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Affichage des articles du juillet, 2008

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...

Do try these at home: some dishes from other food bloggers

What would I do without you, other foodbloggers?? You are a constant source of fantastic inspiration, and here's just a snapshot of dishes I've tried lately. David Lebovitz 's fantastic Fresh Apricot Ice Cream (especially if you've got some lovely French apricots from the market). MattBites kindly provides the recipe . I had no almond extract at home, so used 2 tsp of Amaretto instead. Lovely.. David Lebovitzi aprikoosijäätis Oh, and while you're at it - his Strawberry Sour Cream Ice Cream is pretty delicious as well ( Dagmar has the recipe ). I made it quite a few times this summer, and my Estonian friends say the recipe works with bilberries, too: Maasika-hapukoorejäätis Elise 's Tuscan Scrambled Eggs made a great light supper, and we'll be making it again soon: Toskaana munahüüve I really enjoyed Patricia's Crash-Hot Potatoes (see also Wendy 's version): Krõbedad purustatud kartulid And while we're at it, here are couple of really-really...

Have you ever tried golden raspberries?

They're just as pretty as the 'regular' red ones (I've mentioned yellow ones before ). K. took these lovely close-ups for me. (And no, these are not salmonberries or cloudberries ).

Oven-baked Chicken with Feta Cheese

I'm not doing much cooking these days. It's too hot, I'm not in the mood, and I'm taking it easy on my summer vacation. Of course I do cook - and I've already made quite a few nice jams for the winter - but it's mostly tried-and-tested old favourites of mine, so there's not much to blog about. However, here is one of those old favourites that I do need to tell you about. The recipe is based on this Swedish Arla recipe . I remember making it quite regularly about a decade ago, and was happy to rediscover this dish again. A whole chicken breast with cheese topping is a bit too much for us, so we've split the fillet sideways (?). If you've got a mightier appetite, then feel free to use a whole chicken breast per person and extending the baking time by 10 minutes. Oven-baked Chicken with Feta Cheese ( Ahjus küpsetatud kanafilee fetaga ) Serves 4 2 large or 4 small chicken breast filets (ca 600 g) 100 g feta cheese, crumbled 200 ml sour cream or creme fr...

Things to do with wild strawberries: Wild Strawberries and Cream

In every person's life there comes a time when they've got almost 1,5 kilograms freshly picked wild strawberries ( Fragaria vesca, see a gorgeous photo by a talented Estonian photographer here ) at hand. I'm no different. It happened to me in 2006 , in 2007 , and again about a fortnight ago. K. and I spent just under 2 hours on our secret wild strawberry field, we barely covered a plot larger than a large kitchen, and we had a 3 litre jar of wild strawberries between us. What can you do??! Well, one of the easiest things to do (and one of my favourite childhood memories) is following. I've given a 'recipe' below, but you really do not need one. It's healthy, summery, quick, and oh-so-very Estonian (unless you pick 'smultron' in Sweden, or 'ahomansikkoita' in Finland, or 'Walderdbeere' in Germany, or 'fraises des bois' in France, and so on, in which case this dessert would be very Swedish or Finnish or German or French, and...

Eton Mess Recipe

Suddenly, in the midst of summer ( when all sane people should be relaxing either on the beach or at their summer cottage on the countryside ), I'm too busy to even blog properly. I'd love to tell you all about my trip to the USA (in May/June!), our fabulous meal at El Bulli (in April!!) or about those 1,5 kilos of wild strawberries we picked and turned into jam (last weekend). But not yet.. However.. Tonight we had some very dear friends visiting from Sweden. Eva and Arne are a couple in their early 70s, and we have known each other since 1990. Every few years they take their small motorboat to Estonia to visit my parents and the country they've come to love. As we hadn't seen for a few years, I invited them, my parents and my sister's family over for dinner tonight. I needed a quick and non-elaborate dessert idea, and as strawberries are still very much in season here, I decided to make Eton Mess . I know you don't need a recipe, but just in case you do, here ...

Strawberries and Brie and a Little Bit of Mint

That's all you need for a sweet summer mouthful (plus it's a dessert and cheese course in one). I used Finnish Valio Brie - my current favourite. Eestikeelne 'retsept' siin .