Saucy Asian Meatballs recipe

There was a day in early December last year that involved a small round turning table, a batch of beautifully styled Saucy Asian Meatballs from Ali's Gimme Some Oven blog, one of my favourite white serving plates, our beautiful white and heavy cotton living room curtains, and our almost-two-year-old son Aksel. I don't want to go into details, but let me assure you that when you immediately remove those curtains and tuck them immediately into your washing machine, the sticky sauce consisting of hoisin sauce and dark soy sauce does wash off. Eventually.

And luckily, the recipe makes loads. So even if you have to throw half of the saucy meatballs away, as the tiny shards of your favourite serving plate and white sesame seeds are almost indistinguishable from each other, and we're not really encouraging eating stuff off the floor in our household anyway, then you still have enough to eat - and photograph - as well.

These have a pretty strong flavour, so they're more for nibbling than consuming in huge quantities.

Saucy Asian Meatballs* 
(Aasia lihapallid) 
Source: Gimme Some Oven
Serves about 8



Meatballs:
1 kg mince (I used a mixture of beef and pork)
2 tsp sesame oil
250 ml (1 cup) panko breadcrumbs
1 tsp ground ginger
2 eggs
1 Tbsp grated garlic
100 ml / 7 Tbsp finely chopped scallions/spring onions
0.5 tsp salt

Sauce:
175 ml hoisin sauce
4 Tbsp rice vinegar
2 Tbsp soy sauce
2 tsp grated garlic
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp sesame oil

Garnish:
white sesame seeds
finely chopped scallions/spring onions

Preheat oven to 200C/400F.

Mix together the meatball ingredients in a big bowl. Shape into balls about 3 cm (just over 1 inch). Place onto a greased baking sheet. Bake for 12-15 minutes, or until meatballs are golden brown and cooked through.

Meanwhile, whisk together all the sauce ingredients in a small bowl until well blended.

Once the meatballs are cooked, dip them into the sauce until covered.

Sprinkle with sesame seeds and scallions/spring onions and serve warm.

* I have to thank Estonian food blogger Juta, who reminded me about these meatballs earlier today :)

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Beet deviled eggs aka Beetroot devilled eggs for Easter brunch

Beet-pickled eggs have made quite a few appearances here on Nami-Nami. First in April 2007, then again in March 2008, but in a marbled form. The ruby eggs were present on our Easter brunch in 2009, and ruby-red quail eggs were present on our Easter brunch in 2012. Probably in 2010 and 2011 as well, I just forgot to take a photo of them. If you read Estonian, then you saw them in my recipe column in the March 2013 issue of Kodu ja Aed ("Home and Garden") magazine as well:


Photo by Juta Kübarsepp for the March 2013 issue of Kodu ja Aed

Yet it had never occurred to me to make deviled beet eggs until I came across this post on The Kitchn (well, I actually first spotted the recipe on Pinterest, where I promptly pinned this to my Beautiful Beet Recipes board). I had to make them.

Deviled beet eggs/Beet deviled eggs/Ruby eggs/Beetroot devilled eggs

Step 1: Simple beetroot eggs:
free range and/or organic eggs
beetroot juice/beet juice
salt

First you need to hard-boil some eggs. There are several "schools" of boiling eggs, but here's what I do. Place the required number of eggs in a single layer in your saucepan. Pour over boiling water to cover. Set the timer at 8 minutes (I use large eggs, 7 is enough for smaller eggs) and simmer over moderate heat.  Once the timer goes off, rinse the eggs under a cold running water for a few minutes to cool them down.

Note that you don't want  to overcook your eggs, as this results in those unsightly green-blue rings around the egg yolk, caused by sulphur compounds. You can avoid those by not overcooking your eggs in the first place and quickly cooling them down in cold water after cooking. 

When cool enough to handle, peel the eggs carefully. Place in a single layer in a bowl, pour over the beetroot juice, season with a bit of salt. Cover, place into the fridge and leave to marinate for about 3 hours. (Longer, if you want, but I wanted just a thin ruby-red beetroot effect this time).

If you wish, you can serve the eggs just like this, halved - look at that gorgeous yellow yolk! I cut off a thin slice from the base of each egg half - this way they sit neatly on the plate and don't slide all over the place or fall over.


Hey, I still have that chicken!

Step 2: Stuffed beetroot eggs/Deviled beet eggs:

If you want to make devilled beetroot eggs, then halve the eggs and gently scoop out the egg yolks. Make your favourite devilled egg mixture. My regular "Estonian deviled eggs" include some mustard, butter and mayonnaise. However, knowing the affinity of beets and horseradish, I used egg yolks, butter, mayonnaise, some strong horseradish and finely chopped dill for the filling. Worked like a treat!



To be more precise, then that's what I did. Mash the egg yolks and butter (I grate the butter and egg yolks finely, but you can also press them both through a sieve). Stir in the mayonnaise and season with salt and horseradish. Mix in the dill.
Spoon onto the egg halves or use an icing bag with a serrated tip and fill the eggs.

Enjoy! You can make these a few hours in advance, but keep them in the fridge until serving then.

More ruby egg/beetroot egg/beet egg recipes:
Perfect hard-boiled ruby eggs by Alanna @ A Veggie Venture
Beet-pickled deviled eggs by Leela @ The Kitchn
Beetroot-pickled eggs by Allegra McEvedy @ The Guardian
Beet pickled eggs with fennel @ Not Without Salt
Beet pickled deviled eggs by Paula @ Bell'Alimento
Pink deviled eggs by Denise @ Chez Us
Beet deviled eggs by Angie @ Eclectic Recipes
Pickled deviled eggs by Kelly @ Just A Taste
Beet-pickled eggs @ Cookistry

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Canapés with mustard-lemon-dill butter and beets

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.

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Shrimp salad on rye appetizers

Christmas and New Year, although just a scant week apart, seem to be different seasons altogether for our little family here in Estonia. Throughout December and until Christmas, we eat black pudding and sauerkraut and pork roasts - the traditional Christmas fare - a lot. We'll start eating Christmassy food early, weeks before Christmas. You see, you need to identify the best brand of black pudding (aka blood sausages) at the market each year, so you start sampling in mid-November already. Sauerkraut, on the other hand, is the seasonal vegetable at this time of the year, so we eat a lot of that as well. When the Christmas comes, we still eat the traditional Christmas fare and enjoy it.

And then, suddenly, I've had enough. For the New Year's Eve I want to hear nothing about the heavy winter stuff, and am serving various elegant and light canapés instead (and even if there is some black pudding on the table, it's hidden in puff pastry pinwheels or black pudding profiteroles).

Here's a little and light and elegant canapé I'm planning to serve this time*. Not so dissimilar to Toast Skagen or this Swedish shrimp salad, but being served on small crisp dark rye bread slices, it's a a great and festive mouthful. Oh, and once we are talking about rye bread appetizers - these smoked salmon mousse canapés are wonderful, too!

* And yes, of course we are hosting a big New Year's Eve bash this year as well. The logistics of getting three kids to a party at a friends' house is too much to bear just now, so we are being lazy and staying at home, asking dear friends to come over instead :))

Shrimp salad on rye bread
(Krevetisalat rukkileivaviiludel)
Makes about 16

 


250 grams cooked and peeled shrimps
2 Tbsp finely chopped red onion
1 Tbsp finely chopped fresh dill
100 g good-quality mayonnaise
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
lemon juice, to taste

To serve:
8 slices of dark rye bread

If using frozen shrimps, defrost them and drain thoroughly (I prefer those in brine, which are more expensive but easier to use). If you wish, chop them coarsely. Mix with onion and dill, then add the mayonnaise. Season to taste with salt, pepper and lemon juice.
Toast the rye bread slices, then cut into triangles or squares or small rounds. Spoon shrimp salad on top.
Garnish with some dill and serve.

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Puff pastry pinwheels with black pudding and lingonberry jam

Black pudding (aka blood sausages) with lingonberry jam are one of the staples on Estonian Christmas table and I like using these two elements in other dishes as well. Here's a small pastry that I've been baking for 5 years already. The initial idea isn't mine. Back in November 2008 I took part at a two-day cooking course ("Modern Christmas menu") at one of the vocational training schools here in Tallinn, and we had a brain-storming session with other participants trying to come up with new twists of old favourites. One of the other participants mentioned using black pudding and lingonberries for making small pastries - I cannot remember any longer, if she was talking about something she has made already or something that could be made, neither can I remember if she was talking about the idea in general or making puff pastry pinwheels in particular. In any case, I've been rolling puff pastry sheets with crumbled black pudding and lingonberry jam and some dried marjoram ever since (here's a photo evidence from November 2008, another one from December 2008 and here's one from October 2010).

So if you've got some black pudding and lingonberry jam left over after the Christmas feast, then you can use these two to make some delightful puff pastry pinwheels. And let your guests guess what's inside - most of them seem to think it's raisins ;)

Puff pastry pinwheels with black pudding and lingonberries
(Lehttainarullid verivorsti ja pohlamoosiga)



puff pastry - either regular or yeasted puff pastry
lingonberry jam
dried marjoram (oregano will do as well)
black pudding

For brushing:
egg, whisked with some water

Roll out the puff pastry into a rectangle about 3-4 mm thick.
Spread with a thin layer of lingonberry jam, then scatter the crumbled black pudding on top. Sprinkle with some dried marjoram.
Roll tightly, starting from the longer end, into a long "sausage". Cut into 2 cm lengths. Place into paper muffin cups and transfer onto a cooking sheet.
Brush with eggwash and bake in a pre-heated 225C/435F for 10-15 minutes, until the pinwheels are nicely golden brown.

Serve either warm or at room temperature.

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

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Crispy rye bread canapés with cream cheese and smoked salmon

I did a bit of catering on Saturday for a group of friends*, and this smoked salmon and cream cheese paté/spread on crispy rye bread buttons was one of the dishes I brought along. It disappeared very quickly and I wish I had made a double batch - it's an excellent nibble indeed - savoury (smoked salmon), creamy (cream  cheese), crispy (rye bread buttons), fresh (cucumber slices). I also think the contrasting colours look very pretty.

Although I love this spread on crispy rye bread buttons, it works also beautifully with sliced (and toasted) ciabatta or baguette, of course. Here's a photo from last June:


Cream cheese and smoked salmon paté
(Toorjuustu-suitsulõhepasteet)
Makes about a cup

100 g good-quality cold smoked salmon
150 g cream cheese, at room temperature
a small bunch of dill
lemon juice, to taste
freshly ground black pepper, to taste

To garnish:
cucumber or lemon slices
fresh dill or chives
finely grated lemon zest

Chop the smoked salmon into small chunks, place into the food processor together with the cream cheese. Add some lemon juice for seasoning and the dill. Process until smooth.
Taste for seasoning - add more lemon juice and season with pepper.

If you're serving this with crispy rye bread buttons, then you need some sliced rye bread (I like a very dark bread here and used "Fazeri must leib"). Cut out small squares or circles and toast them in a preheated 200 C/400 F oven for about 6-7 minutes, until crispy. Cool, then spoon the cream cheese and smoked salmon paté on top and garnish before serving.

You can make the paté up to a day in advance, but don't spread it on toasted rye bread until up to an hour before serving, or you lose the crispiness.

* The other two dishes were tiny spicy chorizo profiteroles and an Estonian crumb cake, cut into tiny slices.

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The best ever marinated olives (aceitunas aliñadas)

Well, I don't actually know if that title holds true, but when I made these olives recently, then my dear K stated that these are better than anything he's ever had before (read: shop-bought marinated olives). I loved them, too.

I had few friends over for a tapas night recently, and wanted to serve aceitunas aliñadas. I browsed tens of recipes for Spanish-style marinated olives, and finally came up with this version. I had run out of sherry vinegar, so used a mixture of Spanish red wine vinegar and some dry sherry instead, but feel free to use sherry vinegar instead. As far as the olives are concerned, try to find Spanish ones that are unstoned - these have much more flavour compared to the stoned olives. I used Spanish hojiblanca olives, but arbequina, sevillano, manzanilla (f. ex. Campo Real), arauco would all work well, too.

These last for a week in a fridge, if not longer.


PS If you've got a favourite marinated olives recipe, I'd love to hear about it! Feel free to leave a link to your recipe in the comments section.

Marinated olives, Spanish style
(Marineeritud oliivid)
Serves four to six as part of a tapas table

about 200-250 g olives (in brine, drained weight)
1 Tbsp Spanish extra virgin olive oil
1 Tbsp sherry vinegar (or red wine viner + 1 Tbsp sherry)
1 tsp coriander seeds, crushed in a mortar
1 thyme sprig, leaves only
1 rosemary sprig, leaves only
0.5 tsp dried red chilly flakes
1 or 2 garlic cloves, peeled and thinly sliced

Place the drained olives into a bowl, add the rest of the ingredients and stir.
Leave to macerate for at least couple of hours before serving.

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Summer crostini with feta cheese and strawberries

Here's a truly summery crostini from one of my favourite food magazines, Swedish Lantliv Mat & Vin. I'm really sorry I got the magazine issue and came across the recipe just last week, as the Estonian strawberry season has come to an end. I can just imagine how lovely it would have tasted with just-picked sun-kissed strawberries as opposed to those much less pleasant imported ones. Still, these were wonderful and come highly recommended.

Crostini with feta cheese and strawberries
(Krõbesaiad maasika ja fetaga)



sourdough bread (ciabatta, baguette)
extra virgin olive oil
feta cheese
strawberries
fresh basil leaves
freshly ground black pepper

Slice the bread thinly, halve the slices, if necessary. Brush or drizzle with a little bit of oil and toast in a pre-heated 220C/450F oven until golden and crisp.
Slice the cheese, divide the cheese slices on hot bread.
Garnish with sliced strawberries and basil leave, grind some black pepper on top.
Serve.

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Crostini with radishes and anchovy butter

Here's a little something that I served at my birthday back in April. I spotted the recipe in Anne Rosso's Flickr photostream, and knew immediately that it'd go down well with my family and friends. I was correct :) The recipe is originally from Bon Appétit (Sliced baguette with radishes and anchovy butter). If you like the umami-note* that a good oil-preserved anchovy lends, then I heartily recommend this - super-easy to make and it looks pretty elegant.

Crostini with radishes and anchovy butter
(Krõbesaiad anšoovisevõi ja krõmpsuvate redistega)
Source: Bon Appétit (April 2011)
Makes about 20 canapés

1 baguette or ciabatta

Anchovy butter:
100 g butter, at room temperature
2 to 3 anchovy fillets
2 Tbsp finely chopped fresh chives
sea salt flakes

Topping:
young radishes
fresh chives

If using ciabatta, then cut it into to and then into thin slices. If you're using baguette, just cut it into thin slices. Place the bread slices onto a baking sheet and bake in a 200 C/400 F oven for about 5 minutes. Turn the slices around and bake for another 5 minutes, until the bread slices are slightly golden on edges. Cool.

Meanwhile, make the anchovy butter. Chop the anchovy fillets finely, cut chives into very short lengths. Mix anchovy and chives into the softened butter, add some sea salt flakes for extra flavour.

Spread the anchovy butter onto bread slices, garnish with thinly slices radishes and fresh chive.

* Check out Melissa's early post on a topic of anchovy umami.

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Crostini with Västerbotten cheese

Another little recipe using the wonderful Swedish Västerbotten cheese. The recipe is Swedish as well, from a relatively new food magazine Lantliv Mat & Vin that K. brings me back from Sweden every now and then. You should use whitefish roe or löjrom ideally. Unfortunately it's difficult to track down in Estonia, so I had to settle for dyed herring roe instead.

Crostini with Västerbotten cheese cream and whitefish roe
(Krõbesaiad Västerbotteni juustukreemi ja siiamarjaga)
Source: Lantliv Mat & Vin 4/2010
Makes 12

12 thin slices of baguette
1 Tbsp butter
100 cream
100 ml grated Västerbotten cheese
100 g fish roe (preferably whitefish roe or löjrom)
freshly ground black pepper
fresh chives

Heat the butter on a frying pan, fry baguette slices lightly on both sides until golden. Cool.
Mix grated Västerbotten and cream cheese, spread on toasted bread slices.
Spoon the caviar on top, grind some black pepper over the cheese and garnish with chopped chives.

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Herbed Ricotta Bruschette

One of my newest cookbooks is How Easy Is That? by Ina Garten. It's the first Ina Garten's book in my extensive cookbook library and I love it (I noted that there are quite a few negative reviews on Amazon, but then I cannot compare this book to her five earlier ones). I've bookmarked probably every other recipe from it, and can vouch that her Roasted Shrimp Salad with Orange Mayonnaise is wonderful, and her tip to set the table with empty bowls and platters with post-it notes has already been tested twice and that indeed made the last minute preparations a lot less stressful.

These herbed ricotta bruschette(or bruschettas, if you want to Americanize the plural spelling) were at our table last night for a light Sunday evening snack. I was thrilled to use the chives from my own garden already! It's a slightly adapted version, using different amounts of herbs, and both ricotta and cottage cheese instead of just ricotta, but the idea is Ina's. It's a lovely option for a spring or summer snack.

Herbed Ricotta Bruschette
(Krõbesaiad ürdise ricottaseguga)
Makes 12

12 thick slices of ciabatta or some sourdough bread
1 whole garlic clove, cut in half
extra-virgin olive oil

Herbed ricotta:
250 g ricotta
200 g cottage cheese/farmer's cheese
2 Tbsp finely chopped scallions/spring onions
2 Tbsp finely chopped fresh dill
2 Tbsp finely chopped fresh chives
0.5 tsp sea salt
freshly ground black pepper

Combine the ricotta, scallions, herbs, salt and pepper. Set aside.
Heat a charcoal grill or a toaster or a gas grill.
When the grill is hot, drizzle the bread slices with olive oil and grill each side for about a minute or two, until lightly browned. Remove from the grill and rub each slice of bread with the cut side of the garlic clove.
Spoon some herbed ricotta mixture on top. Serve immediately.

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Quail eggs, dyed with beetroot

Another item I served at this year's Easter brunch. Same idea, but this time I used quail eggs and "pickled" them simply in grated boiled beetroot. They were adorable :)

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Savoury cream cheese balls with spiced sprats

Wait, I know what you're thinking! Those kama and mascarpone truffles again? Nope. I know they look similar, but today I'm blogging about little savoury delights I've adapted from an Estonian foodblogger Elis. Last Thursday the Republic of Estonia celebrated its 93rd anniversary and some of my girlfriends came over to celebrate the occasion - and also say hello to our little baby boy. When trying to think of Estonian nibbles to serve, I came across Elis' recipe for sprat and cream cheese balls and was sold at once. It's a play on a popular rye bread and sprat canapé, and I knew that my guests would love them. I was right - these went down a storm. I used slightly more cream cheese than in the original recipe.

I must warn you - unless you live in Estonia and have easy access to rye bread and spicy sprats ('vürtsikilu'), you won't be able to make it (though you can follow this recipe and make the spiced sprats yourself). But this might inspire you to try making something similar with anchovies or similar product that's more readily available in your part of the world.

Savory cream cheese balls with spiced sprats
(Kilupallid)

Makes about 20

100 g spiced sprats filets, finely chopped
150 g cream cheese, at room temperature
1 egg, boiled, peeled and finely chopped
3 Tbsp scallions/green onions, finely chopped
grated rye bread

Mix all ingredients (except rye bread) until combined (I used a wooden spoon, but food processor would work as well). Cover the mixture with a clingfilm and place into the fridge for 30 minutes.
Take small amounts of the cream cheese mixture and roll into small balls between your palms.
Roll in grated rye bread and place onto a serving platter.

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Delicious cheese popovers

Here's an easy and delightful popover recipe that I adapted from the September 2009 issue of The Gourmet - Mini Provolone popovers. These reminded me of gougerés, but the batter is even easier - not a choux pastry, but more like a Yorkshire pudding pastry. (Not that gougerés are difficult to do, but these were super-easy to throw together). Recommended! They're delightful as they are, but I can also imagine serving these alongside a simple soup instead of 'regular' bread rolls, and although these are best served hot, they'd disappear from a picnic basket or lunch box just as quickly.

I used a 24-cup mini-muffin pan, but you can also use a regular muffin pan, if you haven't got a mini one.

Mini cheese popovers
(Väikesed juustukohrud)
Makes 24 popovers

250 ml (1 cup) full-fat milk
2 large eggs
150 g plain flour (1 cup/250 ml)
1 Tbsp butter, melted
0.5 tsp salt
a pinch of black pepper
5 Tbsp coarsely grated strong cheese (I used Gouda)
2 Tbsp finely grated Parmesan cheese
2 Tbsp finely chopped dill or chives

Whisk together milk, eggs, flour, melted butter, salt, and pepper until smooth, then stir in cheeses and herbs. Chill 1 hour to allow batter to rest. (NB! You can make the batter 1 day ahead and keep chilled).
Preheat oven to 220°C/425°F with rack in upper third.
Butter muffin pan with some extra butter, then heat in oven until butter sizzles, about 2 minutes.
Gently stir batter, then divide among muffin cups (they will be about two-thirds full).
Bake until puffed and golden-brown, 18 to 20 minutes. Serve immediately.

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Lavash crackers

Lavash crackers are such an easy snack to make - all you need is a thin lavash bread and some toppings. Grated cheese is a popular choice, but various "sprinklers" work as well. I used a mix of seeds - and as you can see from the photo, also with tiny pieces of sun-dried tomatoes. I've stopped using the latter, as they burn easily and don't stick have as easily.

Lavash crackers
(Lavašikrõpsud)
Serves a small crowd

thin lavash
mayonnaise
sea salt flakes
white sesame seeds
nigella seeds
paprika powder

Spread a thin layer of mayonnaise on the lavash, sprinkle with seeds, salt flakes and paprika powder. Using your kitchen scissors, cut the lavash into bite-sized pieces.
Place on a large baking sheet and bake in a pre-heated 200 C/400 F oven until the lavash pieces are crisp and golden on edges. Keep an eye on the crackers, as they can burn easily!

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Smoked herring and rye bread canapés

I'll be posting some Estonian recipes during this week, and there's a good reason for that. I got an email from a reader on the other side of the world (Down Under, actually) today, who is organising a surprise party to an Estonian friend this weekend. She'll be using various Estonian recipes I've posted here on Nami-Nami over the last five years, but I've promised to give her some more food tips and ideas, so she can choose.

Here's a smoked fish and rye bread appetizer that I made couple of months ago. While it is not exclusively Estonian (any Finnish or Swedish foodblogger could claim it to be 'theirs', I imagine), it certainly tasted very Estonian to me :)

I used smoked herring, but smoked mackerel would work as well.

Smoked herring canapés
(Suitsuheeringasuupisted)
makes about 12 canapés

6 slices dark rye bread (seeded is fine)
butter, for spreading
3-4 salad potatoes, boiled and peeled
2 smoked herring fillets
100 g thick sour cream (30%)
freshly ground black pepper
fresh chives or green onions, chopped

Butter the bread slices and cut into 2 or 4 pieces, depending on the sice of the bread.
Cut the potato into 5 mm slices, place onto bread slices.
Remove the skin from the fish fillets, cut the fish into 2 cm wide pieces. Place on potatoes.
Spoon a dollop of sour cream onto each canapé, then sprinkle some freshly ground pepper on top and garnish with a piece of chive or green onion.

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Dulce de Membrillo, 2010

I made a large batch of the quince paste, Dulce de Membrillo, last week. I used the same same old recipe that I've used previously and really liked the result. Rather conveniently, one local speciality store had a 9-month old Manchego cheese on offer last week, so we got to sample plenty of Membrillo the way you're supposed to - a slice of salty and crumbly Manchego cheese with a slice of sweet and sticky Membrillo paste (aka Manchego con Membrillo).

Highly recommended.



Eestikeelne küdooniamarmelaadi retsept on siin. Küdooniad ehk aivad on müügil suurematel turgudel (nt Tallinna Keskturg).

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Quail eggs with whitefish roe

Quail eggs, again :) As I've said on several occasions before, I love quail eggs in all their disguises - dipped into Pimentón de la Vera or Egyptian dukkah seed mixture, as a component in a "mushroom canapé", as topping on an Estonian wild mushroom crostini, as a filling inside salmon kulebyaka, or as a garnish on top of Estonian seven-layer salad or smoked salmon and spinach salad. This particular nibble has been briefly mentioned before (see here), but I've made them again and took a much better photo this time :)

Here's the "recipe":

Cut the top off boiled quail eggs, spoon some whitefish (or other fish) roe on top and seat the quail eggs on a bed of finely chopped dill. Serve.

(Vutimunad siiamarjaga)

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Chantarelle bruschetta

I've blogged about serving fried chantarelles on toast two years ago, but as the chantarelle season has began here again and I've been eating fried chantarelle mushrooms several times a week, I decided to blog about them again. The summer lunch of boiled potatoes and fried chantarelles is a classic, a side "salad" of cottage cheese and fried chantarelles is another current favourite, as is this bruschetta-style small toast. Lovely with a glass of chilled white wine or beer on a summer afternoon!

I love pairing chantarelles with dillweed, but thyme or parsley would work as well, as would summer savory.

Chantarelle bruschette
(Krõbedad saiad praetud kukeseentega)
Serves four

8 slices of white bloomer or Italian style bread
olive oil and butter, for frying

Chantarelle topping:
olive oil and butter, for frying
1 small (red) onion, finely chopped
250 g small chantarelle mushrooms
1 small garlic clove, crushed
fresh dill, finely chopped
salt and pepper

Clean the mushrooms, halve or quarter the larger ones.
Heat some butter and oil on a frying pan. Add the onion and gently sauté for 5-7 minutes, until it starts to soften. Add the mushroomsn and fry for a few minutes, stirring occasionally.
Add the crushed garlic clove, season with salt and pepper. Finally stir in the dill.
Fry the bread slices in oil and butter until golden on both sides. Divide the mushrooms on the bread slices, sprinkle some sea salt flakes on top and serve.

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Tonnato, the versatile tuna mayonnaise

Vitello tonnato is a popular summer-time dish in Italy, originating in the 19th century Piedmont. Cold thin slices of cooked veal are topped with a creamy tuna and anchovy dressing. I love the classic version a lot, but the tuna mayonnaise is much more versatile. It's been a frequent visitor in our kitchen this spring, and I've given below the recipe I've come to love. I especially like it on top of crisp crostini slices, but it's also a good dressing for some left-over boiled eggs.

What's your favourite tonnato recipe and dish?

Crostini with tuna mayonnaise, garnished with caperberries (Suupisted tuunikalamajoneesiga):


Vitello tonnato aka cold veal slices with tuna mayonnaise (Vasikalihalõigud tuunikalamajoneesiga). That's the classic way of serving tonnato:



Uova tonnata or boiled eggs with tuna mayonnaise, garnished with some capers and lemon zest (Munad tuunikalamajoneesiga):


Tonnato aka Italian tuna mayonnaise
Serves 4

Note that I make my tonnato from scratch and not cheating by simply mixing mayonnaise with canned tuna :)



2 large egg yolks, at room temperature
2 anchovy fillets in oiled
juice of half or whole lemon
10 salted capers, rinsed and drained
1 shallot, finely chopped
freshly ground black pepper
150-200 ml mild olive oil
200 g good-quality tuna chunks in oil

Place egg yolks, capers, anchovy fillets, juice of half a lemon, chopped shallot and some black pepper into the bowl of a hand-held blender. Blend until you've got a thick paste of uniform consistency.
Add oil in a thin stream, still blending the mixture.
Finally add the tuna chunks and blitz a little bit more.
Taste for seasoning - add more pepper, lemon juice or perhaps salt.

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