nami-nami: a food blog

Estonian recipes: yellow split pea soup with smoked pork (hernesupp suitsulihaga)

noreply@blogger.com (Pille) — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 13:30:00 +0000

It's Shrove Tuesday next week, and before feasting on delicious Lenten buns (I've blogged about the classic ones, chocolate ones and decadent raspberry and marzipan ones), Estonians eat split pea soup. Thick, hearty, well-flavoured (smoked pork!) and textured (peas + pearl barley) - all the elements of a substantial and delicious winter soup are present. Here's a recipe that I've been using for years to make a big (I mean it!) pot of delicious soup.

It's a fusion recipe, of a kind. You see - apparently in the Southern Estonia, they used to put barley in the split pea soup; in the North, they replaced the pearl barley with cubed carrots and potatoes. I use them all, so it's a meet-me-in-the-middle soup :)

Estonian Yellow Split Pea Soup with Smoked Pork
(Hernesupp suitsulihaga)
Serves eight to ten

200 g yellow split peas
150 g pearl barley
3 litres of water
about 1 kg of smoked pork - rib, cheek or hock
1 large onion
2 to 3 large carrots
2 large potatoes
salt to taste
2 to 3 tsp sharp mustard (or to taste)
fresh herbs (parsley, celery, dill, thyme, savory)

ON THE PREVIOUS NIGHT OR IN THE MORNING:
Pick through the peas and pearl barley to remove any grit. Place into a bowl, pour over enough cold water to cover by couple of centimetres and leave to soak. (This reduces the cooking time considerably).

ON THE DAY:
Place the smoked pork into a large bowl (definitely larger than 5 litres!). Add the 3 litres of water and bring slowly into a boil. Remove any froth and scum that appears on the surface.
Rinse the soaked barley and peas, drain and add to the saucepan. Bring to a boil again, then reduce heat, cover with a lid and simmer gently for about an hour.
Meanwhile, peel and chop (or grate coarsely) the onion, carrots and potatoes. If you wish, you can sauté the onion and carrots in some oil - this enhances the flavour.
Add the vegetables to the soup and continue simmering for about half an hour, until the meat and vegetables are fully cooked.
Take the pork out of the soup, remove the meat from the bones and chop finely. Return the chopped meat into the saucepan.
Season the soup with mustard and salt, add some herbs of your choice and serve.

Estonian recipes: Condensed Milk Cookies (kondenspiimaküpsised)

noreply@blogger.com (Pille) — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 16:00:00 +0000

I'm continuing with sharing Estonian recipes with you this month, in anticipation of the national holiday later this month. Here's a small baking project for the weekend - small, delicious and crispy-tender condensed milk cookies. The recipe is adapted from a classic Estonian cookbook "Valik toiduretsepte" (the 1974 edition), where they're called simply "milk cookies". The sweetened condensed milk gives those cookies not only a desired sweetness, but also a slight dulce de leche flavour, which I find very appealing.

Condensed Milk Cookies
(Kondenspiimaküpsised)

250 g all-purpose/plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
a pinch of salt
1 tsp vanilla sugar or vanilla extract
150 g cold butter, cubed
175 g sweetened condensed milk
2-3 Tbsp water

a small egg whisked with some water, for brushing

Mix the dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, salt, vanilla sugar) in a bowl, then add the cold cubed butter. Using a knife, cut the butter into the flour mixture, until it resembed wet crumbs. Now add the condensed milk and using your hands, knead into a ball (you may not need the water at all).
Place the dough into the fridge for half an hour, so the gluten can relax a little.
On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough until 3-4 mm thick (1/8th of an inch). Cut into shapes (I cut into diamonds, using a roller cutter).
Transfer the cookies into a lined baking sheet and brush with an egg wash.
Bake in a preheated 200 C / 400 F oven until light golden brown.

Estonian recipes: Cocoa Cake with Sour Cream (Kräsupea)

noreply@blogger.com (Pille) — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 14:00:00 +0000

This popped into my mailbox yesterday:

Manu has left a new comment on your post "Tapas, Estonian style":

Hi,
My name is Manu and I`m looking for a estonian cake recipe... the problem is I don`t know the cake`s name, but it is a chocolate cake,with peaces of sponge cake with french cream.
Do you know any thing similar???
I just love this cake, I will be so thankful if you could help me.
Thanks!!!

After a moment of confusion, it hit me - Kräsupea, which translates as (someone with) curly hair, though "microphone hair" wouldn't be all wrong either! It's an ever-popular cake on children's birthdays, and I've made it for my two nephews on countless occasions. I don't know the exact origins of the cake, but it's been popular in Estonia since late 1980s or so.

Estonian cocoa and sour cream cake
(Kräsupea)
Serves about 16

The sponge cakes:
4 large eggs
340 g caster sugar (400 ml)
360 g all-purpose flour (600 ml)
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
400 g sour cream

ALSO:
3 Tbsp cocoa powder

Cream:
1 kg sour cream

Glaze:
100 g butter
2 Tbsp fresh cream
3 Tbsp caster sugar
2 Tbsp cocoa powder

Preheat the oven to 180 C / 350 F. Line a small baking sheet (a Swiss roll tin is excellent) with a parchment paper, and line a 24 cm springform tin also with parchment paper.
Whisk the eggs, sugar, flour, soda and sour cream until combined. Quickly pour about 2/3 of the mixture onto a small baking sheet.
Now add the cocoa powder to the rest of the mixture, and then pour that into the lined round cake tin.
Place both of the baking tins into the oven and bake for about 25 minutes, until golden brown (test for doneness with a toothpick - it should come out clean).
Remove from the oven and let cool on a wire rack.
Place the dark cake on a cake tray, spread with a thick layer of sour cream.
Cut the light cake into large cubes, then mix gently with the rest of the sour cream - you don't want to break up the cake cubes. Pile that mixture of cake cubes and sour cream on top of the cocoa base - whether you want a dome or something flatter, is up to you.
To make the glaze, gently melt the butter, pour in the cream, cocoa and sugar. Stir until smooth and then drizzle over the cake. (This is the traditional "chocolate glaze" of the 1980s and 1990s, when proper chocolate was hard to come by. Feel free to substitute with proper melted chocolate glaze).

Leave to stand in the fridge or cool place for about 12 hours before serving.

Estonian recipes: Alexander cake (Aleksandrikook)

noreply@blogger.com (Pille) — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 12:00:00 +0000

Alexander cake, March 2011, dyed with sea-buckthorn juice concentrate

I'm dedicating February to various Estonian recipes, so if you've travelled to Estonia and want a specific recipe or two, let me know. Aleksandrikook aka Alexander cake has been requested here on Nami-Nami on several occasions, so it's about time to listen to my dear readers and post a recipe :)

To start with, Alexander cake is not actually Estonian in its origin, even though it's rather popular here and found in many traditional coffee and pastry shops. Our Nordic neighbours, Finns, claim the cake as their own. But then I've even come across recipes for Alexander cake in Latvian cookbooks, so it's popular in all over the North-Eastern corner of Europe.

Apparently its history goes back to 1814 or 1818, depending on your sources, when Alexander I of Russia, the reigning czar, visited Helsinki, and was served this concoction on his birthday. The cake is mentioned in Kullo manor's ledger books from 1819-1821. By 1850s, the cakes were sold in Café Ekberg (they still are, gorgeously pink in colour and sandwiched with apple spread).

In principle, it's a simple cake. Two layers of shorcrust pastry, sandwiched with thick raspberry (or other) jam, and topped with simple icing. However, as one talented Estonian food blogger has written somewhere, it's actually a tricky cake to do well. First, it's important not to overmix the pastry, as it won't have the right texture. It's important to roll out the pastry evenly, as otherwise it won't bake evenly. To lift one cake layer on top of the other is tricky as well - if you're unlucky, it'll break apart. If you're making this in a cafeteria, then you'll need to cut perfectly even-sized rectangles, and the glaze needs to be pretty and pink (or cocoa-brown, if you're opting for the cocoa glaze).

NOTE: this should be baked and put together a day before serving, otherwise it'll be too dry and crumbly!

Alexander cake, September 2009, dyed with fresh black aronia juice and white chocolate

I've included some links to Estonian and Finnish foodbloggers that have written about the cake - you'll find them at the end of this post.

Alexander cake
(Aleksandrikook)
Cuts into 12 rectangles

Alexander cake, March 2011, dyed with sea-buckthorn juice concentrate

Pastry layers:
125 g caster sugar (150 ml)
300 g all-purpose flour (500 ml, about 2 cups)
1 tsp baking powder
200 g butter, at room temperature
1 egg

Filling:
250 ml (1 cup) thick raspberry jam

Glaze:
250 g icing sugar/confectioners sugar (about 400 ml)
3-4 Tbsp raspberry or black aronia juice

Make the pastry by mixing all dry ingredients in a large bowl. Add the butter, and using your fingers for mixing, mix until you've got large crumbs. Add the egg and quickly mix the pastry until it comes together.
Take a parchment paper that fits your baking sheet. Place the pastry on top of the paper and using a slightly floured rolling pin, roll the pastry to fit the baking sheet.
Bake in a preheated 175C/350F oven until dry and light golden brown (about 20 minutes).
Take out from the oven, and cut into two even-sized rectangles (the final cake will be half the size of your baking sheet). Cool lightly.*
Spread the jam over one shortcake base. Then very carefully lift the other shortcake layer on top of the one covered with jam.
Cut into squares (but don't separate the pieces) and leave to cool completely.
Make the glaze by mixing some colourful juice into the icing sugar until you've got a runny sugar glaze. Pour and spread that over the cake pieces and leave to set.

* Note that there is an alternative way of baking this cake - you'll sandwich two shortcake layers together with jam BEFORE baking (obviously you'll need to bake it a bit longer then). I've never tried this version.

Alexander cake, March 2011, dyed with sea-buckthorn juice concentrate

Fancy more? Here are some links to other foodbloggers' posts about Alexander cake - these give you a good idea about the different ways of glazing the cake.

ESTONIAN BLOGGERS:
Aniitram (a classic cocoa frosting and white frosting, zigzag pattern), MARU (Estonian designer and food writer), Qsti, Ragne, Liina, Sille

FINNISH BLOGGERS:
Kinuskikissa (one of the most popular Finnish foodbloggers, she used a cappuccino-flavoured glaze), Jaana

LATVIAN BLOGGERS:
Zitinja

Tattie scones recipe to mark The Bard's 253rd birth anniversary

noreply@blogger.com (Pille) — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 10:45:00 +0000

Scots across the world (both true and honorary, like me) are celebrating Rabbie Burns' aka The Bards 253rd birth anniversary today. I've already ordered a sheep's pluck and will be making my own haggis over the weekend (yay! for the first time!), but today I made something less exotic - tattie scones. Tattie scones or potato pancakes are the Scottish equivalent of Jewish latkes and Norwegian lefses, and one of my fondest breakfast memories from Scotland (those of you who are new to Nami-Nami and are wondering about the Scottish connection: I spent seven years studying and working in the beautiful capital of Scotland, Edinburgh, returning to my dear homeland in October 2006. That definitely makes me an honorary Scotswoman, I think :)).

Tattie scones are brilliantly easy to make. You can use freshly boiled potatoes, leftover potato mash or even cold cooked potatoes. I've tried them all; the ones I made earlier today were from cold boiled potatoes ('tatties' in Scottish).

Tattie Scones
(Šoti kartulipannkoogid)
Serves two to four

250 g (cooked) potatoes
25 g (about 2 Tbsp) butter
60 g (100 ml or 7 level Tbsp) all-purpose flour
0.5 tsp fine salt
0.25 tsp baking powder

oil or butter for frying

If you're using uncooked potatoes, then peel and cut into chunks, then boil in lightly salted water until done. Drain thoroughly, then mash and mix with rest of the ingredients.
If you're using cooked cold potatoes, then grate them finely, knead in the softened butter and then add the dry ingredients and mix until combined. The dough should be soft and pliable.
Divide into two and form each into a round disk. Working with one dough disc at the time, roll it on a lightly floured surface into a flat pancake, about 5-7 mm thick. Cut into sectors (I usually cut into four large sectors or 6 to 8 smaller ones).
Heat a heavy frying pan to medium-hot, add some oil or butter. Transfer the tattie scones onto the frying pan and gently fry on both sides, until golden brown spots form (that'll take about 3 minutes on both sides, depending on your frying pan and on the thickness of the scones).
Transfer onto a wire rack to cool. Serve with some butter (traditional) or some herb cream cheese (on the photo).

Other favourite Scottish recipes @ Nami-Nami:
Cook-a-leekie soup
Cranachan (a raspberry and whipped cream dessert)
Mince and tatties
Oatcakes

Other foodbloggers writing about tattie scones:
Wendy @ A Wee Bit of Cooking (lovely heart-shaped ones ;))
Emma @ The Laughing Gastronome
Susan @ The Well-Seasoned Cook (LOVE the sprinkling of caraway seeds!)
Valli @ More Than Burnt Toast

Molten Chocolate Cake, the way I like it

noreply@blogger.com (Pille) — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 08:00:00 +0000

You've seen this recipe on Nami-Nami already, back in 2007, but I'll repost it with slightly better step-by-step photos of eating process, not baking process :) These are super easy to make, and will bring a smile to every chocolate lover's face (that covers pretty much everyone, no?). The worst thing that can happen is that you overbake the cakes, but in that case you'll end up with wonderful chocolate cakes.

Molten Chocolate Cake
(Šokolaadivulkaanid)
Source: Food Migration

170 grams bittersweet chocolate
150 grams butter
160 grams sugar
75 g plain flour
4 large eggs

Butter six small ramekins thoroughly and dust with cocoa powder (a trick I nicked from David's blog). Place on baking tray.
Melt chocolate and butter in a small saucepan, remove from the heat.
Beat eggs and sugar together until thick, pale and fluffy. Add the melted chocolate and butter mixture. Continue to beat for another five minutes.
Add flour, beat for two more minutes.
Pour mixture into prepared ramekin tins.
Bake in a 180 C oven approximately 10 to 12 minutes - NO MORE! (Ovens do vary, so I'd test for doneness earlier rather than later).

Carefully turn the puddings onto serving plates. Dust with powdered/icing sugar and serve at once, when the puddings are still warm - otherwise you won't get that oozing chocolate effect :)

A good and slightly melted vanilla ice cream is a good accompaniment. Or perhaps some cherry compote?

Béarnaise sauce, grilled steak and home-made chunky potato chips

noreply@blogger.com (Pille) — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 12:40:00 +0000

Playing around with food is all fine, but sometimes I want a good old classic dish. Take the Béarnaise sauce. I first encountered back in Denmark in 1992/1993 - my host mum would make it regularly and serve it with grilled steak. It came in a powdered form from a packet, but to my 18-year-old tastebuds it tasted just fine and I instantly fell for the tarragon-infused creamy sauce. A good steak and tarragon-enhanced sauce Béarnaise is truly a match made in heaven! I wouldn't touch the Béarnaise made from a powder anymore, but I still love the sauce.

Note that the sauce has nothing to do with the Swiss capital, Bern. It gets its name from the birth-place of d'Artagnan (the one in "The Three Musketeers"), Béarn province, in South-Western France :)

The recipe below is based on Paul Gayler's recipe in Jill Norman's excellent The Cook's Book. Paul Gayler suggests using clarified butter to make this sauce (as well as it's "mother sauce", Hollandaise), but I am happy enough with using just melted butter myself.

What's your relationship to Sauce Béarnaise? Love it or hate it?

Béarnaise Sauce
(Béarni kaste)
Serves 4 to 6 (makes about 600 ml)

2 Tbsp white vine vinegar
2 Tbsp water
1 tsp white peppercorns, lightly crushed
2 Tbsp roughly chopped fresh tarragon or 2 tsp dried tarragon
2 small shallots, chopped
4 large egg yolks
250 g unsalted butter, melted
1 Tbsp fresh tarragon, chopped
1 Tbsp fresh chervil, chopped
sea salt

Place the vinegar, water, peppercorns, tarragon and shallots in a small pan. Bring to the boil, then lower the heat and simmer for about 1-2 minutes, until reduced to about 2,5 Tbsp. Remove from the heat and leave to infuse and cool.
Strain the liquid into a heatproof bowl. Add the egg yolks and whisk until combined
Set the bowl over a pan of simmering water (bain-marie), the base of the bowl should not touch the hot water, but be just above it. Whisk the mixture for 5-6 minutes, until it thickens and is creamy and smooth in texture.
Remove the bowl and place onto a dampened kitchen towel (this helps to keep the bowl in place). Slowly pour in the melted butter in a thin stream, whisking vigorously all the time, until the sauce is thick and glossy.
Add the chopped tarragon and chervil, season to taste with sea salt and serve at once.

Italian-style chicken with capers, anchovy and tomatoes

noreply@blogger.com (Pille) — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 12:30:00 +0000

After lousy November and December (read: dark, wet, cold, windy) we are now in the middle of beautiful January (read: bright, snow, cold). Proper winter weather, which I enjoy, even though it's much harder to push a pram on a snow-covered street, and it's occasionally slippery and icy - sometimes I think that holding on to a pram is the only thing that keeps me upright and in balance :) Ah, the joys of snow-filled cold Nordic winters :)

You need proper hot food to keep your body and soul warm on days like these - and this chicken stew is just the thing. Rosemary and tomatoes, capers and anchovies give this dish plenty of character and a strong Mediterranean feel, almost taking you back to those sun-drenched summer days and warm sea breeze.

I used a whole chicken, cut up to feed six, but you can easily use just drumsticks or bone-in thighs or just breasts, if you're ready to give up some of the chicken flavour.

The recipe is adapted from a recent issue of a Danish food magazine, Mad (that's 'food' in Danish, not a state of mind ;)) They suggested serving this with quinoa. Though I loved quinoa, it seemed too mushy to accompany this dish, so I opted for good Italian bulgur wheat instead.

Italian-style chicken with capers, anchovy and tomatoes
(Mõnus tomatine kanahautis kapparite ja rosmariiniga)
Serves six
Takes about an hour

1 whole broiler chicken, cut up into 8 or 10
some olive oil
4 good anchovy fillets, chopped
6 garlic cloves, sliced thinly
2 onions, peeled, halved and sliced thinly
250 ml (a cup) of dry white wine
300 g cherry tomatoes, halved
400 g can chopped tomatoes
2 Tbsp chopped fresh rosemary
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
4 Tbsp capers, rinsed and drained

Heat oil on a large heavy sauté pan. Brown chicken pieces on all sides (do that in batches, avoid over-crowding the pan). Put browned chicken pieces on the side.
If the pan looks too dry, add another splash of oil. Add anchovies, sauté for a minute. Add the onions and fry gently for a few minutes. Add garlic, fry for another minute. Do not brown!
Return the chicken pieces on the pan, pour over the wine. Simmer for 5 to 10 minutes, until the wine has reduced by half.
Add the tomatoes (both crushed and halved), season with salt, pepper and rosemary. Simmer gently for 25 minutes or so, until the chicken is cooked through and the sauce has thickened.
Add capers, taste again for seasoning and serve.

Tapas, Estonian style

noreply@blogger.com (Pille) — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 13:45:00 +0000

Starting from the left: hot-smoked Baltic herring (Clupea harengus membras) fillets, pan-fried Baltic herring with sesame seed crust, marinated sprats (Sprattus sprattus balticus) with herbs and onions, marinated Baltic herring with lemon and garlic.

Served with black rye bread (not pictured). An excellent Saturday lunch.

All fish was bought at my local farmers market (Viimsi taluturg), sourced from three different stalls. Viimsi taluturg is open on Saturdays from 10am till 2pm.

Raspberry and vanilla friands with cacao nibs

noreply@blogger.com (Pille) — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 07:30:00 +0000

Here's another delicious friand recipe, following the lingonberry and coconut friands and blueberry and lemon friands I wrote about last year. I'm still in love with those Australian little cakes, and whenever I have excess egg whites, I bake these as opposed to meringues or mini-Pavlovas.

Raspberry and vanilla friands with cacao nibs
(Vaarika-vanillifriandid kakaotükikestega)
Makes eight, suitable for freezing

100 g unsalted butter, melted (1 stick minus 1 Tbsp)
125 g icing sugar/confectioner's sugar (1 cup)
30 g plain flour/all-purpose flour (50 ml or 3 Tbsp + 1 tsp)
80 g finely ground almonds (1 cup)
3 medium-sized egg whites
1 tsp vanilla extract
50 g whole raspberries (a generous handful)
a handful of roasted cacao nibs (optional)

Preheat the oven to 200C. Generously butter eight non-stick friand or muffin tins.
Sift the icing sugar and flour into a bowl, add the almonds and mix.
Whisk the egg whites in another bowl until they form a light, floppy foam.
Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients, pour in the egg whites, vanilla and the cooled melted butter. Stir very gently to form a soft batter.
Divide the batter among the tins. Sprinkle some raspberries and cacao nibs over each cake.
Bake in the middle of a pre-heated 200 C oven for about 20 minutes, until just firm to the touch and golden brown on top.
Cool in the tins for 5 minutes, then turn out and cool on a wire rack. To serve, dust lightly with icing sugar.

Sesame Honey Chicken

noreply@blogger.com (Pille) — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 06:50:00 +0000

I've been cooking - and eating - a lot of Chinese food recently, say, since early November. Why, you're wondering? You see, I had to choose the recipes for the Chinese cooking workshops I was organising, and test and fine-tune the ones that made the cut. Now, three workshops (and some 45 happy Nami-Nami readers later), I feel confident that I have a pretty good Chinese recipe repertoire to work with and feed my friends and family. While I was trying to use pretty authentic Chinese recipes for those workshops - mainly from Sichuan and Cantonese cuisine - then here's a delicious American-Chinese classic, sesame honey chicken.

Sesame Honey Chicken
(Seesami-meekana)
Serves four

400 to 500 g chicken breast fillets or boneless thigh fillets
1 Tbsp light soy sauce
1 Tbsp Shaoxing rice wine or (medium) dry sherry
2 tsp sesame oil

For the batter:
4 Tbsp cornflour/cornstarch

For deep-frying:
groundnut oil or rapeseed oil

Honey sauce:
3 Tbsp sweet chilli sauce
2 Tbsp good-quality ketchup
2 Tbsp honey
1 Tbsp oyster sauce
2 Tbsp light soy sauce
3 Tbsp water

To garnish:
toasted white sesame seeds

Cut the chicken into 2 cm pieces.
Mix soy sauce, Shaoxing rice wine or sherry, sesame oil in a bowl. Add the chicken, stir and leave to marinate in the fridge for at least an hour.
Sprinkle cornflour over the chicken pieces to cover on all sides, shake off excess flour.
Heat couple of cm of oil in a small saucepan until slightly sizzling. Deep-fry chicken pieces, couple at a time, until golden brown on all sides and fully cooked. Put fried chicken pieces aside.
Combine the sauce ingredients in a small saucepan and bring into a boil. Simmer for a few minutes, until the sauce thickens slightly.
Add the cooked chicken pieces into the honey sauce, heat thoroughly through.
Sprinkle sesame seeds on top.
Serve with steamed rice or cooked noodles.

Pork tenderloin with leeks, raisins and warming spices

noreply@blogger.com (Pille) — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 07:00:00 +0000

This was our family's last proper home-cooked lunch back in 2011. I didn't expect to like it, but I did, just like the rest of my family. You see, I had some young leeks and a pork fillet in the fridge, and a putting those two ingredients into the search box of my Estonian recipe site yielded this recipe that I had scribbled down from a Swedish Arla-site back in 2002 (Gryta med julens kryddor was it called). Pairing pork and leeks wasn't a problem, it was the addition of raisins and the spices (cinnamon and ginger) that worried me. However, a positive reader comment encouraged me to go ahead with it, and I'm so glad I did.

This is not a dish I'd be making for my family on a weekly basis, but it's definitely one I'd happily make every now and then - and perhaps even use for a casual weeknight entertaining during the cold months.

Pork with leeks, raisins and warming spices
(Jõuluhõnguline siga porruga ehk porru-rosinaliha)
Serves four

500 to 600 g pork tenderloin
2 leeks or a handful of young leeks
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
a knob of butter
200 ml whipping cream/heavy cream (a cup minus 3 Tbsp)
2 Tbsp concentrated veal stock (I used Bong's Touch of Taste)
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp soy sauce or Worcestershire sauce
4 Tbsp seedless raisins

Cut the pork tenderloin fillet into thick slices (about 2 cm each). Season with salt and pepper.
Heat some butter in a non-stick frying pan, brown the pork slices on both sides over moderate heat. Put aside.
Cut the leeks into thick slices (larger ones) or 5 cm lengths (younger ones). Add those to the pan and sauté gently.
Now add the cream, veal stock concentrate, raisins and spices to the frying pan and simmer for a few minutes.
Return the pork slices to the frying pan, cook for another 4-5 minutes until heated through.
Serve with boiled potatoes or potato mash.

New Year's Eve @ Nami-Nami

noreply@blogger.com (Pille) — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 13:00:00 +0000

Happy New Year to all my readers! I thought to start with an overview of our New Year's Eve feast. We stayed at home and entertained friends - we were 12 adults and 7 kids and as far as I could tell, everyone had great time. We ate and drank, competed in a quiz (a New Year's Eve tradition in our house), watched some shows at the TV (incl. the President's speech), and enjoyed fireworks outside just after midnight. Here's an overview of what we ate.

The menu scribbled on our blackboard wall:

Appetizers included crostini with cream cheese and lobster tails:

Rye bread "buttons" with anchovy and cream cheese:

Home-made rye crisps with chicken liver paté and red onion marmalade:

thinly sliced pain d'epices with Estonian goat cheese and ruby pomegranate seeds:

The salad board consisted of Waldorf salad (made by our dear friends Peter & Kristel):

Beetroot and pomegranate salad with parsley and Aleppo chilli vinaigrette:

Red cabbage, orange and Beluga lentil salad with parsley vinaigrette (as all Italians know, you must have lentils at the New Year's Eve, as this brings you wealth and money in the new year :))

More substantial dishes included home-made chicken nuggets (well, there were teens among the guests) with a adjika and sour cream dip:

A wonderful hot-smoked trout from Pepe Kala, served with a simple, yet luxurious trout roe and sour cream sauce:

Our friend Liina contributed a caramelised onion and Cheddar tart:

and a wonderful pork terrine:

I had also made two different crisp breads, one with fennel seeds and the other without:

For nibbling, there was fruit, gingebread cookies and sugared almonds:

For dessert, our friends had brought along a moist pumpkin cake, a lovely pink cherry and mascarpone cheesecake.

And to finish it all off, K. and I had made a croquembouche, complete with crème patisserie and spun sugar ribbons:

Again, may your 2012 be full of delicious and tasty bites and experiences!

Cardamom panna cotta with apricot and sea-buckthorn sauce

noreply@blogger.com (Pille) — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 13:30:00 +0000

Panna cotta is a dessert that I actually make quite often, even if I've only blogged about it once (Vanilla panna cotta with roasted rhubarb, back in June 2008). It's a good classic Italian dessert that can be served with a number of various toppings and seasoned to your liking.

Here's a rather non-Italian version that is imminently suitable for the festive season. It has a hint of spice in the form of cardamom, and it's much lighter, as some of the cream has been substituted with kefir. Sea-buckthorn berries are one of the new superfoods, and hugely popular and easily available in Estonia. A word of warning - if you taste the panna cotta mixture before you let it set, it may feel too heavy on cardamom. Don't panic, however - the sweet and sour apricot and sea-buckthorn sauce will nicely balance it out.

I like my panna cotta to be on the wobbly side, as they're supposed to be, and I often serve them in a nice glass. If you want a firmer dessert that will hold its shape even after you've turned it onto a plate, you can use some more gelatine.

Cardamom panna cotta with apricot and sea-buckthorn sauce
(Kardemonine kooretarretis aprikoosi-astelpajulisandiga)
Adapted from the Swedish COOP-website
Serves 4

3 gelatine leaves
200 ml whipping cream
2 Tbsp caster sugar
1 tsp ground cardamom
200 ml kefir

Topping:
100 ml (7 Tbsp) smooth apricot jam
100 ml (7 Tbsp) sea-buckthorn berries

Seak the gelatine leaves in cold water for 5 minutes.
Season the cream with ground cardamom, then slowly bring into a boil in a small saucepan. Cook for a few minutes, then remove from the heat and pour in the kefir. Give it a stir.
Squeeze the soaked gelatine leaves to remove excess water, then stir and melt into the cream and kefir mixture, one at a time.
Pour the mixture into individual glasses or ramekins and place into a fridge to set for at least 5 hours.
Before serving, heat the apricot jam gently in a small saucepan. Fold in the sea-buckthorn berries, heat through. Cool a little, then spoon some on top of each panna cotta.

Merry Christmas!

noreply@blogger.com (Pille) — Sat, 24 Dec 2011 08:00:00 +0000

You'll find all Nami-Nami's Christmas recipes here.

Layered Vegetable Salad with Smoked Salmon

noreply@blogger.com (Pille) — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 09:22:00 +0000

"Kasukas" - "fur coat" - is a name for a layered vegetable salad that is very popular here in Estonia, especially during the cold and dark season. The salad has chopped cured herring as the bottom layer, topped with layers of grated or chopped beets, carrots, potatoes and other vegetables and "glued together" with thin layers of mayonnaise. The recipe - or rather an alternative way to serve the popular "rosolje" salad - came to Estonia from Russia in the second half of last century. In Russia "fur coat" aka "shuba" is still one of the most popular salads on the festive table (here's a lovely English-language blog post about the traditional "cured herring under fur coat"), and the un-layered "rosolli" is also a must on Finnish Christmas tables). Whereas I love beets, I dislike cured herring, so I tend to skip that salad on buffet tables. When making this at home, I'd usually make a double portion and divide the salad between two glass bowls - one with herring and the other without. Until I came across a version using smoked salmon in Natasha's Kitchen blog. That was about a year and a half ago, and since then I've made this salad over and over again and converted many kasukas-haters into kasukas-lovers.

Traditionally this salad is made and served in a big glass bowl that proudly shows off all the layers, and then it's spooned into serving plates (rather like a trifle). For a neater presentation, you may want to use individual glass bowls instead (see top photo). A note to my Estonian readers - I like making this with külmsuitsulõhe aka cold-smoked salmon (Pepe Kala makes a wonderful one!), rather than with kuumsuitsulõhe aka hot-smoked salmon.

Layered Smoked Salmon and Vegetable Salad
(Suitsulõhega kasukas)
Serves about 6 to 8

200 g smoked salmon
400 g potatoes
1 small onion, peeled and finely chopped
200 g cooked beetroot (roasted, steamed or boiled)
250 g carrots
about 300-400 g good-quality mayonnaise
2 eggs

Boil (unpeeled!) carrots and potatoes until soft, but not mushy. Drain, cool a little, then peel.
Hard-boil the eggs, then cool and peel.

To compose the salad:
1. Cut the salmon into small pieces and scatter evenly at the bottom of a 2-litre (approximately 2-quart) glass bowl.
2. Grate the potatoes coarsely, scatter over the salmon.
3. Scatter chopped onion over the potato layer.
4. Gently spread about half of the mayonnaise over the onion layer.
5. Grate the beetroot coarsely, scatter over the mayonnaise layer.
6. Grate the carrots coarsely, scatter over the beetroot layer.
7. Spread rest of the mayonnaise over the beetroot layer.
8. Finely grate the eggs, scatter over the mayonnaise layer.

NB! As the mayonnaise is seasoned already, there is no need to season any of the layers with salt and pepper!

Cover the bowl with clingfilm and put into the fridge for a few hours for the flavours to combine (and the beetroot colour to stain the other layers :)) The salad can be happily made on a previous day as well, as it keeps rather well.

This recipe was also included in my latest cookbook, Jõulud kodus ("Christmas at Home"), published in Estonian in November 2011.

Celebrating New Year's Eve in Tallinn?!

noreply@blogger.com (Pille) — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 08:00:00 +0000

This post is mainly for those food-oriented people in Tallinn who haven't yet decided where to celebrate New Year's Eve this year. Here are some alternatives worth considering - not paid ads, mind you, but events that some of my favourite establishments are throwing that I'd be happy to attend if I wouldn't be celebrating the New Year's Eve at home with my lovely K., our two adorable kids and some great friends.

What are your plans - in Tallinn or elsewhere - for the New Year's Eve?

MOON ("Poppy" in Estonian) is a wonderful family-run restaurant just outside the city centre, in the outskirts of Kalamaja. It's run by the Zaštšerinski power-couple - he (Roman) is the head chef, she (Jana) is the hostess-sommelier, and they're assisted by another head chef, Roman's first cousin Igor Andrejev. They're inviting people to a 1920s inspired New Year's Eve party, with even more inspired menu and live music:

Warming welcome drink
Beetroot, cauliflower and whitefish roe "Martini"
Home-smoked eel, spicy carrots, herby brioche
Sauteéd lamb filet, mache, tomato and yoghurt
Pan-fried whitefish, tartare sauce, quail eggs, fresh horseradish
Duck and sauerkraut kulebyaka with mulled wine gravy
Warm chocolate cake with blueberry compote, sour cream ice cream, and meringue

55 Euros for a six-course meal per person, drinks not included
Reservation required: kohvik@kohvikmoon.ee

NEH is a atmospheric small upscale restaurant that I've blogged about before (see here). It's a truly seasonal restaurant that's only open from Autumn till Spring, when all the core staff packs their bags and return to their original premises at Pädaste on Muhu island.

The team @ NEH are inviting you to a dazzling New Year's Party.

NEH's New Year’s Eve Menu

Pan-fried scallop
Gotland black truffle & caramelized cauliflower
Bisque with Laeso langoustines (I had a chance to taste that dish at a recent special event, and it was truly flavoursome and lovely)
Roasted goose with smoked black plums and cranberries
red cabbage with juniper, Alvados glazed apples
Tridura cheese soufflé
walnut in birch syrup & pear compote
Sea-buckthorn chiboust with a golden shadow

Dinner and entertainment 70 € per guest
Matching wine menu 45 € per guest
Children under the age of 13 – 40 € per person
Reservation required: info@neh.ee
Dress code: Black tie

KÖÖK ('Kitchen') is a charming private restaurant in Tallinn's Old Town, with an English-born head chef Tim Bramich. They're inviting you to a festive feast, starting at 8pm and lasting till 1 am. The extensive buffet table features vodka-infused gravlax with bliny, spiced parsnip soup, proper English fish and chips, a rabbit Mole Poblano, and star anise flavoured chocolate mousse cake with mascarpone cream, among other dishes.

65 Euros for the dinner per person, wine is included (Prosecco and spirits cost extra).
Reservation required: info@kook.fi

Swedish Saffron Buns (Lussekatter)

noreply@blogger.com (Pille) — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 10:50:00 +0000

Saffron buns like this are eaten all over Sweden on St Lucia's day on December 13th. Lucia's buns are rather decadent buns, with lots of sugar, butter and eggs. I've used a recipe containing cream cheese, which makes these especially soft and luxurious. In Sweden, they mark the beginning of the Christmas season, and there are lots of interesting traditions associated with Lucia's Day, including small girls walking around early in the morning, wearing white and carrying burning candles on top of their head ;)

We left out the burning candles, and enjoyed these buns simply with a cup of coffee :)

A note about using saffron. Saffron is water-soluble, not fat-soluble. I am surprised how many recipes ask you to simply add the saffron threads in with the rest of the ingredients (the oil or the flour), without infusing it with the liquid (NOT oil!) beforehand. You can extract so much more flavour and colour by the simple infusion process, and given the price of good-quality saffron, you can use much less of that precious spice and get much more out of it. The recipe here is based on a recipe in a Swedish Allt om Mat recipe. As most other recipes, the Swedish one asks you to put milk, melted butter, saffron and cream cheese all together. No wonder they also ask you to use 1.5 grams of saffron. I used just one packet (0.5 g), and the resulting buns had a beautiful, intense saffron flavour and a gorgeous dark yellow colour. If I had used triple the amount of saffron (AND infused it properly to start with), then the buns would have been way over-the-top!

You can read more about saffron on Lydia's blog The Perfect Pantry and more about these Swedish buns over on Anne's blog.

Swedish Saffron Buns
(Luutsinakuklid ehk safranisaiad)
Makes about 30 generous buns

500 ml milk
0.5 grams saffron strands
50 g fresh yeast
170 g caster sugar (200 ml)
1 tsp ground cardamom seeds
0.5 tsp fine salt
about 1 kg plain flour
250 g cream cheese, softened
150 g unsalted butter, softened
2 eggs, divided
raisins or dried cranberries
pearl sugar (optional)

Heat milk in a small saucepan until steaming. Remove from the heat, add saffron threads and leave to infuse for 10-15 minutes. You'll need to cool the milk to about 37-38 C. (Or 42 C, if using instant yeast; in that case simply stir the instant yeast into the flour).
When the milk is lukewarm, then crumble in the yeast and stir, until dissolved.
Add salt, cardamom, sugar and about half of the flour. Stir until combined, then add the cream cheese, butter, ONE egg (lightly whisked), and then gradually knead in the rest of the flour. The final yeast dough should be soft and supple.
Cover the bowl with a clean kitchen towel and leave to rise in a warm room for 30-60 minutes, until doubled in size.
Knead the dough gently and turn onto a lightly floured work surface. Twist small amounts of dough (about the size of a large egg or a tennis ball, depending on whether you're making small or larger buns). Roll each piece of dough into a long "sausage", then twist it from both ends to form a letter S (see the photo above). There are several traditional ways of shaping Lucia buns, but this is the only way I usually do. It's also easy enough shape to understand for my almost-3-year-old kitchen assistant, you see :)
Place the shaped buns onto a baking sheet that's been covered with a parchment paper. Leave to prove for another 10-15 minutes, then press a raisin or a craisin into each end.
Brush with an egg wash (= an egg whisked with a spoonful of water) and sprinkle with pearl sugar, if you wish.
Bake in a pre-heated 220 C oven for 12-15 minutes, until light golden brown.
Remove from the oven, transfer onto a metal rack to cool a little. If you want softer buns, then cover them with a clean tea towel when they're cooling.

Homemade candy recipes: fruit and nut truffles

noreply@blogger.com (Pille) — Sat, 10 Dec 2011 16:01:00 +0000

There's a candy I remember from my childhood. Our main chocolate factory, Kalev, was (and probably still is) well-known for its chocolate selections or "assortiikarp" as they're known in Estonian. I loved their ganache and praline filled chocolates in those chocolate selections, but my favourite ones were the foil-wrapped large truffles with fruit and nut filling.

Here's my attempt to recreate these childhood favourites :) You can see the final product on the left on the photo above.

Fruit and Nut Filled Truffles
(Puuviljakompvekid)

100 g dried soft figs
150 g dried soft prunes
100 g dried cranberries or cherries (or a mixture of both)
100 g chopped almonds or hazelnuts
1 Tbsp runny honey or golden syrup or agave nectar
a pinch of sea salt

to coat the truffles:
dark chocolate (tempered, preferably)

Remove the stem from the dried figs. If using a food processor, place the figs, prunes and dried cranberries or cherries into the food processor and process until you've got a coarsely ground fruit mixture. Add the almonds/nuts, salt and honey/syrup and pulse again once or twice. (You don't want the nuts chopped too finely, as you want the texture later).
[You can also simply chop the ingredients as finely as possible]
Place the truffle mixture into the fridge for an hour to cool and harden.
Roll into small balls (TIP: use a little oil to moisten your hands - the mixture won't stick as much then.)
Either dip into melted dark chocolate - or, preferably, into tempered dark chocolate (see note below) until completely covered. Decorate with chopped nuts. Keep in a cool place until ready to serve.

Why and how to temper the chocolate? The Internet - and food blogs - are full of detailed instructions on how to temper chocolate - and why. The latter is easy - unless you temper the chocolate, the chocolate-glazed truffles will lack the shine and the snap, both very desirable elements. "How" is trickier and indeed, tempering can be a hit-and-miss. I've followed this simplified seed-technique for tempering. Place about 2/3 of your chopped up chocolate (or, indeed, chocolate pellets - and NOT compound chocolate!) into a heat-proof bowl and place the bowl on top of a small saucepan, where you've brought about 5 cm/2 inches of water into simmer. Let the chocolate melt slowly, stirring as you go along. Remove from the heat, stick a chocolate thermometer into the bowl. Now add the "seed chocolate" or the chocolate you put aside at the beginning in two or three installments and keep stirring the chocolate and cooling it. Once all the added chocolate pellets have melted, you must continue stirring the chocolate, until it registers 28 C on the thermometer - that will probably take about 15-20 minutes of active stirring, so be patient! You can then gently re-heat the chocolate - either over the waterbath, on top of a hot water bottle or by hovering your hair-drier over the chocolate - until it's about 30-31 C (best temperature for working with chocolate).

If you like Cosmo (and Sex and the City), then you'll love this drink: Cosmopolitan glögg

noreply@blogger.com (Pille) — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 09:40:00 +0000

Sex and the City (2008)

Miranda Hobbes: [at a bar, drinking Cosmopolitans]

"Why did we ever stop drinking these?"

Carrie Bradshaw: "Because everyone else started! "

Perhaps it's time to start again?

This delicious and soul-warming winter drink has got its name from the famous Cosmopolitan cocktail. Ok, there's plain vodka and not lemon vodka here, and I haven't used any limes to give the drink an extra zing (though you could, by all means), but the similarities are definitely there. It's officially my favourite mulled drink this year, even if I do go very easy on the vodka most of the time :D

If you like the classic Cosmopolitan, and enjoyed watching Sex and the City, then this drink is for you :)

Cosmo Glögg
(Jõhvikaglögi)
Serves six
Adapted from Finnish-language book "Kotilieden jouluaika: Pikkujoulusta loppiaisen" (2006)

1 litre good-quality cranberry juice drink
2 Tbsp glögg mixture*
100 ml vodka
50 ml orange liqueur (Triple Sec or Cointreau)

To serve:
dried cranberries (aka 'craisins')
orange twist

Bring the juice and glögg mixture into a simmer, then remove from the heat and leave to infuse for 20-30 minutes. Add some sugar to taste, if you really wish so.
Strain and re-heat. Add the spirits and serve in heat-proof glasses.

* I used Meira's glögimauste, which contains finely chopped dried Sevilla orange peel, ginger, cloves, cinnamon and cardamom. You can use any mulled wine or glögg seasoning mix of your choice, if that's not available.

Christmas recipes: Swedish meatballs

noreply@blogger.com (Pille) — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 07:00:00 +0000

Serving meatballs at a Christmas table is NOT an Estonian tradition, but it's something I've borrowed from our Swedish neighbours across the sea. They're especially popular with kids (though adults aren't far behind), and as they can be served hot or cold, they're excellent for buffet table. I love them with a generous grating of nutmeg, but you could also use cinnamon, allspice, juniper berries, cumin. Anne of Anne's Food uses white pepper, cinnamon, ginger, cardamom AND allspice, for example.

This recipe was also included in my latest cookbook, Jõulud kodus ("Christmas at Home"), published in Estonian in November 2011.

Swedish meatballs
(Vürtsikad lihapallid)
Serves four or many more, depending on what else is on the table

400 g minced meat
2 Tbsp finely chopped onion
1 Tbsp potato starch or cornflour
1 large egg
1 tsp salt
0.5 tsp freshly ground black pepper
150 ml milk (10 Tbsp)
a generous grating of nutmeg

butter, for frying

Mix all ingredients in a mixing bowl, then form into small meatballs (it's easier to do with wet or oiled hands).

Now you've got three ways to proceed (my preference goes for the last one):

1) Melt some butter on a frying pan, brown the meatballs on all sides, then cover the pan with a lid, reduce heat and cook until done.
2) Melt some butter on a frying pan, brown the meatballs on all sides. Transfer the meatballs onto a small tray and finish cooking them in a pre-heated 200 C/400 F oven.
3) Brush a baking sheet with some melted butter or oil, spread meatballs evenly on top. Bake in a pre-heated 220 c/450 F oven for about 15 minutes, until cooked inside and lovely dark golden brown outside.

Serve warm or at room temperature.

Estonian recipes: thick fruit soup (dried fruit kissel)

noreply@blogger.com (Pille) — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 10:30:00 +0000

One non-Christmas recipe for a change :) Paks puuviljakissell or thick (dried) fruit soup/kissel is an old Estonian favourite (I've previously blogged about it's more modest cousin, raisin fruit soup). The kissel on the photo was made with dried apricots, prunes, pears and raisins, but you can use whatever fruit you have in hand. It's cheap, tasty and easy to make.

You can also serve it in umpteen ways. Traditional way to serve fruit soup is with milk (or perhaps light cream), but you can top a thick fruit soup with whipped cream or even good-quality vanilla ice cream, which would make it actually a rather festive pudding, especially if served from pretty dessert bowls.

Dried fruit soup
(Paks puuviljakissell)
Serves 6

500 g dried fruit and berries of your choice - apples, pears, prunes, seedless raisins, apricots etc.
1.5 litre of water
a cinnamon stick
2 cloves
85 g caster sugar (100 ml)
juice of half a lemon
2 to 3 Tbsp potato starch or cornflour + some cold water (see note below)

Rinse the dried fruit under cold water, then cut into smaller pieces, if necessary.
Place into a large saucepan with water and let them soak for 2-3 hours.
Add the cinnamon stick and cloves. Bring the "soup" into a boil, reduce heat and simmer slowly until the fruit is softened. Near the end of the cooking, add the sugar and season to taste with lemon juice.
To thicken the soup, make a slurry with starch and some cold water. Drizzle the starch slurry into the fruit soup, stirring carefully. If you are using potato starch, then re-heat the fruit soup and remove from the heat as soon as the first bubbles appear on surface - do NOT boil. If you're using cornflour, then you need to cook the soup for a few minutes for it to thicken.
Remove the saucepan from the heat and sprinkle some sugar on top - this prevents the "skin" from forming on top.

Black Pudding Profiteroles

noreply@blogger.com (Pille) — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 05:45:00 +0000

August 2011

This recipe was originally posted in December 2009. It's been fully updated, and new photos are included.

Remember the Chorizo Choux Puffs? When I published the recipe on my Estonian site, then one of the readers, Ilse, suggested using our Christmas favourite, finely chopped black pudding instead of chorizo. I liked the sound of that, so nicked the idea, adding a spoonful of roasted onion flakes for an extra depth of flavour.

The result? Soft and Christmassy choux puffs with character :) We shared these with some friends, who were just as keen on these large profiteroles as we were. Definitely a keeper and a great addition to any Christmas buffét table. You could even dip them into lingonberry jam - that'd be even more Christmassy!

This recipe was also included in my latest cookbook, Jõulud kodus ("Christmas at Home"), published in Estonian in November 2011.

NOTE that this recipe would work just as well with Blutwurst, morcilla, sundae, boudin noir, blodpudding, beuling, bloedworst etc.

Black Pudding Profiteroles
(Keedutainapallid e. profitroolid verivorstiga)
Makes about 24 large profiteroles

December 2009

175 ml water
75 g butter
0.5 tsp salt
120 g plain flour/all-purpose flour (200 ml)
3 large eggs
100 g black pudding, finely chopped (and skinned first, if necessary)
1 Tbsp roasted onion flakes (I like using Meira's)

Remove the skin from the black pudding sausages (not necessary, when they're thin-skinned) and chop finely.
Put water, cubed butter and salt into a medium saucepan and bring to a rolling boil. Take immediately off the heat and stir in all the flour. Return to the heat and "boil" for about two minutes, stirring with a wooden spoon, until you have a smooth paste that leaves the sides of the saucepan.
Remove from the heat and cool for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Add the eggs one at a time, wholly incorporating the first egg before adding the next one (this is best done with electric beaters). The resulting paste should be glossy and slowly drop from a spoon.
Stir in the finely chopped black pudding and the dried roasted onion flakes.
With a help of two tablespoons or a cookie scoop, place small heaps of choux paste onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
Bake in the middle of a pre-heated 180 C/375 F oven for about 30 minutes, until the choux puffs are nicely puffed up and golden brown.

August 2011

Gingerbread muffins

noreply@blogger.com (Pille) — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 09:15:00 +0000

Gingerbread muffins, anno 2011

This recipe was originally posted in December 2008. It's been fully updated, and new photos are included.

Everyone likes a good muffin, and during Christmas time, this should be a Christmas muffin :)

There are endless variations on the theme. You could bake small cupcakes and garnish them with something Christmassy. Or you could simply add your favourite Christmas spices (say ginger, nutmeg, cinnamon, cloves, cardamom) into your regular plain muffin recipe (and still glaze them afterwards). Or you could throw in a generous handful of red berries (lingonberries or cranberries) into your muffin batter to give them the festive feel.

Here's a recipe for very simple muffins - made special by the use of dark muscovado sugar and a mixture of gingerbread spices.

Note I've measured the dry ingredients both in grams and in volume. A standard American cup is 240 ml, so 100 ml of muscovado sugar would be a half a cup minus a heaped Tablespoon etc.

Gingerbread muffins
(Jõulumuffinid)
Makes 12 medium-sized muffins

Gingerbread muffins, anno 2008

2 large eggs
85 g dark muscovado sugar (100 ml)
50 g butter, melted and slightly cooled
100 g sour cream or creme fraiche
120 g plain/all-purpose flour (200 ml)
1.5 tsp baking powder
25 g ground hazelnuts or almonds (50 ml)
2 tsp gingerbread spice or mixed spice or pumpkin pie spice

icing sugar, for dusting

Whisk eggs with sugar. Add the melted butter and sour cream. Mix the dry ingredients in a separate bowl, fold into the egg-sugar-butter-sour cream batter.
Spoon into muffin cups and bake in the middle of 200 C/400 F oven for 10-12 minutes, until muffins are cooked.
Let cool a little, then dust with icing sugar.

Gingerbread muffins, anno 2011

This recipe was also included in my latest cookbook, Jõulud kodus ("Christmas at Home"), published in Estonian in November 2011.

Holiday baking: Sliced Almond Christmas Cookies

noreply@blogger.com (Pille) — Sun, 04 Dec 2011 15:30:00 +0000

It's the time to bake various Christmas cookies again. While I'll certainly be making and baking and decorating a batch of these favourite Estonian piparkoogid ("pepper cakes"), then this year I have another recipe in mind as well. These sliced Christmas cookies with almonds found their way into my heart in the midst of the summer heatwave, as I was choosing and testing recipes for my Christmas cookbook. I had seen a recipe for "French gingebread cookies" in a Swedish food magazine that I liked, and that reminded me of Jules Destrooper's wonderful almond thins that I used to love. After some tweaking here and there (less sugar and less cloves, more almonds), I ended up with this great recipe.

I usually divide the dough into four equal portions and roll and wrap them individually. Then I bake one and place three in the freezer - I can then bake fresh and aromatic Christmas cookies whenever I feel like :)

Almond Gingerbread Cookies
(Viilupiparkoogid)
Makes a lot - about 4 large sheets

250 g butter
200 g caster sugar
140 g light baking syrup (about 100 ml)
420 g plain flour (700 ml)
1 Tbsp ground cinnamon
0.5 Tbsp ground cloves
0.5 Tbsp baking soda
100 g sliced almonds

Melt the butter in a saucepan. Add sugar and syrup, stir until combined. Remove from the heat and let cool completely.
Combine flour, cinnamon, cloves, baking soda and almonds in a bowl, then fold into the cool butter-sugar-syrup mixture. Stir until combined.
Divide the cookie dough into four equal parts, then form each one into a cylinder/sausage, about 4 cm in diameter. Wrap in clingfilm or baking paper and place into the fridge to rest. (Ideally for 24 hours).

To bake the cookies, cut each "sausage" into 3-4 mm (1/8th inch) slices, and place onto a parchment covered cookie sheet.
Bake in the middle of a preheated 200 C oven for 6 to 8 minutes, until golden brown.
Remove from the oven, let rest for a few minutes, then transfer onto a metal rack to cool completely.

This recipe was also included in my second cookbook, Jõulud kodus ("Christmas at Home"), published in Estonian in November 2011.