Accéder au contenu principal

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...

Canapés with mustard-lemon-dill butter and beets

Canapés with mustard-lemon-dill butter and beets / Tilli-sinepikanapeed peediga

Here's one of the appetizers from our New Year's Eve menu -  a tangy mustard-lemon-dill butter on a slice of dark rye bread, garnished with my old favourite, beetroot. A very Scandinavian flavour combination, it's a great all-year appetizer that packs a lot of character (read: not the ideal accompaniment to your glass of fine champagne, but would go well with some more rustic beverages). The recipe is adapted from the British food magazine's BBC Good Food, more specifically their 2004 Vegetarian Christmas supplement. I made it quite a few times back in Edinburgh, but forgot all about it once I moved back home. But somebody left a comment on my Estonian site after making this canapé - and loving it - and I immediately new it'll be on our festive buffét table soon.

Rye bread canapés with mustard-dill butter and shredded beets
(Tilli-peedikanapeed)
12 to 24, depending on the size of the appetizers

Lemon, mustard and dill butter:
100 g butter, softened
2 Tbsp finely chopped fresh dill
2 Tbsp grainy mustard
finely grated zest of 1 small lemon
salt to taste

To serve and garnish:
6 slices of dark rye bread
100 grams of cooked beets, shredded or julienned

Make the compound butter - mix butter, dill, mustard and lemon zest until combined, season to taste with some salt, if necessary.

Cut each bread slice into small triangles or squares or rounds. Spread with compound butter.

Garnish with shredded or julienned cooked beets and some dill fronds, if you like.

Serve immediately or cover and keep refrigerated until ready to serve.

Commentaires

Posts les plus consultés de ce blog

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...

Lamb and Puy lentils

January 6th - or today - is the last day to wish happy new year here in Estonia , so I'm just in time - Happy New Year, dear readers of Nami-Nami near and far! Wish you all a peaceful and productive year, full of delicious and nourishing food, with occasional treats and decadent moments! We're in the middle of a very awkward winter here. While friends in the US and Canada are facing huge snowstorms, then we had a green and mild Christmas with temperatures hovering at around couple of degrees above zero (Celsius, that is). Most unusual and weird, though not unheard of. We're promised that the temperature drops towards the end of January and we'll get some snow as well, but I won't believe it until I see it. Still, hearty soups and stews are what we're cooking most at the moment - it is winter, after all - and this lamb with lentils was a great and promising start to the culinary year or 2014. Oh, and as you can see, I'm now a proud owner of a beautiful red ...

Estonian layered curd cheese cake (kihiline kohupiimakook)

The photo is from January 2008   We love our curd cheese cakes in Estonia - and you'll find at least five curd cheese cake recipes here on my blog. This particular one is one of the most common curd cheese cakes out there. It uses a shop-bough yellow cake mix ("Juubeli tordipulber" or "Jubileum cake mix"), making it super-quick to assemble, and many Estonian cooks would have a packed somewhere in the kitchen drawer, just in cake. I'm an avid baker, love baking from scratch, and I do, just in cake :) I'm posting it here, as someone was looking for the English recipe and I realised I hadn't shared it yet. It's lovely when enjoyed lukewarm, with a glass of cold milk, but it's also really nice when completely cooled and accompanied with a cup of coffee or tea or cacao. Layered curd cheese cake ( Kihiline kohupiimakook ) Feeds 6 to 8 400 g creamy curd cheese 200 g sour cream (20% fat content is perfect) 4 eggs (L) 4 Tbsp caster sugar 1 yellow cak...