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SHF#24: Little Bites of Delight 

UPDATE 30.10.2006: Here's Jeanne's roundup!
Posted by Pille at 1:00 am 11 comments: 


Wild Mushroom Hunt: My mushroom bounty, vol 2

I enjoyed hunting for mushrooms so much in September, that I spent another three hours in a forest last Sunday looking for the last of season's wild mushrooms. We didn't get into the forest until 1pm, and for a moment I thought our trip will be fruitless (mushroomless?), as it was incredibly difficult to tell a mushroom amongst all those yellow and brown and pumpkin-coloured fallen leaves that thickly covered the ground. However, after some visual adjustment and careful and systematic observation, I began to see the mushrooms again (I lost the skill again after some 2,5 hours, but being a lazy urbanite, I eventually simply got tired and wanted to get back home. Or at least to my savoury muffins that were at the back of our car). Back in my new kitchen later that night, I brushed all the mushrooms clean, sorted them into categories (straight onto the frying pan / soak-cook-fry / soak-cook-pickle / soak-cook-brine). This is what K. and I had found: Starting from the top left corner, clockwise (sorry for the slight redness of the colours): ugly milkcaps/Lactarius turpis/tõmmuriisikad (photo) ; various ceps/porcini/puravikud; Lactarius scrobiculatus/võiseened; the slightly greenish ones are saffron milk-caps/Lactarius deliciosus/kuuseriisikad - very delicious mushrooms that can be thrown straight onto your frying pan (photo); rufous milkcaps/Lactarius rufus/männiriisikad that must be blanched once or twice to rid them of their bitterness; wonderful (though rather unexpected this time of the year) chantarelles/Cantharellus cibarius/kukeseened; as well as three handsome Pied Bleu or Wood Blewits/Lepista nuda/lilla ebaheinik that I preserved in brine. And finally some light pink russulas/pilvikud (in the middle, next to that lonesome green russula on the left) that must be cooked in water before they can be fried or sauteed.

The yellow chantarelles and saffron milkcaps were each fried in butter and then used as a topping for simple bruschette. The russula mushrooms were blanched twice and were used for mushroom sauce late last night (fry with some onions, top with cream, serve with mashed potatoes). The ugly milkcaps and Lactarius scrobiculatus mushrooms were first boiled twice, and then preserved in salty brine (after soaking, these can be used for sauces, quiche filling, salads), rufuous milkcaps were pickled in marinade (can be eaten as a snack or used for salads).

Again, I'm rather pleased with my bounty, and am looking forward to using all those mushrooms during the coming autumn and winter.

Oh, and did I mention the cranberries? I've got enough for at least 10 cakes now:) Labels: Food Sourcing: Nature, Recipes: Mushrooms, Recipes: Vegetarian

I've been eating a lot of chocolate lately ...

... and how could I've not to, when Nash (on behalf of himself and his beautiful wife Guro) brought me this box of Plaisir du Chocolat chocolates as a goodbye present. Plaisir du Chocolat was set up by Bertrand Espouy and Heather A Kiernan few years ago in Edinburgh, and they've now opened branches also in Manchester and Melrose. Do check them out if you're in the neighbourhood. If neither Manchester, Melrose or Edinburgh are in your future itinerary, then you can peruse their online store. If you're not convinced, then take Melissa's word for it - she's sung praise to Plaisir du Chocolat here.

Their exquisite chocolates - look at the picture! - are best consumed within a week, so I've been dutifully eating them together with K. every night. All of them have been absolutely delicious, with an exception of one or two (Manosque didn't appeal to me, for example). Plaisir du Chocolat produces two 'collections' per year - one for Christmas and one for the Edinburgh festival season. My box of chocolates are from the Collection Winter 2005-2006. Here's what we had: Top row from left to right:
Sacher (dark chocolate, bitter almond, apricot), Mesopotamia (dark chocolate, liquorice), Sheherazade (dark chocolate, pistachio), Laphroaig (dark chocolate, malt whisky), Bounty (white chocolate, coconut)

2nd row from the top, from left to right:
Spekulatius (dark chocolate, Christmas spices, citrus fruits), Khartoum (white chocolate, hibiscus), Vienne (dark chocolate, coffee, marzipan), Brazil (white chocolate, passion fruit), Agen (dark chocolate, prune, Armagnac)

Middle row, from left to right:
Szechuan (dark chocolate, Szechuan pepper, pear), Bergamot (Single origin Java milk chocolate, Earl Grey tea), Schwarzwald (dark chocolate, Cherry and Kirsh), Addis Ababa (milk chocolate, cardamom and pineapple), Indochine (single origin Java milk chocolate, green Vietnamese tea, lotus flowers)

2nd row from the bottom, from left to right:
Tombouctou (dark chocolate, cinnamon), Zanzibar (Single origin Java milk chocolate, cloves, orange peel), Java (single origin Java milk chocolate, green Jasmine tea), Persephone (milk chocolate, pomegranate, orange), Arabesque (white chocolate, rose buds)

Bottom row, from left to right:
Sologne (dark chocolate, fresh mint leaves), Manosque (dark chocolate, dried lavender), Antilles (dark chocolate, spices /vanilla, cinnamon, citronelle, cardamom, lemon, orange, elderberry, tonka, cloves, star anis, bitter orange leaves/, Martinique rum), Piemont (gianduja hazelnut), Guérandes (soft caramel made with salted butter mixed, white couverture, vanilla)

Thank you, Guro & Nash!
Posted by Pille at 1:00 am 7 comments: 


Savoury muffins with beetroot and blue cheese

I've been thinking about beetroot a lot lately. Weird, eh? I don't really know why, but suddenly I browse my cookbooks for beetroot recipes and make lists of various beetroot recipes to try. I've already posted plenty of beetroot recipes on this blog: beetroot & goat's cheese sandwiches, beetroot & garlic salad, beetroot & feta salad, filo tartlets with beetroot and three types of cheese. Yet I still long for more, and there are so many delicious-looking beetroot recipes out there in the blogosphere that I simply have to try: Anne's beet risotto with fava beans, Bea's beetroot ravioli and beetroot tabouli and dark chocolate and beetroot brownies (there's a foodblogger to my heart!), Alanna's wholegrain bread with beetroot, Clivia's beetroot cake with saffron glaze. I could go on and on..

In any case, I baked these savoury muffins with beetroot and blue cheese last weekend. On Sunday, K. and I headed to the forests and bogs again to gather wild mushrooms (we got loads!) and pick cranberries (I've got enough for some 10 cakes now). These muffins were ideal when we re-emerged from the forest - exhausted, dirty, wet, yet happy and content - three hours later. A lovely combination of moist'n'sweet beetroot and salty'n'tangy blue cheese.

Adapted from Valio
Makes 12 large muffins. 5oo ml plain flour
1 Tbsp baking powder
2 tsp dried basil
150 grams blue cheese, crumbled
100 grams boiled beetroot, grated or cubed
200 ml single cream
a handful of fresh parsley, chopped

Mix flour, baking powder and basil in a bowl, add blue cheese and beetroot. Stir gently.
Mix cream, eggs and oil in a jug and stir quickly into the batter.
Pour into lined muffin cases and bake at 200C for 18-20 minutes.

They're best eaten warm, but are also great for lunchboxes. If you want, put into a microwave for 20 seconds to heat through.

UPDATE 7.11.2006: If you read Finnish, then read what Pastanjauhantaa thought of these muffins:)
Posted by Pille at 12:00 am 6 comments: Labels: Recipes: Cakes/Muffins/Cookies, Recipes: Cheese, Recipes: Vegetables, Recipes: Vegetarian


A royal dinner Photo courtesy of Postimees 


A Turkish delight: Hanedan in Edinburgh Gürsel Bahar, the chef & proprietor of Hanedan, July 2006 


Vacation memories: Dining on Santorini Santorini at night, June 2006 

Eestikeelsed retseptid:
Santorini läätsepüree
Santorini tomatikotletid
Kreeka pommusalat
Posted by Pille at 11:00 pm 8 comments: 


My Eggy Macaroni Cheese

As I hinted on my previous post, I am staying with friends with kids for a few days. So child-friendliness of the dishes I cook is important at the moment. Here is one of my favourites for moments like these - macaroni cheese. Very popular with my little nephews, as well as with friends longing for comfort food. I recently witnessed a rather huge young friend of mine (we're talking about almost 2 metres and 100 kilos here) eat a whole lot almost on his own!

It's a doddle to make, and you can also use up any leftover cooked pasta, slices of ham, chunks of cheese. Quite unusally for macaroni cheese, it uses eggs in the mixture, making the dish a bit creamier and lighter in texture in my opinion.

Macaroni Cheese with Mince and Eggs
Makaronivorm hakklihaga 400 grams short pasta
350 grams good quality lean mince of your choice
1 Tbsp oil
0.5 to 1 tsp sweet Hungarian paprika powder
1 tsp dried basil or oregano

600 ml milk
200 ml grated cheese
fresh dill or parsley, chopped (optional)

Cook the pasta al dente, drain.
Fry the onion in oil over moderate heat for 7-10 minutes, add garlic and fry for a few more minutes. Stir frequently to avoid burning.
Add the mince and fry, stirring frequently, until the mince is browned.
Season with salt, paprika powder and dried herbs. Take a large oven dish, oil or butter it lightly. Add the pasta and fried mince into the dish and mix.
Combine milk, eggs and salt, add finely chopped herbes, if using. Pour over the pasta and mince.
Scatter cheese on top.
Bake at the lower part of a 200C oven until the eggy mixture has set and the dish is golden brown and slightly crisp on top.

Serve with salad (see here for a simple beetroot salad and crunchy carrot salad).
Posted by Pille at 5:00 pm 9 comments: Labels: Recipes: Pasta Dishes, Recipes: Red Meat


The Mama Who Cooks Likes My Blog 

I simply love hosts who let you loose in their kitchen:)
Posted by Pille at 1:00 am 3 comments: 


Childhood nostalgy: tiny cheesy mouthfuls

When I was still young and beautiful, that is in 1980s, schoolkids in Estonia had their own newspaper, called 'Säde' or 'Spark'. I even have vague memories of attending their young correspondents’ school, where we were taught how to write newspaper articles. As it happened, I never became a journalist after all. The few pieces I’ve written for newspapers are outnumbered by academic articles, and I’m not sure how helpful my early journalism masterclasses have been.

However, the newspaper had a section called 'Kati köök' or 'Cathy’s kitchen', which published easy and childfriendly recipes. One of them was for small cheesy mouthfuls called 'küprukad'. There’s no such word in Estonian, really, it’s a combination of 'küpsised' (alias cookies) and 'pirukad' (alias pirogi). I guess the editor couldn’t decide which ones these cheesy mouthfuls are. I remember making these on quite a few occasions back then...

I made them again a short while ago. Cannot really give a recipe, as it uses a special pancake mixture from Estonia (flour, sugar, milk powder, whey powder, baking soda, citric acid, salt, egg powder) and I have no clue what would be the equivalent brand abroad. But you mix 500 ml of pancake mixture, 250 grams of butter and 250 grams of ricotta or quark into a dough, and after resting in a fridge, you divide it into 3, roll each into a thin circle and divide into 16 sectors. You then put a piece of cheese onto the wider end and roll each into a small crescent. And then bake them golden in the oven. I like the way how the cheese disappears into the thin air, sorry, into the surrounding dough (as well as escaping the pastries, of course) (look at the last picture here to see what I mean).

Küprukate retsept

NB! Proper blogging - i.e. with nice pictures and delicious recipes - will resume in a fortnight or so. For the last few weeks I've been staying with various friends in Edinburgh, and haven't cooked at all (cutting tomatoes, cucumbers and feta cheese into chunks doesn't count as cooking, neither does microwaving soups, I'm afraid). Two more weeks to go before my big move, and I cannot wait to start cooking & blogging properly again:)
Posted by Pille at 8:32 pm 5 comments: Labels: Cuisine: Estonian, Recipes: Cheese, Recipes: Pizzas/Pies/Quiches, Recipes: Vegetarian
