Raspberry and vanilla friands with cacao nibs

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.

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CroydeB Backpack Competition

Here is a competition for you to win a CroydeB Backpack. The backpacks come in 4 different designs, 2 suitable for a boy and 2 suitable for a girl.

The backpacks have LEDs in them so that a child can be seen better.

They are priced at £24.99 each.

We will be reviewing the CroydeB Backpack soon so that everyone can see what we think of them.

To enter the competition please follow the steps in the Rafflecopter form below. For an extra entry go to Miracle Products Facebook Page and say "I want to win a CroydeB backpack with Here Comes Trouble" (make sure you tag us in the status too)

A winner will be chosen at random and emailed after 13th February 2012.




a Rafflecopter giveaway

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Sesame Honey Chicken

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.

NB For other Chinese recipes here on Nami-Nami, click here.

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.

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Pork tenderloin with leeks, raisins and warming spices

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.

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Stabilo Writing Products

We were sent some  Stabilo  products to review recently. We were sent some Stabilo Trio 2 in 1 pens, Stabilo Boss Mini Ocean Friends Highlighter pens and some Stabilio Woody 3 in 1 pencils.

Stabilo trio 2 in 1 pens are suitable for children aged 6 and over. They are the first double-ended pen from Stabilo. They have a fine tip for writing and sketching and a broad tip for coloring in.

Each pen has an ergonomic triangular grip zones on the ends to make them easier to hold.
The ink is washable, which is great news for mums like me who have boys like Callum whom are muck magnets and can make mess in an empty room or in the case of pens and paint get them everywhere.

The Stabilo 2 in 1 Trio are available in a set of 10 and are priced between £4 and £6 depending on where you purchase them from. They can be purchased from any good stationary retailer.

The Stabilo Boss Mini Ocean Friends Highlighter pens are based on the  classic Stabilo Boss Originals but in mini format. Each pen is printed with a motif on them - a picture of a underwater creature such as a turtle, shark or a crab. As you can see from the picture below the highlighters are really bright.

The Stabilo Boss Mini Ocean Friends Highlighter pens are available in a pack of 5 fluorescent colours. They are available to purchase for a limited time only and can be bought for between £3 and £4.50 depending on the retailer where you purchase them from. As they are mini they are great to keep in your bag for that just in case moment (lets face it we all have them occasionally - for me its the "do not forget" list of things to do!!) or for the students who are busy revising for exams they can be an extremely important aid to help remember important quotes or snippets of information.

The last item we were sent is the Stabilo Woody 3 in 1 pencils. These are a great product as they are really unique and unlike most products available at the minute.

They are a coloured pencil, watercolor and wax crayon all in one. They are ideal for little hands like James' as they are really chunky, which makes them easy to hold. They have XXL lead inside which is as thick as 8 standard coloured pencils and they are break proof which I think is a must for such products as I am forever finding broken crayons and pencils around our house which can be a nuisance. They also writes on most smooth surfaces such as glass, metal, and leather.

We love the  Stabilo  products and highly recommend them as they are great quality products at great prices. Most products are suitable for children from the age of 3 up, but please always ensure you read the labels first. We give Stabilo a rating of 4/5.

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What Does 2012 Have In Store For Us....

Today is officially the end of the Christmas period in our house, the decorations came down and the tree went back in its box. The walls are looking pretty bare too. Thankfully Nathan and Callum have gone back at school today as they have had enough of each others company now and are ready for a break - as am I.

There are a few things I am looking forward to this year:

1: The Olympics, I would love to go watch some of the running or equestrian events but sadly I didn't get tickets - I am however trying my hardest to win some. But more than anything even if I cant get to London I will see the Olympic Torch relay come through our town and local villages. It is something that both myself and the boys probably wont get to see again so will definitely not be missed by us. I will certainly be watching as many of the events on TV as the other half will allow too.

2: Booking my wedding -  Matthew and I have been together 6 years nearly and have spoken about getting married for the last 3 years but there is always something that comes along and gets in the way of us actually saving anything towards our big day. I am hoping that by the end of 2012 I will have a date set ready for 2013 or 2014 - so watch this space.

3. James starting nursery in September - this will be a huge thing for me as my last child will be going off into the big wide world, I am slightly scared by this and unsure what the future holds for me as a mum where all my boys are all at school - I want to get back to work but unsure what I actually want to do. I have my tourism management degree but I don't think this is where I want to be, having children has changed my outlook on life, I think over the next couple of months I need to have a really good think about it all.

4. A family holiday, we have never been away as a family of 5 and think we are definitely due a break away, need to start looking at them brochures I think.

5. An iPad or a Tablet not fussy as to which I get either, after reviewing the HTC Flyer I really need one for the apps like angry birds (like i have time to be playing on it I hear you cry)

Lastly I hope that 2012 sees my family healthy and happy these are the two most important things that I want and that are beyond my control. 2011 was a bit of a roller-coaster for us and has seen us share some amazing times as a family and also share a few lows. Things that I wish my children didn't have to experience yet, but have handled everything that life has thrown at them.

Heres to a very happy 2012!!

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New Year's Eve 2011 @ Nami-Nami

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 spiced sprats cream:


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!

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