Tasty apple and oat morsels that don't look much, but taste wonderful

Disclosure: I was sent a free review copy of the Green Market Baking Book: 100 Delicious Recipes for Naturally Sweet and Savory Treats by the publishers. A proper book review is yet to come, but here I sing praises to one little recipe from that book - apple oat pecan drops (page 121). These soft oat cookies (or morsels) don't look much, but I've made them no less than three times during the last week. As pecans are prohibitively expensive - and hard to come by - over here, I've used chopped almonds instead. I love them - they're soft, yet ever so slightly chewy, naturally sweet (apple! raisins!), healthy (no added sugar and virtually fat-free), very simple and quick to make, vegan, and rather addictive. I baked them last Friday, just to try a recipe from the book, then made another batch to take along to a a pop-up apple cake café on Saturday (the first person to try them bought 20!), and then another batch to a little village fête yesterday - and I will certainly make them again soon.

Apple and oat drops
(Õuna-kaerahelbeampsud)
Makes about 25-30 tasty morsels



1,5 cups rolled oats (about 350 ml or 130 grams)
1 Tbsp whole wheat flour or spelt flour
2 large apples, coarsely grated
1 Tbsp mild oil (I used rapeseed)
0.5 tsp vanilla extract or 1 tsp vanilla sugar
4-5 Tbsp (hot) water
0.5 cup small seedless raisins or currants (about 75 g)
4 Tbsp chopped walnuts, pecans or almonds

Preheat the oven to 350 F / 180 C.
Using a fork, mix together oats, flour, apples, oil, vanilla and water. Mix in the raisins and the nuts. Let the mixture sit for 15 minutes.
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Drop the batter onto the baking sheet by the spoonful (either a heaped teaspoonful or a scant tablespoonful).
Bake in the middle of the preheated oven for about 15 minutes, until the morsels are light golden brown.
Cool a little, then enjoy!

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Dangerously moreish (frozen) Oreo brownie bites

To be fair, these should be called Domino brownies, as I used Domino cookies, the Finnish equivalent of Oreo sandwich cookies. But if I'd call them Domino brownies, most of you would expect something like this as opposed to the cute brownie bite above. Also, most of my American readers (that's about 2/3 of all readers of Nami-Nami) don't have access to Domino cookies anyway, and could use more familiar Oreo ones for the same result.

Now, the frozen bit. I first read about frozen brownies a while ago, but dismissed the whole idea. Who likes frozen cakes anyway? They'd be cold and hard and utterly unpleasant, right? Or that what I thought. On the other hand, I've thrown away quite a few very good brownie pieces during my lifetime, just because I forgot them on the countertop for a day too long and they became dry and boring. That's not happening any more, as I've discovered - and totally fallen for - the joys of frozen brownies. You see, a good brownie, made with lots of butter, sugar, chocolate and just a little flour - and, most importantly, NOT overbaked - is absolutely wonderful eaten straight from the freezer - cooling, delicious and almost thick ice-cream-like. I've been cutting the brownies into relatively small pieces after cooling, and we've been nibbling through two batches of those frozen brownie bites during the last week already. Not just the three of us, of course, but with some help from our Scottish friends, grandparents, nephews and various babysitters :)

Estonian summer has been warm and sunny this year (again), and a frozen chocolate brownie is just what you might need to cool yourself a little..

The idea for putting chopped cookies into my brownies is from Ina Garten (here's her recipe for outrageous Oreo crunch brownies), but I used my old and trusted brownie recipe as a basis. Here's my version, that even my non-chocoholic-K. loves.

Have you been freezing your brownies? Do you like them or hate them?

Domino or Oreo brownie bites
(Domino-brownie koogikesed)
For a 10 inch/24 cm square baking tin

200 g unsalted butter
200 g dark chocolate, coarsely chopped (I used Callebaut bittersweet chocolate couverture chips)
3 eggs (size M or L)
200 g caster sugar
100 g plain flour
0.5 tsp fine salt
0.5 tsp vanilla extract
15-20 Domino or Oreo cookies, roughly chopped

Line a 10 in/24 cm square baking dish with parchment paper. Heat the oven to 170˚C/350F.
Place a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of simmering water. Add butter and chocolate and heat, stirring, until chocolate is melted and the mixture is smooth. Allow to cool slightly.
Whisk eggs, vanilla and sugar in a large bowl. Fold in the chocolate mixture.
Stir in the flour, salt and cookies, stir until combined.
Pour batter into the prepared baking pan and smooth top with a spatula.
Bake for about 30 minutes, until the brownie looks dry on top, but is still nicely moist inside.

When you want to serve your brownie warm, then cool a little and cut into big squares (9, perhaps?), serve alongside a big scoop of vanilla ice cream.

For frozen brownie bites, cool completely, then cut into small squares or rectangles and place into a freezer box. Enjoy from frozen.

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Macaroni & Cheese a la Nancy Reagan

I cannot remember where exactly I got this recipe from (the Internet is a wide, wide world), but apparently that's the way Nancy Reagan would make mac'n'cheese for her hubby. Please, please don't read any politics into this choice of recipe :) - it appealed to me because of its simplicity. It's a good mac'n'cheese recipe for those moments when you're craving something simple and comforting, but haven't got many eggs in your fridge nor bacon nor cream.

As you can see from the picture below, then I've combined it with some Georgian creamy & herby mushrooms. They worked together like a dream.

What's your favourite macaroni & cheese recipe and do you eat it as it is or as a side dish?

Nancy Reagan's Macaroni & Cheese
(Reaganite makaroni-juustuvorm)



250 g small pasta (f.ex. elbow pasta)
water & salt, for boiling pasta
1 tsp butter
1 large egg
250 ml (one cup) of milk
1 tsp mustard powder/dry mustard
1 tsp finely ground sea salt
200-250 g grated cheese

Cook pasta al dente, drain (keep a spoonful of the cooking water for later). Stir in the butter and whisked egg, then transfer into a buttered round gratin dish.
Mix mustard powder, salt and a spoonful of hot pasta-cooking water, then stir in the milk and about 3/4 of the grated cheese. Pour over the pasta in the gratin dish. Toss a little, then sprinkle the rest of the cheese on top.
Bake in a pre-heated 170 C/350 F oven for about 45 minutes, until the custard is set and cheese lovely golden.

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American Apple Pie

This is a very American apple pie - very rich, very high, and also very delicious. I had seen them popping up in various American food blogs and finally tried out my own version last year. It's quite unlike any of the typical apple cakes and pies we see here in Estonia, and thus providing a nice change to me, my family and friends.

American Apple Pie
(Ameerika õunapirukas)



Pastry:
300 g plain flour
1 Tbsp (demerara) sugar
1 tsp salt
200 g cold butter
4 Tbsp cold water

Filling:
1 kg cooking apples (e.g. something not too sweet or too soft)
3 Tbsp plain flour
100 g caster sugar
0.25 tsp ground allspice
0.25 tsp ground nutmeg
0.5 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla sugar
2 Tbsp cognac or brandy

Egg wash:
1 egg + 2 tsp water, whisked

Start with the pastry. Put flour, salt and sugar into the bowl of the food processor, then add cold cubed butter and blitz until you've got fine crumbs. Add about 4 Tbsp cold water and process once again. (Avoid overworking your pastry, as it'll result in hard cake crust).
Divide into two, press into flat discs, and place into the fridge for at least half an hour.
Meanwhile peel and core the apples, cut into thin slices or wedges.
Take a large bowl, mix flour, sugar, cinnamon, allspice, vanilla and nutmeg. Add the brandy and stir gently.

Take the pastry discs out of the fridge and roll both of them into a circle (about 28 cm in diameter). Line a 24 cm fluted pie dish with the pastry. Top with apple slices, piling them high in the middle. Top with the other pastry disc, pressing the edges tightly together. (If you wish, you can decorate the top disc with pastry leaves and such like).

Brush with an egg wash. Bake in the middle of a pre-heated 180 C oven for about 40 minutes, until the apples are soft and the pie is lovely golden brown.

Cool a little before serving.

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Snickerdoodles - nutmeg cookies rolled in cinnamon sugar

I'm not the first blogger to write about Snickerdoodles (SmittenKitchen, EggBeater, Pinch My Salt, Andrea Meyers have all beat me to it), but I love the photo I made, so I want to blog about them as well :) Additionally, my recipe uses metric measures, making it more useful for a lot of Internet-users out there ;)

I don't know whom to credit for the recipe. All the cookbooks I consulted - be it Nigella Lawson, Rachel Allen or someone less famous - had almost exact recipe, almost verbatim, and mine is a combination of quite a few of them. The only changes I made was making my cookies a wee bit smaller. I also seems to me that the photos of Snickerdoodle cookies in the British food magazines and cookbooks depict cookies that are slightly rounder (as opposed to the very thin and flat ones in American foodblogs and cookbooks).

These cookies keep for a week in a air-tight cookie jar.

Snickerdoodles
(Snickerdoodles-muskaatküpsised)
Makes about 3 dozen cookies (2 cookie sheets)



250 g plain flour
0.5 tsp grated nutmeg
1 tsp baking powder
a pinch of salt
125 g unsalted butter, softened
100 g caster sugar
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla extract

Cinnamon sugar:
2 Tbsp caster sugar
1 Tsbp ground cinnamon

Preheat the oven to 180 C/370 F.

Mix flour, nutmeg, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl.
Cream egg and sugar until pale and fluffy, whisk in the egg and vanilla extract. Fold in the dry ingredients and press into a neat dough ball.
Mix cinnamon sugar ingredients in a small shallow bowl.
Take small walnut-sized pieces of cookie down and roll them into small balls (I was diligent enough to weigh that each dough ball measured 12-14 grams :)). Roll each ball in cinnamon sugar until covered, then place onto a lined baking sheet, leaving about 3 cm between cookies.
Flatten the cookies lightly with the palm of your hand or by pressing with the fork.
Bake in the pre-heated 180 C oven for about 12-15 minutes, until cookies are light golden brown.
Remove from the oven, leave to cool for a couple of minutes, then transfer onto a wire rack to cool.

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Eggnog Recipe

After reading about the popular American Christmas tipple, eggnog, for years, I finally took the plunge and made some last weekend. We loved it, and I'm probably making another batch tonight for tomorrow's Christmas Eve dinner, and then another one for the New Year's Eve party. The recipe below is based on Melissa's and Elise's recipes, and make an excellent Christmas-time drink.

Eggnog
(Eggnogi jõulujook)
1 litre (serves about 6)

4 large eggyolks
100 g caster sugar
500 ml milk (2 cups)
1 vanilla pod
1 cinnamon stick
250 ml whipping cream
2 Tbsp bourbon whisky
2 Tbsp dark rum

freshly grated nutmeg, to serve

In a large bowl, whisk egg yolks until frothy, then slowly beat in the sugar, whisking until fluffy.
Combine milk, cinnamon stick and vanilla pod (halved lengthwise) in a thick-bottomed saucepan. Slowly heat mixture on medium heat until it is steaming hot. Do not boil! (If you're not in a hurry, then remove the saucepan from the heat and let infuse for 30 minutes. Slowly reheat again before proceeding).
Temper the eggs by slowly adding ladlefuls of hot milk mixture into the eggs, whisking constantly. Pour the mixture back into the saucepan.
Cook on medium heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, until it begins to thicken slightly, and coats the back of the spoon (candy thermometer should show 71C). Do not allow the mixture to boil, or the heat will curdle the egg yolks!
Remove from heat and immediately stir in the lukewarm cream (this will bring the temperature down and keep it from curdling).
Remove the vanilla pod and cinnamon stick. Cool until lukewarm, then stir in the bourbon and rum.
Chill before serving. NB! Grate some nutmeg on each serving!!

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Thanksgiving in Estonia: baking a pumpkin pie without Crisco and canned pumpkin

A selection of pumpkins at Tallinn Central Market, September 2007

Last week I got an email from a young American women who had recently moved to a small town in South-West Estonia. She wants to host a Thanksgiving dinner to her family and local friends, but didn't know where to get a whole turkey (not the most popular poultry bird here in Estonia) nor did she had a recipe for pumpkin pie that didn't use canned pumpkin and Crisco. I promised to post a recipe for an "Estonian" version of the American pumpkin pie, using the widely available yellow pumpkin, just like the one pictured above on the left.

This is for you, Laura W. :)

Pumpkin Pie
(Ameerika kõrvitsapirukas)
Serves 10



For the pie crust:
175 g plain flour
2 Tbsp sugar
125 g butter
1 egg yolk

Filling:
300 g coarsely chopped yellow pumpkin
2 eggs
175 g caster sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp powdered ginger
a pinch of salt
2 Tbsp plain flour
200 ml whipping cream (35%)

For serving:
whipped cream and cinnamon

Make the pie crust first, by mixing flour, sugar and butter with a knife until crumbs for. Add egg yolk and knead until the pastry forms a ball. Line a 24-26 cm pie dish with the pastry (either rolling the pastry and transferring to the pie dish, or simply pressing it into the dish with your fingers). Place to the fridge for 30 minutes to relax.
Place cubed pumpkin into a small saucepan, pour over enough water just to cover. Add a pinch of salt and bring to the boil. Simmer for 8-10 minutes, until the pumpkin is soft. Drain thoroughly!!! Cool a little, then pureé with a blender.
Whisk the eggs slightly, then mix with cooled pumpkin alongside with other ingredients.
Pour the filling onto the pie crust.
Bake in the lower part of a 200 C / 400 F oven for 40-50 minutes, until the filling is golden brown and almost set.
Cool completely before serving with some whipped cream and a dusting of cinnamon.

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My favourite cheesecake recipe

Manhattan cheesecake with strawberry, mint and balsamic vinegar salsa

I just realised that I haven't shared my favourite cheesecake recipe with you. This needs to be corrected a.s.a.p., as I've told some of my Edinburgh friends that they'll find the recipe on the blog. The recipe is originally from a decade-old issue of BBC Good Food, but I've tweaked and changed both the ingredients and timings over the years. Lovers of oh-so-sweet cheesecakes out there - beware - this is a rather unsweet cheesecake. Just how I like it. It's also not as high/tall as some of the cheesecakes I saw in the US last summer - but again, I've never been a huge fan of tower-high cakes myself.

What's your favourite cheesecake? Feel free to leave a link to the blog post/recipe in the comments.

Manhattan Cheesecake
(Manhattani toorjuustukook)
Serves 8

Base:
8 Digestive biscuits, crushed (I use LU brand, each cookie weighs ca 14 g)
2 Tbsp sugar
50 g unsalted butter, melted

Filling:
400 g full-fat Philadelphia cream cheese, at room temperature
75 g sugar caster
2 large eggs
0.5 tsp vanilla extract

Top layer:
250 g sour cream
2 Tbsp caster sugar
0.5 tsp vanilla extract

Pre-heat the oven to 350 F/180 C.

Line the base of a 20-23 cm springform tin with a baking paper.

Crush the Digestive biscuits finely, mix with sugar and melted butter. Press the biscuit mixture onto the base of the cake tin. Place into the fridge for 10 minutes.

To make the filling, soften the cream cheese in a bowl, add other ingredients. Mix thoroughly with a wooden spoon, or blend for a few minutes, using an electric mixer (I like to do the latter, as it results in a lighter and creamier cheesecake filling).

Pour over the biscuit base and bake in the middle of a preheated 350F/180C oven for 25-30 minutes, until the filling is more or less set (it shouldn't wobble too much, when you lightly shake the cake tin).

Remove from the oven and cool for 20 minutes.

Turn the heat up to 230C/450F.

Mix sour cream, sugar and vanilla extract, then gently spoon onto the cooled cake. Return to the oven for 5-7 minutes, to 'dry out' the sour cream layer a little.

Remove from the oven and cool completely before serving.

* The cheesecake on the photo is baked in a 20 cm cake tin, and is 3,5 cm high.

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