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IKRA - Russian eggplant caviar/Russian aubergine caviar

Someone was looking for a "soft aubergine/eggplant spread with tomatoes" and I knew exactly what they were talking about. There's a dish in Russia, our Eastern neighbour, which is called IKRA or fake caviar. I got this recipe from Russian friend Galina back in Edinburgh sometimes around 2000. Still makes a regular appearance in our kitchen.  It's lovely on a slice of toast, or as a condiment or spread on a mezze-table. Russian aubergine spread IKRA 1 large aubergine/eggplant 1 large onion 2 garlic cloves 2 tomatoes 1 Tbsp olive oil or vegetable oil 2 Tbsp white wine vinegar or lemon juice salt and freshly ground black pepper fresh parsley or dill Prick the aubergine with a fork here and there, then place into a preheated 200C/400F oven and bake for about 60 minutes, until fully cooked and slightly charred on the outside. Flip over once or twice during baking. Remove from the oven, let it cool. Then cul half lengthwise and scoop out the flesh. Place into a cutting b...

Pille goes to the USA



Photo by K. Not related to the blog post :)

I've been to the Americas before (Mexico in October 2005), but next Wednesday I'm flying over to the USA for the first time. I'll be in three different places, first at a conference in Bloomington, Indiana, then visiting the very lovely Alanna in St Louis, MO, and finally explore New York for a few days.

Here's the plan at the moment (post-conference, that is):

June 1st - food blog lunch with Christine and Alanna in Bloomingon, then drive to St Louis

June 2nd - a St Louis food blogger party @ Alanna's place

June 4th - arrive in New York

June 5th - food blogger potluck dinner in New York (very kindly organised by Danielle of Habeas Brulee)

June 8th - Sunday brunch with my friends Priit & Pirjo in East Village

June 9th - fly back to Tallinn

I'm hoping to visit moma, do some food & clothes shopping (thanks, David, for your food-shopping tips!), see a good stand-up comedy show (any ideas/volunteers?), and plenty more. But if there's any other Nami-nami readers out there who fancy a cup of coffee, or a cocktail a la Sex and the City, or a pastrami sandwich at Katz Delicatessen or perhaps a Krispy Creme doughnut or even breakfast at Tiffany's, let me know. I'm travelling alone this time, and whereas I can handle a cup of coffee in my own company and a good paper, then seeing a stand up comedy on my own wouldn't be as much fun :)

Oh, and where do I get the best bagels??

And are there any other New York must-haves that this foodblogger in her early 30s absolutely MUST see?

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IKRA - Russian eggplant caviar/Russian aubergine caviar

Someone was looking for a "soft aubergine/eggplant spread with tomatoes" and I knew exactly what they were talking about. There's a dish in Russia, our Eastern neighbour, which is called IKRA or fake caviar. I got this recipe from Russian friend Galina back in Edinburgh sometimes around 2000. Still makes a regular appearance in our kitchen.  It's lovely on a slice of toast, or as a condiment or spread on a mezze-table. Russian aubergine spread IKRA 1 large aubergine/eggplant 1 large onion 2 garlic cloves 2 tomatoes 1 Tbsp olive oil or vegetable oil 2 Tbsp white wine vinegar or lemon juice salt and freshly ground black pepper fresh parsley or dill Prick the aubergine with a fork here and there, then place into a preheated 200C/400F oven and bake for about 60 minutes, until fully cooked and slightly charred on the outside. Flip over once or twice during baking. Remove from the oven, let it cool. Then cul half lengthwise and scoop out the flesh. Place into a cutting b...

It's not Pancake Day, it's Shrove Tuesday cream bun day soon ;)

Photo by Juta Kübarsepp for the March 2014 issue of Kodu ja Aed magazine.  It's time for semlor or lenten cream buns again soon - February 9th, to be precise. Remember, instead of pancakes, in Estonia and other Nordic countries cream-filled buns are eaten ( semlor in Swedish, vastlakuklid in Estonian, laskiaispulla in Finnish). I've got three different recipes here on Nami-Nami, all delicious :) Recipe for classic lenten buns Recipe for chocolate lenten buns Recipe for raspberry and marzipan lenten buns So, are you having pancakes or cream buns next week? ;)

Traditional Christmas roast (oven-baked pork shoulder with honey, mustard and rosemary)

From the recipe archives (originally posted in December 2012. Still my favourite Christmas roast). Photo by Juta Kübarsepp for the December issue of Kodu ja Aed magazine, 2012  What's your traditional Christmas roast (assuming you're eating meat)? Turkey? Goose? Duck? In Estonia it's definitely pork, though roast poultry has become more popular during recent years. I've been flirting with  roast goose  and actually served  duck leg confit  on Christmas Eve this year. It was delicious. However, for years I've been serving pork roast - a pork shoulder ( kaelakarbonaad in Estonian) in a mustard-honey-garlic-rosemary marinade, to be more precise. I love that it's a pretty fool-proof recipe, simple to make, with lots of flavour. And - as an added bonus - any leftovers are excellent on top of rye bread on the days after the party, or as part of a salad. So if you're not making it for a big family feast, you can still make the same amount and simply make sever...