnificent. First we were served a little refreshment consisting of apple foam with vanilla, which didn't taste sweet as one would imagine. Next was something sort of sigar consisting of meat and leaves with a distinctive taste and smell of smoke. Just like eadible sigar. I have never had anything similar to this and I must say we were completely blown away and won over. From there on they could do anything they wanted and we would still love it to bits. And it only got better when the chantarelle risotto as first course was served. I still have wild dreams about it... Second course that night was a slow cooked salmon which was wonderful. As third course I selected veal and my companion had lamb. Both were slow cooked and melted in the mouth, but in comparison the lamb topped the veal. Did I mention that they served us a varied selection of butter and a selection of 4 different types of homemade bread? Well, that night we had a lot of butter and bread. When the dessert was served I was so full I wasn't sure I am capable of standing up without help not to mention make it back home without fainting, but still I had whole of the dessert, because it was just another masterpiece. Have you ever tried sorrel dock ice cream? That night I did (it tasted as it was made without any milk products, but had a very smooth texture) and with cheesecake it was a genious dish.

All in all this was the most memorable eating experience this year in Tallinn so far and for anyone wishing to experience some world class culinary mastery in Tallinn this is the place to visit.

Go read more: http://www.bordoo.ee/en

Located:
Pikk 71/Tolli 2
Tallinn 10133
Estonia

Phone: +372 630 6300
e-mail: info@threesistershotel.com

MY GRANDMOTHER'S GARDEN IS IN FULL BLOOM

2011-08-01T20:01:00.001+03:00

Last weekend I travelled to a little Russian town bordering with Estonia to pay a visit to my grandmother and explore her big garden that never fails to amaze me. This is where I spent most of my childhood summers and now whenever I am visiting here I cannot help but become a tad bit nostalgic. Below are some photos of what can be found in my grandmother's garden.

Cherries, which were kind of (extremely!) sour, but great for jam that can be enjoyed on dark frightening winter nights while reminiscing about sweet moments in life and day-dreaming about the next ones..

These should be different types of zucchini. Note: they only look small, in reality they are gigantic. I carried back home 3 of them praying along the way that my newly bought suitcase doesn't crash into pieces or if it does it will happen while still in Russia so that my travel insurance covers it.. nothing terrible happened though.. pheuww!

One of the many pumpkins..

Dill, this one is best for using in marinades.

Cucumbers in front row, followed by carrots, dill, spring onions etc. Overwhelming... :)) How does she manage to do all of this?!

Raspberries in the process of ripening..

Peppermint, great for tea and what else!

Red currants. For couple of years I have made marmalade of these wonderful berries. It suits really well all sorts of meat and Christmas dishes. Particularly on top of gingerbread... mmmm...

Gooseberry

My favourite types of apple - Ranetki - they are super flavoursome and sweet, not to mention for me they smell of childhood and great memories. Great for all sorts of preserving. Unfortunately impossible to find at local farmer's market in Tallinn.

Tomatoes. I remembered about photographing when we had removed all the ripe tomatoes, so only the green ones got to strike a pose. Let's hope they mature quicker now.

Gooseberries again...

Amazing garden, right!

EATING OUT IN CHINA, MARCH 2011

2011-05-20T00:02:00.000+03:00

No long stories this time, just enjoy some of the photos of my culinary explorations in Shanghai, Suzhou and Zhongshan, all cities of powerful China.

2011-05-17T23:07:00.001+03:00

I just realised I have accidentally deleted illustrative photos in my previous posts. Another negative news is that since I am not this blogging genius I have no idea whether I can fix the problem at once regarding all posts or if I have to fix each other post individually, this will take an eternity and this is the time not available in my calendar right now. Sincerest apologies and I hope this does not cause any tragic inconvenience to anyone.

HAIKU BY HATSUNE RESTAURANT, SHANGHAI

2011-05-17T23:04:00.001+03:00

Without any doubt I can say that this restaurant was the culinary highlight of my trip to Shanghai and Hong Kong. We actually ended up going there because we walked past it one night in search of some fun lounge for drinks and the restaurant was the only one of several on that small street that was full still at a rather late hour. We made sure we had a reservation for that place the next night, because the place is very popular.

Located:

8B Taojiang Lu,
near Hengshan Lu
桃江路28号-乙, 近衡山路

Below are some photos of the dishes that we ordered. As customary in China dishes are shared and not served individually, which I actually like, because then I always get to try as much as possible. I did not write down the names of the dishes we ordered, but judging by what we got the quality is very good and I still go down memory lane to reminisce about that eating out experience. So if you are in Shanghai and feel like having some California style Japanese rolls then stop by there and let your indulging take you to new levels.

Lobster craving satisfied at La Risacca "6" in Milan

2011-05-17T22:56:00.001+03:00

If you find your way to Milan and you suddenly realise that without a good dose of local seafood life will immediately turn into a disaster or you just have a craving then I highly recommend La Risacca "6" (see website for details about menu, location etc). Obviously this place has a lot of foreigners and tourists visiting, it is always full, hard to get a table and so on and so on.. BUT the food is just unbelievably good! The ultimate satisfaction is guaranteed with Lobster alla Catalana served with flavoursome tomatoes and sweet onions from Sicily as well as a few carrots and celery stalks tossed in. Not to mention they have a very aromatic and tasty olive oil poured all over this dish. This dish is an absolute winner and I haven't yet had lobster alla catalana in any other place that could beat the one at La Risacca. Unforgettable experience that one should not miss out on.

The photo below is made of the Lobster alla Catalana (portion for two) after half of the food was already eaten, sorry, we could not help ourselves. Temporarily lost control of ourselves..

To top it all they serve with your espresso the ice cream as seen below carefully packaged and placed on ice. Makes the experience even more enjoyable!

The suggestion of the restaurant is based on my personal experience and subjective opinion, feel free to disagree if you had a different experience or read trip advisor which does rank the restaurant quite high, but also has some quite negative ratings. My experiences in that restaurant have been very positive in terms of food and this is what matters to me most when eating out.

May I have more, Cafe More?

2011-03-05T14:45:00.001+02:00

Lately I have been so much on the move that cooking has been part of the survival regime rather than experimenting or just doing it for fun. So I won't be sharing any exciting recipes today. Now I am writing actually to praise a new cafe that was opened in the beginning of last month and I must admit a slight addiction to it. The main person running this place is a famous and well-acknowledged local chef and culinary expert Angelika Kang, whose expertise definitely lies in pastry and anything sweet. It's called Cafe More and it is located on the 4th floor of Viru Shopping Centre, which is basically the heart of Tallinn.

I must admit though that I have been indulging only with pastry and since it is so delicious I never make it to salads, paninis or other nice looking food that they make there. Today for instance after working hard at a fitness club which is one floor higher (dangerous!) I went to the cafe and took a cappuccino with not just one pastry, but two! My regular norm these days actually - why take less if there can be taken more. The place really lives up to its name, I must admit! Because if you take one Cardamom Bun there is no way you can stop with just that. They also have cinnamon ones and occasionally others, but cardamom one is the king there. It is a mind-blowing and orgasmic treat on a nice weekend midday. Just saying. My second treat today was a little cake with passionfruit, which I ate before they managed to bring my cappuccino. I just couldn't wait after I had taken the first bite.. What they do there is addictive. So don't be surprised if you find me there again tomorrow indulging after the gym balancing out the lost calories!

SALMON MEDALLIONS WITH ASIAN INSPIRED SAUCE

2011-02-13T11:55:00.000+02:00

For the love of food, I urge you to try this at home! As you know I love Asian food and this sauce for the salmon totally nails the whole idea how a sauce should taste in the Orient. It is a very simple yet glamorous dish suitable for special occasions.

My recipe in Estonian may be found here.

SALMON MEDALLIONS WITH ASIAN INSPIRED SAUCE

2 salmon medallions (ca 700 g, but you may subsititute with some other fish or other pieces of salmon, e.g steak, whole fillet)

20 g of scallions (about two stalks), chopped diagonally into long strips

2 tbsp of minced fresh ginger

4 garlics, chopped roughly

4 shallots or other small onions, sliced

for the sauce:

2 tsp honey

1 tbsp soy sauce

1 tsp oyster sauce

3 tbsp white wine (may be substituted with rice vinegar)

Additionally you will need foil and some cooking oil (olive or grapeseed etc)

Set the oven to 200 C. Blend all the ingredients for the sauce. Taste to make sure the saltiness is suitable for you, if too little add more soy sauce. Prepare four pieces of foil that are big enough to cover the two salmon medallions. Pour some cooking oil on one and then put the salmon medallion on it. Sprinkle with half of the prepared garlics, shallots, ginger and scallions and pour half of the sauce on top. Cover with another piece of foil and seal firmly the foil pieces together. Do the same with the other salmon medallion. Bake in the oven for 25 minutes.

May be served with cooked rice.

A LATE NIGHT STORY ABOUT A CARROT CAKE WITH FROSTING

2011-02-13T11:21:00.001+02:00

What do normal people with self-control do in the evening when they get a craving for something sweet whilst they have given themselves a promise that there will be no eating of sweets? Ignore and engage in something that would take the mind off. What do I do in the same situation? Go online, research and find the perfect way to act like no promise had been made! I had this crazy persons thought it had to be something similar to a cupcake even though I don't actually like cupcakes in particular. I mean there's usually just dough and a bunch of carbohydrates, so..yes.. right, let's scratch that thought and better let me introduce to you one of my favourite sponge cakes that is deadly easy to make:

CARROT CAKE WITH FROSTING

original recipe in Estonian from Nami-nami can be found here.

2 eggs

125 g sugar

1 tsp vanilla sugar

100 g melted butter

150 g grated fresh carrots

110 g spelt flour (you subsitute with regular as well)

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp ground cinnamon

a tiny bit of ground nutmeg

for the glazing:

100 g unflavoured (natural) cream cheese, e.g. Philadelphia

50 g caster sugar

1 tsp vanilla sugar

Set oven to 200 C while you prepare the dough. Whisk the eggs with the sugar. Mix together flour, baking powder, cinnamon and nutmeg. Add carrots, egg and sugar mixture and butter. Pour the dough onto the cake form (I use silicone form, so I don't have to butter it, but if you have metallic one, better use some butter and maybe even flour so that it doesn't stick to the form) and off it goes into the over. Bake around 30 minutes.

Meanwhile prepare the frosting by mixing the cream cheese with sugar and vanilla and apply one the ready-made cake when it has cooled. Best to keep it overnight in the fridge.

GET WARM WITH THIS GRILLED VEGETABLE SALAD

2011-02-12T18:30:00.001+02:00

Lately I have frequently found my way to Cafe NOP that is located near my workplace. Well, it has been around for years, but I had some unpleasant eating experiences in the past even though I like their Scandinavian cafe atmosphere. Long talk cut short, I avoided it knowingly for a long period, but luckily their cooking has now improved so going there has become a pleasure. The other day I had a grilled vegetable salad, which is new on the menu and totally unforgettable! So I had to make those grilled vegetables myself, because they are perfect for these cold winter evenings. In fact now, while writing this post, I am actually nibbling on the left-overs.. Yummilicious!

for this grilled vegetable salad you will need:

4 carrots

1 yum potato (can substitute with sweet potato)

2 beets

4 shallots

2 tbsp olive oil

1 tsp honey

black pepper and salt to taste

Prepare the oven to 200C at grill mode. Peel carrots, beets and yum potato and cut them into chunks (1x1 cm). Peel the shallots and cut into sectors. Mix honey with olive oil and pour over the vegetables. Stir. Finally add black pepper and salt. Bake in the over around 20 minutes, Blending couple of times while cooking.

FYI at NOP they serve it with rocket salad.

Enjoy!

CHOCOLATE BABKA

2011-02-06T21:39:00.001+02:00

I must admit that lately I have lacked desire for particular culinary exploration. Perhaps I've been caught in a certain routine where fun experiments are too much trouble not to mention a certain amount of writer's block that has taken over this culinary explorer's brain. Pfff....

Nevertheless here's a little treat for you. Really, I don't want to brag or anything, but it is seriously good!

What? CHOCOLATE BABKA

Who? Jewish cake introduced to me by Heidi Park via Estonian food magazine Oma Maitse December 2009 issue.

I added personal touch by changing some ingredients and hence making it more healthy? :)) I failed miserably at the part of twisting the babka, but it didn't not affect the flavour any bit.

the dough for 1 babka:

25 g yeast

100 ml milk

300 g spelt wheat

1 tsp salt

70 g unrefined sugar

1 tbs cardamom

1 tbs cognac

1 egg

100 g butter

filling:

100 g at least 70% dark chocolate

100 g butter

25 g unrefined sugar

20 g cinnamon (yes that much!)

Covering:

1 egg yolk

some milk

Warm the milk until about 40 degrees (should feel warm when you put your finger in it). Mix with yeast. Then add sugar, egg, cognac, wheat and salt. Mix everything.

Add slowly the melted butter and knead the dough until it is evenly doughy and smooth.Leave it in a warm place to rise (I left it in the over at 40 C covered for around 4 hours, after two hours i knead it again and let it rise again for the remaining time).

For the filling melt the cholote in water bed, add butter, sugar and cinnamon. Let it cool.

When the dough is ready for action, roll it as thin as you can and spread the filling on it. Roll it up, fold once and TWIST. Then set into a cake form and cover with mixed egg yolk and milk for extra glossiness. Bake at 175 C for 15 minutes, then reduce heat to 150 C and continue baking for another 30 minutes.

Once it is baked, let it cool (if you have the patience) and indulge away the night with your closest buddies.

GONE NUTS WITH CHOCOLATE, RAISINS TOO!

2011-01-17T22:48:00.000+02:00

Do you have lazy moments? I do, all the time. This recipe is an evident example of one of my lazy moments as a cook, because it is so easy to make it makes me cry from happiness. The outcome even to my own surprise was absolutely mind blowing, I could not stop eating, I did not want to share them with anyone and I had to confess of falling in love. With the nuts of course, and raisins no less! There was one low point during the making though, like when I was melting the chocolate and decided to add some cognac into the chocolate. To my surprise the chocolate that I had melted turned from nice liquid into chunks, so it made it difficult to mix with raisins and nuts as it was not so liquid. I still have no idea what chemical reaction took place either because I never focused in chemistry class in high school and missed out on "don't mix chocolate with alcohol" lesson OR Russian dark 75% chocolate is not as pure as the producer claims. To my own defense I believe in the latter option.. But in the end this only affected the visual result not the flavour. Anyway, I will be making them again soon, and no I will not share them with you!

100 g nuts (whichever you like)

100 g raisins (you can do without raisins as well, then make double amount of nuts)

115 g dark chocolate

1 tablespoon cinnamon

1/2 tablespoon cocoa powder

1 tablespoon of cognac

Roast nuts on a pan, but make sure you do not burn them. Let cool completely. Melt roughly chopped chocolate in a bowl over steaming pot of water on low heat. Stir on heat until melted and smooth, then add cognac. Toss nuts and raisins in the melted chocolate, and transfer onto a parchment paper to set.

Mix cinnamon and cocoa powder in a small freezer bag. Toss the set chocolate covered nuts and raisins in the powder until evenly coated.

Original recipe available at: http://www.greenkitchenstories.com/cinnamon-chocolate-covered-nuts/

WRAP THAT PRAWN!

2011-01-16T22:24:00.001+02:00

I had this craving for prawns the other time, great thing was that Russian Christmas was on its way, so I had the perfect excuse to make a very simple yet glamorous starter with prawns that had nothing to do with typical Asian flavours (yes, sometimes I too get tired of that). Cannot take credit for this recipe though nor can I share any personal photos, but I cannot not share this with you either. So go to BS' in the Kitchen to read more about it.

Seafood Salad with Wasabi Sauce

2010-12-30T20:37:00.001+02:00

Before the brilliant 2011 hits us, I would like to share with you this magnificent salad I made for another blog where I post my recipes as well. It is actually the news I haven't shared on this blog. Namely, already for a month now I have been the food editor for Estonian blog devoted to Spa life and spa news in Estonia: http://spaafan.jaager.net/. The idea is to cook food that is fresh, preferably seasonal (not always though) and always tasty as well as healthy, which is a very important factor. The blog is in Estonian and so are the recipes.

This recipe can be found in Estonian language on this address: http://spaafan.jaager.net/2010/12/mereandidega-salat-wasabikastmes/

INGREDIENTS

3 handfulls of salad (I had the lollo rosso and ruccola mix)

200 gr seafood (like shrimps, prawns, salted salmon, feel free to use your imagination)

1 avocado (peeled and cut into pieces)

1 fennel (sliced thinly)

5 cm piece long ginger (peeled and cut into bigger chunks)

1 garlic clove (cut in 3 pieces)

olive oil

For the sauce

juice from half of lime

1 tsp wasabi paste

1 tsp honey

salt and black pepper to taste

PREPARATION

First, mix all seafood with ginger and garlic clove. Let it marinade while you prepare the rest. Big chunks of ginger ginger are necessary so that you can remove the pieces at later stage, since they are not so delicious to eat in this dish (my humble opinion). Then mix fennel, avocado and salad. Cut salmon into smaller pieces (I cut lengthwise, thin strips) and add to the salad mix. Stir together the sauce mixing together all ingredients as listed above.

Add some olive oil on a stir fry pan, heat it up and stir fry the seafood for a few minutes. Remove ginger and add to the salad mix. Top with the sauce.

This is very unusual, but I had a terrible craving for champagne when I had this salad. I think it would be perfect here! :)

2010-12-24T17:27:00.001+02:00

I wish you a wonderful Christmas holiday and may it bring you joy, whatever else you may wish and take some rest to gain energy for the next active period!

Merle :)

Restaurant Neh in Tallinn

2010-12-21T23:08:00.001+02:00

So here we go, my first restaurant review!

Some weeks ago restaurant Neh was opened in Tallinn. Lots of talks, whispers and excitement followed by countless hurrays from several local bloggers. Me, also excited by the talks, insisted that our company's Christmas lunch was also held there.. Anyway, there's more talk than it's worth. Yes, compared to average standard it is much better, but there was an unpleasant smell in the place (my boss had the perfect explanation and no, you don't want to know), the interior is not in sync with the gourmet cooking approach and pricing. The menu is quite short and it was kind of disappointing to hear that from the 4 main dishes they had run out of one (that two of my lunch companions had ordered). In addition we had to wait like forever until the waiter served us wine (which was at least 20 minutes after we made the order and 5 minutes after the entrees were served). The service was relatively compelled and didn't leave a very pleasant feeling even though the waiter was very polite (but it didn't seem natural). But then again that's Estonia, don't expect client service! It's just the way we are...

I don't really want to diss the place, because it is still good, but food wise I expected much more. So if you too decide to go there don't expect magic, but you will get well fed if you order three courses. My vote still undoubtedly goes to Moon which is the most brilliant business idea/concept in the local restaurant business these days. Perhaps it's just that Russians cook better! :)

ZESTY GINGERBREAD COOKIES

2010-12-21T22:42:00.001+02:00

Christmas preparations are in full force! Mine started two weekends ago (according to some calculations already in summer when I made the red currant marmalade and pickled cucumbers) with making the gingerbread dough. It needs to be done well in advance so that all the spices have the time to come to life. My idea of the perfect gingerbread cookies come from my childhood when I had a tradition with my grandfather to make gingerbread cookies every year a few days before Christmas. It was our thing and noone was allowed to join in! Anyway, those cookies were always dark and on the spicier side and this is how I want them to be forever and ever.

Obviously at this time of the year there are plenty of different types of gingerbread cookie dough sold here, but I kind of enjoy controlling the process and knowing exactly I am eating, so I urge you as well to make your own dough, because it is really not so difficult!

This year i decided to bring the healthy factor into this time of mindless eating by using spelt flour instead of regular and unrefined sugar instead of regular white sugar. Obviously margarine is on permanent ban in my kitchen, so i use natural cream butter (not sure on the health factor here!). I also added some orange zest to the dough and to be honest I was really worried about the result, because I don't consider myself much of a baker and I spontaneity is not the best friend in pastry making, so it is quite easy to ruin everything. But to my own surprise the cookies came out very good - they are not too sweet, pleasantly spicy and with a small hint of orange which makes them very aromatic. Not to mention the simple sugar sprinkle on top is just genius! Is my praise talk working? :)

The original recipe is from Estonian recipe database Nami-Nami found here and my modified version can be found below:

INGREDIENTS

(this amount makes about 1,3 kg of dough)

200 ml syrup (I made my own from 200 g of unrefined demerara sugar with about 100 ml of water, so I got a bit more than 200 ml of syrup)

250 g butter

2 eggs

600 g spelt flour (finely ground)

2 tsp bicarbonate of soda

3 tsp ground cloves

3 tsp ground cinnamon

3 tsp ground cardamom

2 tsp ginger powder

you can exchange the spices above with a ready-made mix of gingerbread spice (I use the whole pack - 30 g)

zest of one orange'

for covering:

1 egg white

50 g almond slices (or other nuts that have been roughly ground)

raw cane sugar for sprinkling (or whatever other sugar you have, finely ground is the best)

PREPARATION

Make the syrup by heating up sugar with water until it dissolves and the add the spices and orange zest, bring to boil. Remove from heat and add butter, stir until the butter has melted. Let it cool.

Mix the flour with soda. When the syrup mix has cooled mix in the eggs and add flour. Carefully and thoroughly knead the dough. Shape it into a bar and cover with foil. Leave refridgerated for at least one day. I usually give it a week before cooking.

To make the cookies you have to take a piece of the dough (leave the rest in the fridge!) and roll it on a table covered with some flour. Roll it as thin as you can (Note to Merle: get a strong kitchen slave for next year!). Use moulding forms to cut out the cookies. I used heart shaped forms this year!

Lay them on the baking tray that has been covered with a baking sheet. Then I covered the cookies with egg white and sprinkled either with almonds or sugar (favourite was with sugar).

Bake in 200 C around 7-10 minutes, depending on the thickness of the cookies.

Done!

These cookies are good to go for more than two weeks, so they can be made well in advance or prepared in bigger quantities as gifts etc.

P.S. Confession moment - I become obsessed with Christmas songs during this time of the year and one of my favourite songs by Mariah Carey "All I Want for Christmas is You" (listen to it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yXQViqx6GMY&feature=related) is already on continuous nonstop repeat. It just makes me jump up and down and laugh (without a reason) like there isn't a worry in the world. I will be back to normal by 27th.... :)

HEALTH FREAK'S CHOCOLATE COOKIES

2010-11-17T21:48:00.001+02:00

This recipe was an accidental success. As I recall it was one of those late Friday evenings when a chocolate craze hit me and I started browsing through a book dedicated to chocolate "Suklaa" (I realised just now that it was published already in 1984!) to find a way to satisfy this insane but perfectly natural craving. So on one page I came across a recipe titled pikkuleipämakeiset (in English small cookies) and I was sold right after I noticed that the list of ingredients was astoundingly short and NO BUTTER! In the end I modified the recipe in a way that it meets a better "healthy cookie" standard, whatever that is, since I like to believe there is such.

The cookies were judged by the most demanding panel - two middle aged women who are food addicted yet highly health cautious and they got an applaud, so do not hesitate to make them at home, even if you are not health cautious and prefer to live on the wilder side.

NB! Do not judge these cookies by the photo. That's purely the photographer's (read: my) failure.

Ingredients:

100 g almonds, roughly grounded (feel free to be creative and add any nuts you like)

100 g dark chocolate (85%), roughly grounded

1 tsp vanilla sugar

2 tbsp cocoa

1 tbsp brown sugar

1 tbsp spelt wheat

2 eggs

Mix together everything but eggs, which you need to beat up separately and only after that add them to the mixture. Set small portions with a spoon on the tray and bake at 175C around 10 minutes.

TAPAS NIGHT KICK OFF: ROASTED BELL PEPPER WITH GARLIC

2010-11-17T21:22:00.001+02:00

This bread spread is another classic in my kitchen. It's actually the recipe that made me love roasted bell peppers. I'll share a secret with you, it is absolutely mind-blowing on second day, assuming you are able to leave aside some until that, which is a challenge!

The recipe is from Epicurious.com, initially published in Bon Apetit (January 2004) magazine.

Makes 8 servings

Ingredients:

12 large red bell peppers
1/4 cup olive oil
6 large garlic cloves, thinly sliced crosswise
1/4 cup Sherry wine vinegar
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley

Preheat oven to 450°F. Toss peppers with 1/4 cup olive oil in bowl. Transfer peppers to large rimmed baking sheet. Roast peppers until partially charred, turning every 10 minutes, about 50 minutes.

Transfer peppers to reserved bowl; cover tightly with plastic wrap. Cool 15 minutes. Peel and seed peppers over bowl. Tear each pepper lengthwise into 6 strips. Transfer pepper strips to heavy large skillet. Strain liquid from bowl into skillet. Add garlic, vinegar, and 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil to skillet. Simmer over medium heat until liquid becomes syrupy, stirring frequently, about 25 minutes. Cool. (Can be made 4 hours ahead. Cover; let stand at room temperature.)

Transfer pepper mixture to platter. Sprinkle with parsley and serve.

THE EXCENTRIC STUFFED BELL PEPPERS

2010-11-17T21:09:00.001+02:00

These are not your average stuffed bell peppers. At least not where I come from and the reason is simple, because these beauties come from Turkish cuisine, and they have a little twist to them! Even though my first acquaintance with Istanbul last year did not end with forever love and fascination I must say Turkish cuisine well deserves further investigation. Then again I am attracted to every cuisine of a nation which shores touch the Mediterranean sea. There are times when this woman is not so hard to please... I have to warn you though, this recipe is a bit of an effort, but it is so good that I have kept coming back to it over and over again.

In Turkish they call them Biber Dolmasi and this recipe is from "Mezze: a culinary journey of discovery" by Beverly Blanc. This is a magnificent book with fantastic photos and recipes and available for purchase in Estonia at Apollo.

I will post the whole recipe unmodified, because my usual modifications take place due to lack of ingredients not actual preference or a need to improve the recipe.

Serves 6

olive oil for cooking

1 onion, finely chopped

1/2 tsp ground sumac (I usually skip it, because I have no idea where to get it in Tallinn)

2 garlic cloves, finely chopped

generous 1 cup fresh ground lamb

1 tsp ground allspice

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

large pinch of cayenne pepper or to taste

5/8 cup basmati rice, rinsed, soaked in cold water for 30 minutes, and drained

2 tomatoes, grated, juices set aside and skins discarded (I cut the tomato into half and then grate holding from the skin side, so that eventually only the skin remains)

2 tbsp blanched almonds, toasted or chopped (i buy almond chips and then toast them)

3 tbsp currants (by all means do not skip this!)

2 tbsp chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

2 tbsp chopped fresh mint

3 large green bell peppers, cut half, seeds removed, but keep the stalk (when I have small bell peppers I double the quantity and only cut off the top)

1 tbsp tomato paste, dissolved in 1 1/4 cups boiling water

salt and pepper

Preheat the oven to 180C. Heat the olive oil, add onions, sumac and cook over medium heat, stirring for 3 minutes. Add garlic and cook, stirring, for another 3 minutes or until the onion is soft. Add the ground meat and cook stirring to break up lumps, until no longer pink. Stir in the allspice, cinnamon, cayenne pepper, salt and pepper and cook stirring for 1 minute.

Stir in rice and tomatoes and bring to boil. Continue boiling , stirring occasionally, for 3-5 minutes or until the tomato juices have evaporated. Stir in the almonds, currants and herbs. Set aside.

Divide the lamb mixture among peppers. Arrange the pepper halves in the casserole or skillet so that they remain upright. If the skillet/casserole is too wide then to secure that peppers remain upright during the whole cooking process set potato wedges to secure the peppers.

Spoon 1 tablespoon of tomato paste liquid over each pepper. Add 4 tablespoons of olive oil and salt and pepper to the remaining tomato paste liquid and pour around the bell peppers.

Bake in the pre-heated over for around 50 minutes to 1 hour or until peppers are very tender and the rice is cooked (1 hour is usually enough), If the tops of peppers start browning too much, then cover. Taste and adjust the seasoning of the tomato liquid if necessary before serving.

THE SLOW COOKED CHICKEN, VOL. 2

2010-11-14T22:11:00.001+02:00

As you know recently I slow cooked chicken with apricots. Anyway, I couldn't get the flavours out of my head and repeated the recipe this week with some modifications. The result is just as amazing, perhaps even better! I won't post the whole recipe all over again though. What I changed was that i used only chicken fillet that was cut into rough pieces, added celery and carrots as well as some fresh ginger and red lentil. For extra liquid I added some water as well. 3 hours later the chicken was nicely soft and the rest all well cooked as well. Personally I didn't feel a need for sides with this dish (maybe because of my laziness as well), but it is entirely up to you what you do with your lovely slow cooked chicken! :)

HI, I AM PEANUT BUTTER COOKIE!

2010-11-14T21:56:00.001+02:00

As much as I love the healthy approach to eating I have to admit that in life everything must be in balance. One of my sins is the peanut butter. It's one of those childhood things, I feel I never had enough of it in my childhood (because of Soviet Union and the 90s where nothing was sold and everything was hard to find) and I always wanted more of it. Same thing goes with Kinder Surprise and Lego. But back to peanut butter! I found this recipe below a long time ago, but never got around to making it since I usually don't have peanut butter at home (for obvious health related reasons!). But today was not one of those regular mornings, because today I had peanut butter in my fridge and incidentally no mood to take the 11 AM fitness class, how convenient! So what happened next needs no describing..

Original recipe can be found in Estonian here. Translation into English below with some minor changes:

115 g flour

half teaspoon soda

115 g butter

125 g sugar

1 egg

225 g peanut butter

50 g nuts (i had a mix of peanuts, almonds and hazelnuts) that are grounded into rough pieces

half tsp vanilla sugar

If your butter is not room temperature soft then melt it and mix well with sugar. Continue beating up the mix by adding the egg. Then add peanut butter and mix well.

Separately mix all the flour, vanilla sugar and soda. Add to the rest of mixture together with nuts. Mix well and leave in fridge for about 20-30 minutes.

Oven temperature around 180 C. Put a baking sheet on the baking tray and take spoonful of dough, put it on the tray and flatten with fork (but make sure the cookies are nice round shaped). Bake around 15-18 minutes (depends on the size of the cookies) until they are golden brown. Remove from oven, let cool completely before serving.

I must admit, they were a hit today - my mother had three pieces and she never eats that much sweets at once!

Fasting the weekend away

2010-11-02T21:36:00.001+02:00

I was fasting last weekend and it was a very good experience, even though with its challenges to a food lover like myself. If anyone is interested about how it was done, then holla me here and I will happily make a post about it.

AVOCADO SALAD LIKES IT RAW

2010-11-02T21:33:00.001+02:00

This is a no-brainer. Again, all ingredience added without any measuring in this salad you will need for this beauty to rise into life:

- lettuce salad, chopped

- (cherry) tomatoes, halved

- radishes, finely sliced

- spring onions, finely sliced

- cucumber, cut into small cubes

- avocado, chopped into chunky pieces

- parsley leaves, chopped

- mint leaves, chopped

Dressing:

- garlic clove, crushed

- lemon juice

- olive oil

Toss all ingredients together and DONE!

SLOW COOKED CHICKEN IN LOVE WITH APRICOTS

2010-11-02T21:26:00.001+02:00

Slow cooked food is the best comfort food on cold evenings. This darling takes several hours until being ready, but even if it needs to be planned ahead it is very simple effort. Basically you just throw everything in the pot and forget it there on low heat. No biggie!

I served it with the Couscous Salad and Avocado Salad.

PS! No milk products nor wheat are used in this dish.

The inspiration was taken from two recipes, but I mainly used the one from BBC Good Food found here.

2 tbsp olive oil
8 skinless boneless chicken thighs (I used different pieces - thighs, legs, breast)
5 garlic cloves, sliced
1 tbsp ground cumin
1 tbsp ground coriander seeds
1 tbsp sweet paprika
2 large onions, finely sliced
400g can chopped tomato
1 cinnamon stick
some chili
200g whole dried apricots (soak them a bit in the water)
handful mint leaves, to serve (optional)

Remove the skin from the chicken if you want a lighter meal, but nevertheless put some on the bottom of the pot to avoid burning the meat. Add some olive oil if you wish, but it is optional. Next, the chicken thighs should be set skin upside and top with spices and salt, part of the onions, apricots and garlic pieces. Pour a bit of chopped tomato on top. Then make the next layer, same way and continue until all ingredients are used (I put the breast pieces that were cut into large chunks on top). If you want you can pour the water you soaked the apricots also. Some similar recipes suggest one should add bouillon cube or chicken stock, but I have found that unnecessary, because I am in principle against using bouillon cubes and making extra chicken stock is just too much trouble considering that this dish has plenty of flavour without that. Cover, bring to boil and reduce the heat to very low (but so that you can hear the boiling continuing). Let them cook for 5 hours, but this time can be extended to 6-7 hours also, it will only make this dish better.

HUSHH... IT'S THE COUSCOUS SALAD!

2010-11-02T20:40:00.001+02:00

Amazing salad that I have already made several times and it was part of my Middle Eastern dinner. Very easy to make! I added all the ingredients without measuring, but for your convenience here are the quantities from the original recipe published in the BBC Good Food issue from August 2010:

for 2 servings

100 g couscous

25 g butter

50 g black olives, pitted

zest of 1 lemon

2 tbsp chopped coriander

pinch ground cumin

1 red chilli, finely chopped, seeds in or out as you choose

85 g drained chickpeas from a can

1 small carrot, grated

Place the couscous in a bowl with the butter. Pour over 100ml boiling water, then cover and leave to steam for about 4 minutes. Fluff couscous with a fork, then stir in remaining ingredients and season to taste.

Hou-hou-houmous!

2010-10-13T21:37:00.001+03:00

We all know it, it's the best dip on planet, right! My favourite version is with roasted paprika ( I love everything with roasted paprika to be honest). This one is the classical version and very easy to make, not to mention it screams for HEALTHY!

1 can of chickpeas (do not throw out the liquid!)

3 tbsp tahini paste (or to taste)

1 garlic glove

½ tsp ground cumin

½ tsp chilli powder

3 tbsp lemon juice

3 tbsp olive oil

A good pinch of salt and black pepper

Tip the chickpeas in a food processor and whizz with a little liquid from the can until smooth. Add tahini, ground cumin, chilli powder, garlic, lemon juice, olive oil and a good pinch of salt and blend again (add more of liquid if it seems too dry).

Serve drizzled with olive oil.

Roast Pepper and Walnut Dip

2010-10-13T21:26:00.001+03:00

Firstly, apologies for the lack of posts lately. I'm a bit occupied with language studies these days, so there is not much spare time to devote for blogging. :((

Secondly, I want to publicly declare my love for Moroccan cuisine, which is absolutely amazing. At least by judging what I have tried lately. In fact a little while ago I even had a little dinner party inspired by this new fascination as well as some other Middle Eastern dishes.

But for now I want to share with you this wonderful dip, which I served with lavash (the thin bread that I heated on grill mode in the oven for the extra crispiness) and natural nacho chips.

The recipe is from BBC Good Food and original version is available here.

Here is my slightly modified, tried, tested and approved by everyone version:

1 tsp each ground cumin and ground paprika, plus extra to serve
6 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
100g walnuts halves
400 g red peppers
1 tbsp tomato purée
1 garlic clove , crushed
2 tbsp red wine vinegar
salt and black pepper to taste

First I roasted the peppers. For that I drizzled some olive oil on the whole peppers and grilled them in the oven, turning sides as the top one had burned almost to black. After it was done, I removed them from the oven and let cool. Then removed the skin and the seeds.

In a pan, heat the ground cumin and ground paprika in the olive oil until fragrant. Combine the rest of the ingredients (including the roasted paprika) in a food processor, then season with salt and pepper. With the motor running, slowly pour in the spiced olive oil until incorporated. Add a tbsp of water if it's too thick. Scoop into a bowl and serve with freshly ground black pepper and ground paprika on top.

Tomato and Goat Cheese Tarte Tatin

2010-10-13T20:27:00.001+03:00

I wanted to make this Tomato Tarte Tatin, but I faced fierce objections when I announced it will be a sweet tomato tarte tatin with vanilla and all! So.. I settled to this delicious classically salty version of Tomato Tarte Tatin that I found from Dinner with Julie blog.

Ingredients:

8-10 tomatoes, halved lengthwise, has to be enough to cover the baking
olive or canola oil
salt and freshly ground pepper
1 10 oz. pkg. soft goat cheese or Boursin, plain, peppered or herbed
1 sheet frozen puff pastry, thawed

In a large cast iron or ovenproof skillet, arrange the tomatoes cut-side up and drizzle with oil; toss with your hands to coat them well, rearrange them in a single layer (don’t worry about them being closely packed; they will shrink quite a bit as they cook), and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast for an hour at 400°F (alternatively, you could slow roast them for 4 hours at 250°F).

If you slow roasted your tomatoes, turn the oven up to 400°F. If your puff pastry is in a block, roll it out to approximately the same size as the pan you’re using. Crumble the goat cheese over the roasted tomatoes and top it with the puff pastry, crimping the edges underneath with your fingers (sloppy = rustic) or trimming the corners off to make a circle with a paring knife.

Bake for 20 minutes, until the puff pastry is golden. Let sit for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a serving dish; retrieve any goat cheese that has stuck to the bottom of the pan and put it back onto the tart. Cut into wedges to serve. Serves 4-6.

It's very delicious, my word on it!

P.S. I forgot to add the goat cheese as said in recipe, so I added it before serving. It was also very nice this way.

Vinaigrette Salad, Another Russian Classic

2010-09-04T21:42:00.001+03:00

This is one of those perfectly healthy and deadly delicious example from Russian cuisine that I made following my mother's instructions. I had a huge craving for it all day and since I failed to convince my mother that today was the perfect day to make this salad when I come over for a visit I had no choice than make it myself. It tastes just like I remembered...

Ingredients:

1 beet

2 carrots

3 potatoes

3 small cucumbers

2 marinated cucumbers

1 apple, peel skin

a bit of lemon juice

salt and pepper to taste

olive oil for dressing

First boil beet, carrots and potatoes in their skin. Beet separately from the others and give it 20-25 minutes. Carrots and potatoes may be boiled together, takes about 15 minutes. Meanwhile grate cucumbers, marinated cucumbers and apple. When beet, carrots and potatoes are done, cool under cold water and peel skin. Then grate as was done with other vegetables. Add fresh lemon juice, salt, pepper and olive oil and mix everything. And ready it is!

P.S. I think the original recipe also includes head cabbage, but I forgot to add it and to be honest the salad is perfectly fine without it.

Lamb and Eggplant Soup

2010-08-29T18:08:00.001+03:00

The other day when I was in the post office waiting for my turn to receive a package I entertained myself at the magazine counter (oh no! this sounds like potential shopping...) and could not resist not buying (oh yes!) a little recipe book devoted entirely to eggplant dishes!

After post office I headed straight to the supermarket to buy all the ingredients i needed for the LAMB AND EGGPLANT SOUP. The ones who know me in person can just imagine the excitement that took over me. And a few hours later done it was and I must say the flavour of the soup got better with every day.

The original recipe states lamb ribs, but I bought some other piece instead which also contained bone, which is good when you are making broth.

So in short:

500 g of lamb

2 eggplants

1 onion

3 garlic cloves

1 carrot

3 potatoes

1 tomato

1 bay leaf

2 tbs flour

salt pepper

olive oil

First I made the broth from the lamb. I cooked the lamb in water for a bit over an hour but later realised this was too little and I suggest cooking the broth for 2 hours. Of course it depends of the piece of lamb you are using as well. Make sure you remove all the foam that forms on top of the liquid.

While your broth is in the making you can go ahead with the rest of the ingredients. Cut the eggplant, onions, carrots, garlic, potatoes and tomato into small pieces. Toss the eggplants in the flour and fry in olive oil. About 10 minutes.

Fry the onions, carrots and garlic. In the end add tomato and let simmer a few minutes.

When the broth is ready, remove meat and add potatoes and 10 minutes later eggplants and other vegetables as well as bay leaf. Season with salt and pepper.

I cut the meat into pieces and added back to the soup. Taste again to check whether you have enough salt and pepper. Remove bay leaf once you have turned off the heat and let stand for 20 minutes if you have the patience.

Great choice for cold weather I must say. Done now with my praise talk.. :)

Zucchini Tarte Tatin

2010-08-29T14:44:00.001+03:00

I am loving my current tarte tatin obsession and while my apple tarte tatin is in the oven baking (and currently it looks like it is about to blow up there), I want to share with you my Zucchini Tarte Tatin recipe. I apologise in advance, because I could not get any great photos out of it but trust me it is great assuming you like zucchini. I love them!

450 g puff pastry

2 zucchinis (the original recipe had eggplant), cut into slices

1 big onion

3 garlic cloves

olive oil

salt, pepper, fresh thyme

Onion and garlic need to be finely chopped and fried in olive oil. Remove from pan. Then fry the zucchinis in olive oil on both sides. Once they are golden brown, take them off the pan and put them on a plate and on a paper towel to get rid of excess oil. Mix zucchini with garlic and onions, season.

Set the zucchini mix on the bottom of the round shaped pie dish and put the puff pastry on top of it and tuck the edges down the dish sides. Bake in the oven about 40 minutes at 180-200 C.

Normally when tarte tatin is ready you let it cool a bit and the flip in on the other side, but I couldn't bother doing that before serving since I am a bit lazy. When I tried to eat it the next day when it was cold it didn't taste so good and I almost threw it out, BUT as last resort I tossed it back into oven and reheated a bit and surprise surprise it was back to great tasting pie again! :) So in short, don't eat it cold.

On another note, my apple tarte tatin is now made and... well, I had no idea the puff pastry can rise so much! For the time being I will keep all the unappetising analogies I have in my mind to myself and comment once this little fruit of impulse has been tasted.

Secondly and lastly, I will make a tomato tarte tatin soon.. but I said I am obsessed with this pie! :)

Cooking like Crazy

2010-08-26T17:55:00.001+03:00

... but then again maybe I have gone a bit crazy! Over the past week I have been probably cooking more than during the whole summer. This is what happens to me when I am suffering under heavy stress and frustration! The problem with so much cooking is obviously that someone needs to actually eat it, and this is where I fail. I enjoy the process of cooking but I am not so fond of eating my own food and too lazy to invite friends over all the time. It's just one of those situations in life.

Lately I have been mildly obsessed with ZUCCHINI, EGGPLANT and LAMB MEAT!

So i've done Middle Eastern stuffed bellpeppers, plum pie with cognac :)), Pasta Carbonara with Zucchini, Chinese Egglpant stir fry, lamb soup with eggplant, zucchini tarte tatin, baked zucchini with parmesan and right now I am slow cooking a nice piece of lamb. I have to say I did enjoy all of those dishes and now I am looking forward to the lamb, but it will take hours!!!! So meanwhile I will try to entertain myself with a fitness class and hopefully soon will be able to share all these wonderful recipes with you.

So long take care!

Merle

What's cooking? Spicy Prawn Soup (Tom Yam Goong) the Thai way!

2010-08-05T22:26:00.001+03:00

Here's a post that has been unjustly long due about my cooking class in Thailand where the tricks of cooking like a real Thai were shown to me by a cheeky local cook. Apart from a few good laughs I also realised that Thai cooking is actually very simple and done the right way you get a very fresh dish quite quickly. So I did get over my fear of cooking Thai food, since it always seemed so complicated due to the massive amount of different flavours in each dish.

As a responsible and good girl I photographed pretty much every step, so you will be able to get a good visual of what was taking place.

Your shopping list for Spicy Prawn Soup (5 portions):

10 pcs. fresh prawns

100 gr. mushrooms, cut into straws

10 pcs. lemongrass, sliced (mash with knife the part of the root, so the juices come out)

6 pcs. kaffir lime leaves

2 tbs. lime juice

4 tbs. fish sauce

6 pcs. dried chili

1/2 l chicken stock

3 pcs. ginger root

1 pcs. coriander root

10 pcs coriander leaves

3 medium sized tomatoes, chopped roughly

2 small purple onions, cut (as seen in photo above)

2 tbs. vegetable oil

What you do:

1. Peel and wash the prawns.

2. Heat half of the chicken stock.

3. Add lemongrass, kaffir lime leaves, ginger root, coriander root, tomatoes, onions and chili.

3. Heat for two minutes, add the prawns and cook a while.

4. Add the rest of the chicken stock and simmer gently for 3 minutes.

5. Add straw mushrooms and season with lime juice and fish sauce.

6. Garnish with coriander leaves.

7. This babe is served HOT!

French Chocolate Macarons

2010-07-19T22:54:00.001+03:00

This one was total beginners luck! They tasted so good, I literally had to pinch myself, because I could not believe it was the result of my own effort.

I used the David Lebowitz recipe that can be found here. Since it happened long long time ago, I do not remember any comments or remarks to add to that recipe. But when I tried to repeat my macaron triumph the second time (with a different recipe) I totally failed, because I did not follow the strict technique and that is the ultimate rule in making macarons + my eggs were not room temperature (a big no no!).

If you are into baking then this one is the ultimate challenge, do take it and let me know of your results!

But if you are lazy and live in a normal city then do yourself a favour and buy some macarons at Pierre Hermes or Laduree. If you are like me living in Tallinn then make your way to Bonaparte Cafe for the ultimate local macaron indulgement.

Chanterelles Alert

2010-07-19T22:40:00.001+03:00

I've had this craving for chanterelles for days now and today my patience run out. I rushed to the supermarket, tracked down the seasonal yet totally over-priced chanterelles, carefully (with love and affection) placed them into my shopping cart, grabbed some young potatoes and off to the counter I went.

Since these days I am a no fuss woman with ability to come out with only the simplest solutions (must be the tropical heat that has hit this unprepared northern country) I made the following:

- Boiled the potatoes without removing the skin

- cut some onion in small pieces

- heated the pan and added butter

- tossed in the onions and fried on medium heat until the onions turned golden

- cut the chanterelles into smaller pieces and added them to the onions

- simmered for 7-10 minutes and then added some salt and black pepper to taste.

Upon serving I cut the potato lenghtwise into half, put some chanterelles there, topped with sour cream, salt, black pepper and dill.

My chanterelle craving got totally satisfied but how is the situation with your cravings?

The Herring Delight

2010-07-19T22:29:00.001+03:00

This is the busy woman's herring dish. Being one my first step was to head to the local supermarket and buy some ready-made marinated herring. Today's pick was herring in black currant marinade, which in fact was very nice and I can only imagine in my wildest dreams how it would taste if I made it myself. But sometimes even the wildest dream come true especially when it's the black currant season.. ;)

This delicious dish is so simple I want to cry and you only need:

sour cream

marinated herring

spring onions

bread

and butter, if you insist

First I toasted my bread, then I put some cream butter on it (you can skip it if you are health conscious, I am taste conscious so for me it is a must). Top with herring pieces, then sour cream. Sprinkle some salt and black pepper and eventually the onions.

Best thing in the summer, trust me! Not to mention very regional dish here in Northern Europe.

Honey on your Goat Cheese

2010-07-19T22:17:00.001+03:00

It was one of those days I felt nostalgic about beet, my last year's favourite friend to fool around in the kitchen. And there is no better combination than beet and goat cheese with a dash of honey!

There is not much fuss about this little snack:

1. Boil your beet until ready. Let it cool before removing the skin or be ready to burn your fingers.

Since I was in a hurry (read: hungry) I let some ice cold water to run on it to speed up the cooling process.

2. Pre-heat the oven to 225 Celsius (I used grill mode).

3. Cut thick circles of beet (1 cm), atop with slices of goat cheese and off to the oven it goes.

I think I kept it there approximately 10-15 minutes until the goat cheese looked nice and mildly browned.

4. Toast your favourite boccata bread. Add some olive oil for the extra flavour and set the beet and goat cheese on top of it. Continue with some honey, then freshly ground black pepper and something green (I had coriander, but I bet basil and ruccola leaves do it the same justice).

Pumpkin and Apple Soup

2010-06-19T09:52:00.001+03:00

Before you go eugh, listen up! This recipe is from a very good book (only in Estonian) called "Looduslik toit. Täisväärtuslik elu" by Marika Blossfeldt who also runs Polli talu. Over the time I have tried several recipes from this book and today you will learn more about this soup that I was a bit sceptical about at first, took some trouble to make it, but was absolutely worth the time and effort.

This book is not just about healthy recipes it talks about healthy lifestyle, how to be mentally and physically healthy. Marika talks about food and moods, what causes different cravings, the art of eating as well as how to approach our professional life and relationships. I liked her thought that it is important to develop relationships in life that nurture and leave aside the ones that tire us out.

The recipe in English as follows:

0,5 kg pumpkin, remove seeds, cut into big pieces

1 liter of water

3 leeks (I had just one and it was fine), chop into small pieces

3 celery stalks, chop into pieces

2 tbls olive oil

3 apples, remove seeds and core, chop into pieces

240 ml apple juice (was too lazy to make fresh juice, so I didn't use it at all, just plain water)

1 tsp fresh ginger

1/2 tsp cumin seeds

1/2 tsp cround nutmeg

salt and pepper to taste

Put the pumpkin pieces in steamer with about 500 ml water and steam around 20 minutes. Keep the water from steaming. Remove pumpkin flesh from pumpkin peel with spoon and set aside.

Fry the leeks and celery in olive oil around 5 minutes, then add apples, liquid (juice or water), spices, ginger and bring it to boil. Lessen heat to minimum and give it around 10 minutes of cooking.

Then mix everything together and puree the vegetables. Add some of the pumpkin water if it is too thick. Do not forget salt and pepper.

It really tastes a lot better than it may look and great if you want to finish your day with something fresh and light.

Good food requires music with good vibe like Omar "Something Real" (the sound quality in this video is average, but you will get the point)

Green Salad that will knock your socks off!

2010-06-19T09:10:00.001+03:00

Couple of years ago when I was in London we visited Borough Market and found our way to a nearby Spanish Tapas Bar. The place looked rather random, slightly touristic if I may say so, but when they brought the food.. the suspiciousness vanished! One recipe that I have been doing over and over again is this green salad:

Basically what you needs is all sorts of different greens to mix together (the point is to have greens with different strong flavours). For example:

ruccola

peppermint

basil

green salad

green peas (I forgot to add them this time)

Chop everything up in size most enjoyable to you.

As sauce mix in olive oil, some salt, freshly ground black pepper, balsamic vinegar and a dash of sugar.

It's a great side dish to have with meat, you know!

This time I added also strawberries and goat cheese, which took me on a rather enjoyable culinary roadtrip. I can imagine it together with grilled chicken, other meats I'd rather have without the non-green coloured products. ;)

Music tip: St. Germain "Soul Salsa Soul" is too good to be true, yesterday when it started playing I literally had to stop whatever I was doing at that very moment and take a pause for some SALSAAA! But where is the beach weather, hello?

Nigella Lawson's Banana Bread

2010-06-19T08:44:00.001+03:00

Totally will make you go bananas! I literally swallowed the two thick slices, because the bread just melted in my mouth and not just because of that, it's mouthwateringly delicious. Also I made some special butter, the idea I stole from Cafe NOP which takes the whole experience to another level, really. Talking about some mad Saturday morning enjoyment here.. That's the highway to all sorts of funny and original addictions. How about I introduce myself to you: "Hello, I am Merle and I am addicted to Banana Bread." Simple as that!

I've copied the recipe from Nigella Lawson's website (my comments are in brackets)

100g sultanas

75ml bourbon or dark rum (I had light)

175g plain flour (I didn't have enough of plain flour, so I used spelt flour, which is the healthier version of flour)

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

125g unsalted butter, melted

150g sugar

2 large eggs

4 small, very ripe bananas (about 300g weighed without skin), mashed

60g chopped walnuts

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

PREPARATION

Wash the raisins and mix with the alcohol. Leave it there. I had them for about 20 minutes, but that was clearly not enough. What Nigella suggests is to put the sultanas and rum or bourbon in a smallish saucepan and bring to the boil. Remove from the heat, cover and leave for an hour if you can, or until the sultanas have absorbed most of the liquid, then drain. Next time if I decide to include raisins and alcohol I will take her advice. But personally I think those two are not so vital in this recipe.

Preheat the oven to 170ºC and get started on the rest. Put the flour, baking powder, bicarb and salt in a medium-sized bowl and, using your hands or
a wooden spoon, combine well.

In a large bowl, mix the melted butter and sugar and beat until blended. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then the mashed bananas. Then, with your wooden spoon, stir in the walnuts, drained sultanas and vanilla extract. Add the flour mixture, a third at a time, stirring well after each bit. Scrape into the loaf tin and bake in the middle of the oven for 1–11/4 hours (60-75 minutes). When it’s ready, an inserted toothpick or fine skewer should come out cleanish. Leave in the tin on a rack to cool.

http://www.nigella.com/recipe/recipe_detail.aspx?rid=222

BUTTER

Butter should be at room temperature. Mix in some cardamon and cinnamon. No sugar nor salt. Easy and delish!

Music suggestion for today is something that just like this bread makes you lose sense of time, at least this is what this song does to me - Carl Kennedy "Ride the Storm" (Original Mix) (Club mix does not do the trick! ;))

"Tomorrow doesn't have to be just another yesterday.. Life goes on, ride the storm.."

P.S. Now with all that left-over rum who's up for some mojito tasting?

Chole Chaat aka Indian Spicy Chickpeas

2010-05-31T22:13:00.001+03:00

I admit that I haven't had Indian food for quite a while, but for the past two days I have had a chance to fix this problem. First it was a late night chickpea dish in Cafe VS, which is a very popular place among locals for their Indian food and I really enjoyed it inspite of some guys making very sad and pathetic attempts to get acquainted with us while we were trying to eat. Next day I found my way to Jäneda food market, which is literally in the middle of nowhere. Right there of all places we stumbled upon a counter with an Indian guy cooking curries and serving Ginger tea. As appeared this is Crasta Catering who was there to promote their skills and services. I kept my cool if a huge grin plastered on my face can be called that, but what I really wanted to do was jump up and down from excitement and scream wohoo!!! Anyway, since we actually had some grilled fish just before finding out about this place, we shared a small chicken curry with rice and I also had a small cup of Ginger tea instead of dessert. Even though the curry was literally made chili free to accommodate the "local taste" I was in heaven! I got my little dose of exotic and I didn't even need to leave Estonia for this. Plus there were some funny guys who joined us at the table and added the spice that was lacking to the experience with their foolish but cute jokes. Everything that happened this Sunday was literally perfect. :)

Now back to the curry topic. Today I realised the Indian theme should not stop at all costs and I decided to make the chickpea dish myself, it's called Chole Chaat. I am not sure whether I can refer to it as curry though, anyone any idea? It is super easy to make and I think in total I spent 20-25 minutes on it. Perfect weekday quick fix.

Ingredients, with this amount makes 2 servings:

225 g chickpeas (I used canned, since cooking them will take an eternity)

oil (I used olive oil)

1 small onion, chopped

1 garlic clove, chopped

1 tsp ground coriander

1 tsp ground cumin

1/4 tsp turmeric

1 tsp garam masala spice

2 cm piece of fresh ginger root, grated

2 red chilies finely chopped (I used dried half teaspoon to accommodate the "local taste")

200 g chopped tomatoes (you can use canned, but I prefer fresh)

Fresh coriander for decoration

1/2 cup of chickpeas to be thoroughly mashed with fork along with some liquid in the can. Make sure you reserve half of the liquid from the can for later use.

Heat the oil in a saucepan and cook onions with garlic until golden. Add coriander, cumin, turmeric and garam masala and fry 1 minute. Add ginger, chili, tomato, a bit of water and salt and stir until mixed and cook about 3 more minutes if you use fresh tomatoes. Add all the chickpeas and some of the liquid you reserved earlier (no more than half a glass). Bring to boil, reduce heat and simmer uncovered for 5 minutes.

Sprinkle with fresh coriander and serve with Basmati rice or naan.

Here's a music tip for you as well. Raghav who was very popular in India when I was studying there in 2004. Amazing and unforgettable two months of my life. I have no idea what the lyrics say, but I am sure it is about something nice. :)

Detox Special: Marinated Chicken with Rice

2010-05-23T11:38:00.001+03:00

For the marinade:

I grinded about 3 cm piece of fresh ginger root and 2 garlic cloves, then added 2 tablespoons of fresh lemon juice, tablespoon of honey and some olive oil. I cut 2 chicken breasts into small strips and mixed with the marinade and left it in the fridge for about an hour.

The rest of the deal:

While the chicken is marinating I cut some vegetables that I had in my fridge, namely yellow paprika, celery and carrots.

Once the chicken was ready to go I heated up the wok pan with some olive oil and added the chicken which I cooked until it was ready, but not yet starting to get darker colour. Then I tossed in the vegetables along with the mix of water, soya and sesame seed oil and cooked for a few more minutes. I personally prefer my vegetables crunchy, so the vegerables were cooked very mildly. Before removing I sprinkled some sesame seeds.

What makes this dish special in my opinion is the big amount of ginger root in marinade which made the chicken very juicy. I was surprised myself with the result to be honest, since it was one of those random experiments where you use whatever you have got in your fridge! :))

Last but not least, the chicken was served with brown rice.

P.S. the chopsticks are for decoration in the photo, I am too lazy to eat with them. :P

Detox Special: Salmon and Vegetables with a Japanese sauce

2010-05-23T11:17:00.001+03:00

This is another quicky that I made during the week. I steamed salmon without any salt nor other spices. Took about 15-20 minutes. Then made a sauce from soya, water, sesame oil, mirin sauce and rice vinegar, which gives the dish a Japanese feel to it. Additionally I boiled cauliflower, which is one of the detox power foods (yet I rarely eat it even though it is delicious) and made a salad from cucumber, basil and goat milk yoghurt. As you see this dish is very basic, the only thing giving it a kick is the sauce, but despite of the minimalism it is very yummy. Sometimes going back to the roots is a good thing! ;)

The Detox Special: Fish and Quinoa salad

2010-05-14T20:54:00.001+03:00

To give you a better idea of what my detox project looks and tastes like I'd like to share my today's dinner with you in pictures and words. :)

I think this way of making fish is one of my classics. It's an absolute winner every time!

Quinoa Salad:

First make the quinoa as said in the instructions, usually takes about 20 minutes to cook it. Meanwhile chop tomato, goat cheese, avocado, basil. Mix everything together and add olive oil. Done! :)

Fish:

I use fish fillet and today I made bass/perch, but any kind of fish goes really, salmon included. Naturally whole fish can be made too.

First I chopped some garlic and fresh ginger. Meanwhile I heated up some olive oil in a frying pan and added the garlic and ginger, sauted it a bit until garlic was golden then added the fish and covered for 2 minutes. Poured a little bit of water so that the bottom of the pan is covered, added heat so it started to boil, then reduced and covered. Some minutes later I flipped the fish to the other side and let it simmer there another couple of minutes, covered. Then removed from heat. Notice that I am not adding any salt nor any other spices, there's really no need to kill the natural taste of this divine fish. ;)

When I started eating I added a bit of low salt soy sauce and there we have the Merle's version of Chinese steamed fish!

I have to say it's a real quick health-freak fix, because it doesn't take more than 30 minutes to cook (quinoa is the longest to make). Detox in mind I should have of course steamed the fish, but the frying part is really minimum here as well.

Detox

2010-05-08T20:50:00.001+03:00

I apologise for the lack of posts, but I am on detox this month (to clean my body and perhaps my mind as well?!) and writing about chocolate macarons is TOO MUCH! Because I might give in to temptation, run to Bonaparte Cafe and gobble up with their yummy macarons or other pastry, the selection there is sickening. When I am in a stronger state of mind I will write about delicious sinful recipes and how to indulge like there's no tomorrow, but now it is not an option.

Perhaps you wish to find out about my detox period food menu and recipes?

Assuming the answer is yes :) I am proud to share that right now I am drinking vegetable juice that consist of beet, carrots, celery and something like horseradish, which gives quite a kick to this juice, I must add! Do try this at home. :))

Fresh juices several times a day are a regular. So I cannot really say detox is a battle and suffering. The only thing that my mind misses (I am pretty sure my boday doesn't!) are the pastry and chocolate and occasionally the dairy products, like yoghurt and cheese (from cow milk). But I have been finding out completely new products like quinoa, goat milk and other dairy products from goat as well as rice milk with added calcium from seaweed. Sickeningly healthy, but its been a headache to make food on daily basis, because it requires a completely different approach to what I am used to. Frying is not allowed, so basically everything I eat either needs to be fresh or steamed.

In short the following food types are off the menu:

- salt, but some sea salt is ok;

- sugar and any products including sugar, like candies

- wheat, rye, oat products

- anything ready-made

- red meat

- alcohol

- fizzy drinks, incl. sparkling water

- peanuts (maapähkel)

- baking oil

- anything with caffeine, incl. coffee and tea

- chocolate

- eggs

- ketchup and other ready made sauces

- duck and goose, because of the fat

It is also not advisable to eat:

- tomato

- spinach

- mushrooms

- dried fruit

No worries, there's a lot still on the menu.. literally everything that is not on that list and if you cannot think of anything then you need to have a very critical look at your eating habits! ;)

Oh my, Manhattan Cheesecake!

2010-04-24T22:19:00.001+03:00

It was one of those days when I volunteered to be someone's personal kitchen slave (excl. dishwashing) and my holy task was to prepare the Manhattan Cheesecake. We've all heard about it, most of us have tried it and naturally developed an opinion about it. Personally I am not the biggest fan, but my personal opinion regarding this cake was of secondary nature that day (the princess had to surrender, she is not yet a queen! ;)).

Naturally the whole process had its ups and downs with some remarkable blonde moments, but I'd rather not get into that.

The original recipe in Estonian from here and in English here. Basically it is a cheesecake with three layers and I have to say it tasted very good. For preparing you will need:

Base

8 Digestive biscuits, crushed

50 g unsalted butter, melted

Filling

400 g of Philadelphia unflavoured cream cheese (I used half mascarpone and half ricotta)

75 g sugar

2 large eggs

0,5 tbs vanilla sugar

Top layer

250 g sour cream
2 Tbsp caster sugar
0.5 tsp vanilla extract

Crush the Digestive biscuits finely, mix with sugar and melted butter. Press the biscuit mixture onto the base of the cake tin. Place into the fridge for 10 minutes.

To make the filling, mix with an electric mixer or in blender cream cheese with other ingredients.

Pour the filling over the biscuit base and bake in the middle of a preheated 180C oven for 25-30 minutes, until the filling is more or less set.

Remove from the oven and cool for 20 minutes.

Turn the heat up to 230C.

Mix sour cream, sugar and vanilla extract, then gently spoon onto the cooled cake. Return to the oven for 5-7 minutes, to 'dry out' the sour cream layer a little.

Remove from the oven and cool completely before serving.

2010-04-24T13:05:00.001+03:00

As a random note, I had this dream tonight that I would stop posting photos of the food I cook and instead post illustrations of those dishes. Now only if I could draw so well..

Pasta salad with chicken and blue cheese sauce

2010-04-24T12:35:00.001+03:00

This is my favourite cold weather comfort salad! I rarely repeat recipes I've made with few exclusions and this is one of them. I got the original recipe from Finnish S-Market seasonal cookbook "Paras keittokirja No. 1" from 2004. If you are into Caesar salad I am sure you will like this as well. I am not into eating pork products, but I am starting to grow a liking for bacon. It can add so much flavour to food that it is addictive.

4 portions

2 dl of pasta, make according to instructions (I used farfalle)

300 gr chicken fillet

1 package of bacon, sliced

150 gr of salad mix (be creative! Ruccola or basil would be perfect in addition to regular salad)

1 pear (peeled, cut into smaller strips)

1 dl of almond chips

1-2 tomatoes, cut into medium size pieces

150 gr blue cheese

2 dl of milk

salt and pepper to taste

First make the pasta. Roast the almond chips until brownish. Fry the bacon that has been cut into long strips, remove from the pan on a tissue to get rid of excess oil. Next fry the chicken fillet (add salt pepper to taste).

Meanwhile blend the milk with cheese into sauce.

prepare the salad base, add pears, pasta, tomatoes, bacon, almonds, and chicken that has been cut into small pieces. last but not least pour over the sauce and add pepper if you wish.

Life is Creme Brulee!

2010-04-24T12:07:00.001+03:00

Like one of my friend always says when life's great - it's creme brulee! And it really is creme brulee when so little effort is needed for making it. I have done creme brulee several times and always felt afterwards it was so much effort and this week it came out so effortlessly. To be completely honest I only did it because I had some egg yolks left over after my grand macaroon making project (success!) and this seemed like the perfect solution.

makes 2 portions (if you have bigger ramekins)

2 egg yolks

2 dl heavy cream (35%)

2 tbsp sugar

1,5 tsp vanilla sugar

Topping: sugar (I used Muscovado)

Preheat the oven to 160 C. Whip egg yolks with sugar and vanilla. Heat up the whipping cream until boiling, let cool for some minutes and then carefully mix with the egg yolk. You have to be careful while doing this, so that the eggs blend in and not turn into pieces (I am sure there's a perfect English word for it, but I cannot recall it at the moment). It will be a problem, if the cream is to hot. So pour slowly while mixing continuously.

Pour the mixture into the ramekins. Place the ramekins into a large cake pan or roasting pan. Pour enough hot water into the pan to come halfway up the sides of the ramekins. Bake just until the creme brulee is set, but still trembling in the center, approximately 40 to 45 minutes. Remove the ramekins from the roasting pan and refrigerate for at least 2 hours and up to 3 days.

Prior to serving. If you do not have a torch (like me), then preheat the oven at grill mode to 250-300 C. Meanwhile, put some sugar on top of creme brulee and spread evenly. Allow it brown in oven for a few minutes, until sugar has caramelized. Let cool before serving.

If you are like me, then now is the time to put on those new hot platform pumps you recently shopped yourself, turn on some volume with Jazzanova "I Can See" and dance around the room with your creme brulee or be normal and invite some friends over for coffee. I did both actually! :)

Slimming Leek Soup

2010-04-17T19:58:00.001+03:00

Warning: Keep scrolling if word "diet" is not part of your vocabulary!

For the rest let me reveal you the secret of slim French mademoiselles - the diet soup with leek. I just had a cup of it and it tasted great particularly after seeing some photos of Kate Bosworth looking more amazing than ever (and this woman is super slim!). Now too I feel that I can do it and this perfection is just a few months of diet soup drinking away. Not that I have any information that this soup is part of Kate's menu, but I assume that apart from regular starving something like this must be on her menu. No offence, Kate!

Talk is cheap, so here's the key to better you:

1 leek

1 garlic clove chopped into smaller pieces

0,5 l water

2 tbsp olive oil (make sure it's extra virgin, personally I like olive oil that has a strong flavour)

black pepper and sea salt

some rye breed or other whole-meal bread

Wash the leek, chop into 5 cm pieces. Boil the water, add leeks and garlic, remove any foam that may form during the boiling. Takes around 10-15 minutes to make it. Strain. Add olive oil and pepper.

Très facile!

Russian Borsch

2010-04-08T22:05:00.001+03:00

Enough of fooling around and let's bring on the hardcore gourmet soup game! Namely, I am about to reveal the hidden secrets of borsch making, the way my mother has taught me. Naturally there are many different recipes for borsch and I am not saying they are wrong and mine is the best, but if you do it like I tell you here, you won't go wrong. Promise! :))

Since I still have a lot to learn about recipe writing (e.g. actually note down the ingredients and quantities I use when I make something) then I photographed all products in quantities that were used in the soup this time to make this task easier for myself and more visual for you.

For the broth:

2 litres of water, bring it to boil

add the beef osso bucco piece and let it boil a bit, remove all foam that forms on top. if you want more colour and taste, fry the osso bucco piece beforehand a bit.

After about 40 minutes of boiling on medium heat add ginger, garlic, onion (the more the better the taste, imo), carrots and parsley

For the perfect beef broth make sure you have at least 3 hours in total. So make sure you have plenty of time or go to the gym meanwhile, like I did! ;)

Add salt and pepper to taste. Put beef aside and strain or filter the broth. Throw away all the vegetables used in making the broth. Let the osso bucco cool.

For next step:

Peel the potatoes and carrots. Chop potatoes and cabbage into small pieces and add to the broth which is being brought to boil. Do not close with a lid in the first 15 minutes, so that the cabbage smell evaporates. Then cover with lid.

Meanwhile, grate carrots and mince onions. Heat up a frying pan with some olive oil, first add carrots and some minutes later the onions. Let them braise under a closed lid until they are cooked. Then add salt, sugar, some fresh lemon juice and tomato paste (about 1 tablespoon, or one tomato), let simmer few more minutes. Before you add this mixture to the soup, make sure the flavours are balanced - it is not too sour, salty or sweet.

Now add to the soup. Also add a few bay leafs.

While it is all simmering at low heat, chop the beef into small pieces, removing everything that is not actual meat. Also grate the previously boiled beet of about 200 -300 grams (that's one of the items I always buy ready made, since it makes life so much easier) and add to the soup together with two minced garlic cloves. Bring it to boil, flavour with more salt if you wish and remove from heat. Also now it is the time to find those bay leafs in the soup and remove them.

And voila, we are ready!!!! :)

By the way, this soup tastes best on second day and from there on. So make sure you make it one day in advance if you are preparing it for guests.

Upon serving garnish with sour cream, fresh minced garlic and chopped parsley leaves.

Suddenly I feel so hungry... ;)

Question!

2010-04-07T18:31:00.001+03:00

I am still in the process of figuring out the concept of this blog and I need your help!

I have posted two polls on the left side of this blog where I kindly ask you to express your opinion. And if you have additional comments please let me know! Any kind of participation in this aspect is highly valued! :)

Pears Poached in Red Wine with a little extra

2010-04-05T21:49:00.001+03:00

In the beginning of the week I made a chocolate cake and ended up taking the whole thing to work next day to share with colleagues. By Friday the little light bulb above my head lit up and brought me to a realization that it was about time to try out something completely different than cakes!

And this thought exactly brings me to a recent unforgettable culinary experience. Namely, a few weeks ago while on holiday in Phuket I had dinner in Patong at a restaurant called 9th Floor (totally recommend it!). The answer to my last weeks craving was right there on the menu of that establishment - a dessert from pears in red wine! Since I've always wanted to try something like this then I ordered this one without a shadow of a doubt even though the dessert menu had some other extremely appetizing things on it. The experience was simply unearthly - I died and went to heaven right there and then. Some might even refer to it as orgasmic. Well, whichever explanation gives you a better idea. All in all, it was definitely the best dessert I have tried in a very long time, excluding of course the sticky rice with mango.

Although I have no idea how they made this at the 9th Floor, I tried to copy it with the following recipe:

750-ml bottle dry red wine
2 cups sugar (you may want to add less, if you prefer less sweet)
1/2 cup fresh orange juice
2 teaspoons grated orange peel
1 teaspoon ground cardamom
1 cinnamon stick
4 firm but ripe pears, peeled, stems left intact

1 pint chocolate ice cream (I had one with chocolate and mint)

Combine first 6 ingredients in heavy large saucepan. Stir over medium heat until sugar dissolves and mixture comes to simmer. Add pears and return mixture to simmer.

Reduce heat and simmer slowly until pears are tender when pierced with knife, about 25 minutes. Transfer pears to plate. Boil liquid in saucepan until reduced to 3 cups, about 20 minutes. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover and chill pears in poaching liquid.) You can rewarm it before serving or eat them cold. I prefer the cold version.

Arrange 1 pear and 1 scoop of ice cream on a plate. Drizzle some poaching liquid over. Garnish with orange peel strips, if desired, and serve.

Original unmodified recipe available at Epicurious, click here.

My overall comment is that I liked it a lot, although it did not reach the levels of my heavenly culinary experience at the 9th Floor. I think what I will do next time is marinade the pears and experiment more with different spices, since for a dessert this is a magnificent choice and well deserves trying out again! And I think it might go quite well with cheese.. as a starter with goat cheese, perhaps? There's definitely something to experiment with!

First Aid Against Cold

2010-03-28T18:59:00.001+03:00

I am down with a cold and in particular need to complain about it! But fear not, I will not describe how unpleasant it all is, although I'd love to do it with all the nasty details and face expressions. Instead I want to share this one thing that makes being sick enjoyable and no it is not the possibility to take sick-leave since it is Sunday. Boo!

Paramparaaaa!! While you all applause I am happy to introduce you my all-time favourite tea:

GINGER LEMON TEA WITH HONEY

(for one cup)

While you boil the water

take some raw ginger about 2 cm piece (remove its peel), you can slice it, so that juices come out better or you can grind it assuming you have the energy for it (I didn't)

Take a few slices of lemon, remove its peel (otherwise the peel might make the tea bitter and god knows how many chemicals there may be in that peel anyway.. yaiks on that!) and add it to the ginger in your cup

Once the water has boiled pour it over the ginger and lemon and cover for some minutes

Some people suggest honey should be added to to the hot water together with ginger and lemon, but I do not advise doing that since honey loses its nutritional value with heat and basically turns into sugar. Let's face it, for many people drinking ginger-lemon tea without any sweetening can be something close to hell, since it is just spicy and sour (for someone like me who never drinks tea with sugar it's no biggie though). But since honey is necessary for curing then what I do is take some honey on a separate plate and with a small spoon (or big one, your choice) take some in before a sip of tea. This way you can actually enjoy the taste of honey as well. And make sure you use organic natural honey with not additional sugar etc. Honey is definitely one of those food items that should not be bought randomly and never save on it.

This little miracle tea I also tend to drink sometimes in the mornings as it is a pretty efficient wake up drink instead of coffee which we all know is nothing healthy. Ginger in general is one of my most favourite spices for food you know - I use raw ginger when making broth, soups, sauces, meat, fish etc etc. It really is a brilliant thing, that ginger!

Apologies for no photo evidence this time, but I am not well-enough for that much effort. Nevertheless I'd like to share with you that I have some very interesting posts in the making that will take us to Thailand, Hong Kong and New York! :)

Tagliatelle with Duck Ragu

2010-03-24T20:44:00.001+02:00

My unconditional love for duck breast and wish to do something different to it this time than just the classical way of making it (which is also a very superb way to make duck breast) inspired me to try out this Italian recipe, which I got from Epicurious.com, the best resource for all sorts of exciting recipes.

Since I made no changes to this recipe (miracles do happen occasionally), then I will simply quote the recipe, see below:

Yield: Makes 4 servings
Active Time: 30 min
Total Time: 1 3/4 hr (actually may take a bit of longer, unless you want to rush it through)

1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 teaspoon olive oil
1 (1-pound) boneless Muscovy duck breast with skin or 2 (7- to 8-ounce) Long Island (also called Pekin) duck breast halves with skin (I used 2 and it was more than enough for 4 women)
1/2 medium onion, chopped
1 garlic clove, smashed
1 teaspoon chopped rosemary
1/2 cup dry red wine
2 cups rich chicken stock or reduced-sodium chicken broth
1 (14- to 15-ounce) can whole tomatoes in juice, drained, reserving juice, and chopped
1/2 pound dried egg tagliatelle or egg fettuccine

Heat butter and oil in a deep 10-inch heavy skillet over medium heat until foam subsides.

Meanwhile, pat duck dry and sprinkle with 1/4 teaspoon each of salt and pepper.

Sear duck, skin side down, until golden brown and some of fat has rendered, about 6 minutes. Turn over and cook until browned, about 2 minutes more. Transfer duck to a plate, then add onion to fat in skillet with garlic, rosemary, and 1/8 teaspoon salt and cook, stirring occasionally, until onion is softened and golden brown, about 6 minutes. Add wine and boil 3 minutes.

Return duck, skin side up, to skillet, then add any juices from plate, stock, and tomatoes with their juice. Bring to a boil, then gently simmer, covered, 1 hour. And under no circumstances do less than 1 hour, more is acceptable and advisable, since the duck will be even softer. The long time simmering of the duck is the ultimate trick in this recipe that makes it so special.

Transfer duck to a cutting board, then skim off about three fourths of fat from sauce and discard.

Purée sauce in batches in a blender (use caution when blending hot liquids). Return sauce to skillet and boil, stirring occasionally, until reduced to about 2 1/2 cups, about 8 minutes.

While sauce reduces (I think I did it a fair 15 minutes or so and make sure you do not salt beforehand, because then the sauce my end up being over salted because of the liquids that evaporated), finely chop duck with skin.

Return chopped duck to sauce and season with salt and pepper.

Cook tagliatelle in a pasta pot of boiling salted water (3 tablespoons salt for 6 quarts water) until al dente, then drain pasta and toss with duck ragú.

Duck ragú; can be made 1 day ahead and chilled, covered (once cool).

Recipe available at: http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Tagliatelle-with-Duck-Ragu-242037

My overall comment on this recipe would be that if you would like to make luxurious tasting pasta for special guests who can value the effort that this making requires and you do not mind spending time on making it then this definitely do it! It is not a complicated recipe to be honest, but it requires patience and plenty of time spared.

KAMA!

2010-02-27T14:40:00.001+02:00

Kama is a very typical Estonian product that one cannot find anywhere else in the world (apart from some regions in Finland). I always have a huge problem with explaining my foreign friends what it is, since the word "kama" is not translatable. But fear not! There are Estonians who have got ahead of me and explained everything about our famous kama. Read about it here. Personally I am a fan of this product and I am happy to introduce you a dessert made from it that will make you a happier person as well. ;)

Original recipe in Estonian available here.

Kama Mousse

for 4 persons

500 gr natural unflavoured yoghurt

4 dl whipping cream

4 tbsp sugar (I used light muscovado sugar)

6 tbsp kama flour

strawberries fresh or frozen (depending on season)

Whip the cream with sugar, add yoghurt and kama. Crush the strawberries or chop up into very small pieces and mix in carefully. I did not mix it very thoroughly because I like the visual variation in colour. Put into serving glasses and leave in the fridge until serving to guests. Ideally you could also decorate with some strawberries and peppermint leaves for a more marketable look.

I had this idea of doing this but substituting the whipping cream with ice cream, but I have not tried it, so I cannot comment whether this is a great idea. Perhaps some day I will revert on this matter.

Lazy Cabbage Rolls

2010-02-27T14:13:00.001+02:00

This one that I am sharing now is not an original recipe, but my interpretation of what else can be done with the baked cabbage stew leftovers, a recipe that I shared here. Remaining faithful to my fascination with Asia, I added some Indian spices for the extra kick.

Why I call it Lazy Cabbage Rolls is because there is one similar Ukrainian dish that I was inspired of when making this one. As I mentioned also Indian cooking. What a mix!

- What you do is first cook some rice (quantity depends of the amount of leftovers), but it should be around half of the cabbage stew quantity otherwise it will be too much about rice.

I've seen how some people cook rice and it can be a tragic sight! To make sure you know better, please take a look at this link.

- While this is in the making, heat up a frying pan. Add oil and grind two tomatoes onto the pan (you can chop it up as an option, but make sure it is finely chopped in this case, the difference is if you grind then there will be no tomato skin in your dish and this makes the dish and eating experience much nicer). Add some grinded garlic (yes, I love garlic!), but this is only an option.

-Also now is the time to add the spices. I have my lazy moments, so I added a ready-made Indian spice mix from Meira + East End cumin powder (jeera powder), chili.

- Then add the cabbage stew, stir everything and let it simmer for a few minutes.

- Then add rice and let it cook for another few minutes so that the flavours mix. If you wish you may add some more black pepper.

- Once it is ready decorate with parsley or coriander.

Serve with natural yoghurt or a fresh salad that I made being inspired by Indian raita, see below:

I used:

young beet leaves (not sure this is the correct word, in Estonian peedivõrsed), cucumber, tomato, capsicum/paprika. I did not mix the greens, but instead set them as layers and covered amply with natural yoghurt. Added some cumin powder, ground black pepper and salt. Sprinkled with fresh parsley.

I have to stress that natural yoghurt is one of the best of salad dressings ever! It has totally substituted mayonnaise and sour cream, not to mention any ready-made salad dressings that we all can find in supermarkets and personally I always avoid using.

Adding a little Twist to Estonian Cooking

2010-02-27T13:54:00.001+02:00

Unfortunately life is not all about celebration and this blog will not be all about festive dishes and desserts. Let's face it, daily dishes cannot be too demanding.

Baked Cabbage Stew

This is actually my mother's recent creation that I repeated myself a few days ago and later made a completely new dish out of it. In fact this is a very typical Estonian dish, which has been now spiced up with ginger and garlic.

The quantities are stated roughly, so feel free be creative! :)

- raw head cabbage, chopped into small pieces (i think I had a bit over a half of it)

- 2 raw carrots, finely grated

- 1 onion, finely chopped

- 2 garlic cloves, finely grated or chopped

- minced meat (I had a mix of beef and lamb), cannot recall the exact quantity, but I bet it was something around 200-300 gr

- raw ginger, about 2-3 cm piece, finely chopped

First you fry the minced meat with garlic, onion and ginger, then add carrots and cabbage and continue until the ingredients are soft (pay attention to cabbage). At some point you may want to add a bit of water so that the dish maintains its juiciness. Don't forget to add salt, pepper and maybe a bit of sugar to balance the flavours. Then move it to the oven at 200 C for 20 minutes or so until it has browned a bit on top. I stirred it once or twice while it was in the oven as well.

Typically we eat this cabbage stew with boiled potatoes.

Tiramisu and Strawberry Cake

2010-02-22T21:12:00.001+02:00

This one was a no fuss and all joy type of cake. I have no humiliating stories to share this time :)

The biscuit:

4 eggs

1,5 dl sugar

1 dl flour

0,5 dl potato starch ( I didn't have it and I used corn starch instead, worked out great)

1 tsp baking powder

For moistening:

0,5 dl orange juice (I made fresh juice)

0,5 dl strong black coffee

0,5 dl cognac (didn't have any, so I used brandy instead)

Filling:

2 eggs

1 dl sugar

2 dl 35% cream (for making whipped cream)

200 gr mascarpone cream cheese

2 tsp orange zest

I added strawberries as well later under the filling to the biscuit.

For decoration:

cocoa powder

fresh strawberries

Making:

Beat the eggs with sugar into a foam like mixture. Mix flour, starch and baking powder and add to egg mixture. Stir the mixture into a baking form and bake at 225 C about 6-8 minutes. Remove from form and let cool.

For the filling beat into a foam the eggs with sugar. Make whipped cream. Mix together mascarpone and orange zest and mix together with whipped cream. Lastly add carefully the egg mixture.

Cut the biscuit into two, moisten with the coffee-orange-brandy mixture. Add strawberries (if you wish) and half of the filling.

Put the second layer of biscuit on top. Repeat. Let stay in the fridge for a few hours, best if overnight. A bit of time before serving add the cocoa powder.

Before serving decorate with strawberries.

Source and Estonian recipe available at: http://nami-nami.ee/recipe.php?q=detail&pID=5720

OK.. I do have one shameful story to share after all.. the morning after I had about 1/4th of the cake. At once. Later in the evening I spent 2 hours in the gym. Go figure! :)

How I did not make the Budapest Swiss Roll

2010-02-22T20:40:00.001+02:00

Sometimes things just do not work out by the plan. I have to admit I totally screwed it up! The biscuit came out perfect, but the whipped cream filling was a total loss (I created butter with mango...yaiks!). Since it was way past 10 PM and all the supermarkets were closed in this city I was not able to finish my swiss roll. So on Saturday in the morning I made a second attempt with the filling. First I wanted to do it like in the original Anne's recipe, but as I had 5 egg yolks with no life purpose in the fridge then I made a custard filling with tangerines instead. Since today it was impossible to roll it then I made a double layer cake. Not bad solution at all, but I am very disappointed that my fear for making swiss roll actually proved itself in life.

Apparently this cake is very popular in Sweden, read more about it at Anne's Food blog and see the original recipe: http://annesfood.blogspot.com/2006/10/happy-blog-birthday.html

Eesti keeles saad originaalretsepti siit: http://nami-nami.ee/print.php?q=detail&pID=9747

And here's my accidental version of Budapest Swiss Roll:

The swiss roll biscuit

5 egg whites
3 dl sugar (about 1,3 cups)
150 g hazelnuts
2 tbsp cocoa powder
100 ml flour (about 0,4 cups)
3 tbsp flaked almonds

Filling

5 egg yolks

6 tbsp sugar

zest of 1 small lemon

2 tbsp lemon juice

2 dl whipping cream

3dl of fresh or defrosted berries (or you can use canned tangerines like I did, around 200 gr)

Start by preheating the oven to 150°C.
Blitz the hazelnuts in a food processor until finely chopped. Mix with cocoa powder and flour in a bowl.
Beat the eggwhites until they start to firm up. Gradually add the sugar, and beat until you have a thick, glossy meringue. Fold in the nut mixture, and spread on baking paper in a jelly roll pan. Sprinkle over the flaked almonds.

Bake for about 20 minutes - but after 15 minutes, turn the heat up to 175°C.

Remove, put the baking paper with the cake on a rack and let cool completely. Then invert on another piece of paper or onto a teflon sheet, and carefully remove the first sheet. (Brush with some cold water if it won't come off easily.)

In a very thick saucepan or by putting one saucepan onto another that is filled with water heat egg yolks, sugar, lemon juice and zest stirring continuously until the mixture is very thick. Remove from the stove let it cool down (you can put the saucepan into cold water so it cools down quicker). Meanwhile whip the cream and then mix it with the egg cream. Add fruit or berries and cover the biscuit with it.

If you would like to make a roll which I advise do the following:

Roll as you would a sushi roll, using the sheet the cake is on to help making it tight. Be very gentle, or the cake will crack. Roll all the way to the end.
Slice off the ends and move the cake to a plate. Let it set in the fridge for a couple of hours - it can be frozen, too.

If you do not want to make a swiss roll then cut the biscuit half and put one half on top of the other. Add strawberries as I did for extra yumminess and voila! :)

The cake tastes really great on second day and nothing like what I had at Reval Cafe! So I have to go back there and investigate into that recipe... ;)

The whipped cream that did not turn out the way it should have the first time I did it looked like this:

Make sure you do not do this at home.. lol!

Welcome!

2010-02-19T21:17:00.000+02:00

Dear friends,

I am happy to see you stopping by. It is Friday evening here and I just finished making Tiramisu and Strawberry Tart and even though time is already late I cannot withhold myself from making Budapest Roll that i tried first time in my life last Sunday at Reval Cafe in Tallinn. Maybe it was the jetlag or perhaps it was the V-Day making it so amazing, but the fact is that I cannot get it out of my mind. I will make a post about this as soon as I have had the opportunity to try them out, if you are lucky (or unlucky depending of the result) you will be tasting it as well. :)