Taleggio cheese and onion tart

Are you familiar with the Italian Taleggio cheese? Originally made in and named for Val Taleggio near the Swiss-Italian border, this soft cow's milk cheese has been described as

'a  mild stinky cheese, with a whiff of steamed broccoli, almonds and humid cellars' :D

There's a detailed blog post about Taleggio written by David Clark here. It's a beautifully melting cheese that's especially wonderful in various pies and tarts and quiches. I've used it quite often in my cooking, though never blogged about it before (however, there's a recipe for wild mushroom and Taleggio pie in my first cookbook). There are quite a few foodbloggers who have written about it, so you should not have any troubles finding recipes if you're interested (do try Anne's risotto with Taleggio, it's delicious!)

The recipe below is inspired by the British author Nigel Slater, but I've modified the quantities.

Taleggio and onion tart
(Sibulapirukas Taleggio juustuga)
Serves six

6 medium sized onions (or 2 huge salad onions)
50 g butter
500 g (yeasted) puff pastry
200 g Taleggion cheese
handful of fresh thyme

Peel the onions and cut into thin slices. Melt butter in a heavy saucepan, add onions and sauté over low heat for about half an hour, until onions are soft and silky and sticky.
Roll out the puff pastry to fit a small deep baking sheet (mine was 25x34 cm). Using a sharp knife, make an insertion about 2 cm from the edge of the pastry.
Spread the soft and sticky onions over the pastry, leaving the edges clean. Use the onion-flavour pan liquid to brush the pastry edges.
Cut the cheese into slices, dot over the onion filling. Sprinkle some thyme leaves on top.
Bake in a pre-heated 220 C oven for 15-20 minutes, until the pastry is risen and golden, and the onions are nicely golden brown.

Estonian zucchini and cheese soup

Being one of the very few English-language blogs that focus on Estonian food (among other things), I tend to get quite a few emails with Estonian recipe requests or more general enquiries about Estonian food. Usually they are from people who have visited Estonia and tasted something they liked (KAMA!!!), and are now looking to recreate the dish at home. There are also quite a few expat Estonians writing to ask about dishes their grandmother used to make them in the US/Australia/etc when they were younger. Or people whose fiancée, husband, wife, adopted child, neighbour or best friend is of Estonian heritage and they'd love to make them something from Estonian culinary repertoire to surprise the given fiancée, husband, wife, adopted child, neighbour or best friend. I love those letters!

Here's an email I got last August:

Hi,

I was just searching for Estonian Cheese Soup after hearing it mentioned in this story on NPR. Surprisingly, I couldn't find anything about it, but it brought me to your website and I just spent an hour going through it's great pictures and recipes. Great site!

Do you have any idea on what soup that may be? I'd love to whip one up.

Keep up the great work and thanks in advance for any help or leads you have for me.

Gavin G.

Estonian cheese soup? I was baffled. I wasn't entirely sure there is such a thing. Sure, we make various soups with addition of cheese. I've blogged about a simple goat cheese and beet soup and creamy fish soup that both have some cheese in it. However, there's nothing particularly Estonian about these two soups. So I asked around and it turns out that I'm a lousy pub-goer. You see, many Estonian pubs serve something called cheese soup (juustusupp), apparently. And as I'm more of a café-chick than a pub-girl, I had no idea.

Basically, these are simple soups that have been enriched with either cheese spread (sulatatud juust) or smoked cheese (suitsujuust). Back in August, when I was trying to come up with a soup recipe for Gavin, I made this courgette/zucchini soup with smoked cheese (the type of smoked cheese we use in Estonia can be seen at the bottom of this page, it weighs 280 g and contains 18% milk fats).

I hope you'll enjoy this, Gavin!

Courgette and Smoked Cheese Soup, Estonian style
(Suvikõrvitsa-suitsujuustusupp)
Serves four



a dash of olive oil
1 onion
1 large potato
1 medium green zucchini/courgette
1 litre hot vegetable or chicken stock
280 g smoked cheese (preferably Estonian)
salt and freshly ground black pepper
parsley and croutons, to serve

Peel the onion and potato, chop finely and sauté in some oil for a few minutes. When the potato is slightly golden, then add chopped-up zucchini/courgette (no need to peel). Heat for a few minutes, stirring every now and then.
Add the hot stock. Bring to the boil, then reduce to the simmer and let it bubble until the vegetables are soft.
Blend until smooth, adding the chunks of smoked cheese to the soup while doing this.
Re-heat gently, season to taste.
Garnish with crispy bread croutons and a parsley leaf.

Pickled beets and blue cheese quiche

Have you got a glass of pickled beets lurking in the back of your fridge? If yes, then you could use them for making this colourful and lovely quiche. The otherwise sweet beets have quite a piquant flavour when pickled, and that works well with the saltiness of the blue cheese. I used Valio AURA, one of my favourite blue cheese (made in Finland), but it will work with any other crumbly blue cheese, too..

Beetroot quiche with blue cheese
(Pirukas marineeritud peedi ja sinihallitusjuustuga)
Serves six to eight
Adapted from Valio, Finland



Pie crust:
100 g butter, at room temperature
150 g all-purpose flour (one cup)
a pinch of salt
2 Tbsp cold water

Filling:
250 g pickled beets, drained and sliced
200 ml single cream
2 eggs
0.25 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 tsp dried basil or 1 Tbsp fresh basil, chopped
150 g blue cheese (Valio Aura)

Mix butter, salt and flour, then add the water and mix until a dough ball forms. Press onto a 24 cm pie dish, and place into the fridge to rest. (If you wish, blind bake for 10 minutes at 200 c/400 F).
Mix all the filling ingredients, pour onto the (pre-baked) pie shell.
Bake at 200 C/400 F for about 30 minutes, until the filling is set and the top is golden.

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.

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.

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).

Beetroot & blue cheese risotto

(This recipe was originally posted on January 30, 2007. I've updated the recipe considerably; the photo above is from October 2010).

I first served this kind of risotto at a dinner party in January 2007, right after the smoked salmon and dill tartlets. The inspiration for this dish back then came from Anne's beet risotto with garlic, fava beans and goat cheese and Angelika's beetroot risotto with orange and Gorgonzola (blog no longer available). As I had realised during a beetroot and cheese experiment, I knew I wanted to use a blue cheese in my beetroot risotto instead of goat's cheese. Furthermore, I was looking for a vegetarian risotto, so adding crispy bacon or other meaty garnish was out of the questions. I also wanted the recipe to have a slightly Nordic twist, however defined, so I ended up using a fabulous Finnish blue cheese, Aura.

As far as I can recall, the beetroot and blue cheese risotto was a hit with my guests back in 1997, and it has appeared on our table on several occasions since then. Here's how I've been making it recently. I LOVE how the piquancy of the blue cheese balances out the sweet earthiness of the beetroot. A truly excellent pairing indeed!

Beetroot & blue cheese risotto
(Peedi- ja sinihallitusjuusturisoto)
Serves 6

150 g raw uncooked beetroot
2 Tbsp butter
1 small onion or 2 shallots

2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
300 g risoto rice (I used carnaroli)

100 ml dry white wine
1 litre hot vegetable stock
100 g blue cheese
salt and freshly ground black pepper
fresh chopped parsley to garnish

Grate the beetroot coarsely.
Heat the vegetable stock in one saucepan, keep it simmering under a lid while you start making risotto.
Heat the butter in a heavy-bottomed saucepan. Add onion and sauté gently for 5-6 minutes, until onion starts to turn translucent. Add the garlic and fry for another minute or to. Make sure not to burn the onions!

Add the rice, stir until rice is glossy with butter. Add the grated beets, sauté for a minute.

Add the wine and stir over moderate heat until reduced by half.

Now start adding the vegetable stock, a ladleful or a few at a time. Keep stirring the rice gently to avoid sticking, or even worse, burning. Only add more stock when most of the previously added stock has been sucked up by the rice.
Risotto is ready, when the rice is cooked, but still al dente - this should take about 20 minutes.
Now stir in crumbled blue cheese, which flavours the risotto and makes it beautifully creamy. Season with salt and pepper, sprinkle with plenty of fresh parsley and serve.

UPDATE 14.2.2007: Check out these gorgeous beetroot risotto recipes over at Fiordizucca's blog (with feta cheese) and Bea's blog (with parmesan cheese).

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.

Oven-baked zucchini and tomatoes with herbed feta cream

We've had a really good crop of courgettes/zucchini and tomatoes this year (our first year of backyard gardening, remember), and I'm trying and adapting different recipes. Here's a really simple dish showcasing both the zucchini and tomatoes, complemented by a herbed feta cream, giving it a Greek touch. Lovely as a vegetarian main dish, or as a side dish for some simple grilled meat (lamb, perhaps).

Oven-baked zucchini and tomatoes with herbed feta cream
(Suvikõrvitsa-tomativorm fetakreemiga)
Serves 4

2 green or yellow courgettes/zucchini
8 small ripe tomatoes
4-6 large garlic cloves
250 g feta cheese (softer feta-style cheese is fine here)
4 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil + more for drizzling
2 Tbsp chopped fresh basil
1 tsp dried oregano
freshly ground black pepper
sea salt

Cut the zucchini into 1 cm (just under 1/2 inch) slices. Cut tomatoes into quarters. Peel the garlic cloves.
Take a large baking dish, oil it slightly. Layer zucchini slices and tomato quarters into the baking try, push garlic cloves between the vegetables.
Place feta cheese, olive oil, chopped basil and dried oregano into a medium-sized bowl and mash using a fork. Season with black pepper. Scatter the mixture over the vegetables.
Season with some more black pepper, drizzle with olive oil.
Bake in a preheated 200 C oven for about 45-60 minutes, until vegetables are cooked and cheese golden brown.

Watermelon, feta and lime salad

Yet another watermelon salad that's perfect as a light meal on those hot summer days. I made this first about a year ago, when I spotted the recipe in Rachel Allen's lovely book "Rachel's Favourite Food for Friends". I love the fresh note that lime adds to the sweet watermelon.

Watermelon, feta and lime salad
(Arbuusi-fetasalat laimiga)

Serves 4

500 g watermelon (cleaned weight)
200 g barrel-aged feta cheese
1 lime
1 Tbsp finely chopped fresh mint

toasted pita bread, to serve

Peel the watermelon, remove the seeds. Cut the fruit into thin slices, about 4-5 cm (2 inches) wide. Place into the serving bowl.
Crumble the feta cheese on top, season with finely grated lime zest and freshly squeezed lime juice, sprinkle chopped mint on top.
Give it a gentle stir and serve. The salad tastes best within half an hour of preparing.

Watermelon and feta salad with olives

When I first went to Greece in July 2002, I was shocked about the temperatures. I spent a week on Santorini, and it felt that the temperatures never dropped below 40 C during the day and 30 C during the night. I could hardly move, and spent my days hiding inside the conference centre (yep, I was there attending a 5-day sociology conference :)) or trying to cool down in the sea.

It's not as hot here in Estonia, of course, even if it feels like that. The daytime temperatures stay just over 30C and it "drops" to 20 C during the night (20 C, actually, is my preferred temperature for the whole summer, including day time). I pretty much haven't cooked anything during the last few days that requires me to touch the oven or the hob, and have been browsing through my recipe archives for various cold dishes to serve. Here's a cool and refreshing watermelon salad that I originally made a year ago. It tasted good then - and it was a much cooler summer. It would taste even more delicious in today's heat..

Greek watermelon and feta salad with olives
(Kreeka feta-arbuusisalat oliividega)
Serves four as a meal when accompanied with some crusty white bread.

1 kg watermelon
200 g barrel-aged feta cheese
freshly ground black pepper
about a handful or two of Kalamata olives
2 Tbsp fresh mint, leaves chopped
3 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 Tbsp freshly squeezed lime juice

Peel the watermelon, remove the seeds and cut the flesh into bite-sized chunks. Place into a serving bowl.
Crumble the feta cheese on top, season with black pepper (straight from the pepper mill, preferably!)
Pit the olives, scatter on top of the salad alongside the chopped mint.
Drizzle with olive oil and lime juice and serve.

Georgian recipes: fried Suluguni cheese

This recipe is mostly for my readers in countries where you can easily buy the Georgian Suluguni cheese. That pretty much means former USSR, as well as countries with sizeable number of Georgian or Russian migrants (look for "Russian shops" then). Although there are other cheeses that can be fried like this, they wouldn't taste the same, so I'm not even going to suggest any other alternatives.

If you are based in Tallinn, then please look for the cheese at Tallinn Central Market, where several vendors sell white cheese rounds, weighing about 1 kg/2 pounds each, at the main market hall. There are two main makers - the Kehra cheese being slightly saltier and the Vaida cheese slightly milder in flavour. It's recommended you buy the whole round - use half of it for for this recipe and the rest for making khatchapuri, the Georgian cheese bread.

Fried Suluguni cheese
(Praetud Suluguni juust)
Serves six to eight as nibble

500 g Suluguni cheese
2 Tbsp plain flour
butter, for frying
finely chopped fresh mint or tarragon

Cut the cheese into thick slices, dust with flour.
Heat butter on a heavy frying pan over a moderate heat. Fry the cheese slices on both sides, until golden brown.
Sprinkle with fresh herbs and serve at once.

For a gluten-free alternative: omit the flour (you won't get as nice and crispy finish, but it'll taste as gorgeous).

Avocado and Blue Cheese Dip Recipe

A super-quick last-minute dip idea that I make quite often. I love this one especially with nachos, though it also works well spread over crostini, especially those bite-sized onesd. However, I would only make it at the very last moment, as despite the addition of lime juice, this dip tends to turn from lovely green to not-so-lovely brown rather quickly.

Avocado and Blue Cheese Dip

(Avokaado-sinihallitusjuustudipp)
Serves 4-6

75 grams blue cheese (I like Valio Aura)
4 Tbsp sour cream/creme fraiche/yogurt
2 ripe avocados
3 Tbsp finely chopped fresh (flat-leaf) parsley
2 Tbsp lime juice
freshly ground black pepper
sea salt

Smash the blue cheese with a fork, mix with sour cream until combined.
Halve the avocados, remove the stones. Scoop out the avocado flesh and smash with a fork. Stir into the blue cheese mixture.
Add the chopped parsley, season with salt, pepper and lime juice.
Serve at once.

Roasted Feta Cheese and Cherry Tomatoes

I'm too busy here keeping myself and our little daughter warm (it's "just" -17 Celsius/1 Fahrenheit outside at the moment, but the heavy winds of few days, especially last night, makes it feel much colder), so I haven't been blogging as much as I've wanted. But I wanted to share this super-easy lunch idea with you. I've made this for lunch twice during this week. Take a small vine full of cherry tomatoes, half a block of a decent feta cheese and place into a small oven-proof dish. Grind some black pepper on top, drizzle with some chili-infused olive oil (I used Belazu's) and bake in a pre-heated 200 C / 400 F oven for about 15 minutes, until warmed through.

Serve with some crusty bread and enjoy!

PS There's a more elaborate version of this that I hope to blog about in a few days :)

Smoked Bacon, Onion and Cheese Tart with Cherry Tomatoes

While we're still eating lots of strawberries (yes, the season is still going strong here), then here's something savoury for a change. I flipped through the latest issue of the British BBC Good Food magazine in a café few days ago, and this recipe for Smokey Cheese and Onion Tart caught my eye. I used puff pastry instead of shortcrust, and slightly modified the process and ingredient proportions, and made this for dinner on Wednesday. We liked it a lot.

As with most puff pastry tarts, this is best when still warm or lukewarm.

Smoky Bacon, Onion and Cheese Tart with Cherry Tomatoes
(Sibula-juustu-peekonipirukas)
Serves 6 to 8



500 g puff pastry
100 g smoked bacon
4 to 5 medium-sized yellow onions
200 ml whipping cream
1 large egg
200 g grated cheese
200 g cherry tomatoes, halved
freshly ground black pepper

Roll the puff pastry into a rectangle, place on a baking sheet covered with parchment paper. Using a small sharp knife, score a 1 cm border around the edge of the pastry.
Cut the smoked bacon into small cubes. Peel and halve the onions, then cut into thin half-slices.
Heat a heavy frying pan over medium heat, add bacon and onions and sauté for about 10 minutes, stirring every now and then, until bacon is browned and onions softened. Remove from the heat, and cool slightly.
In a medium bowl, whisk egg and cream, then fold in the grated cheese and fried onions and bacon. Spread the mixture over the puff pastry, staying within the scored line.
Scatter the cherry tomatoes on top, season with freshly ground black pepper.
Bake in the middle of a preheated 225 C / 450 F oven for about 20-25 minutes, until the puff pastry edge has risen and the filling is a lovely golden shade.

Kourkouto aka Greek Zucchini Pie

There's a dish that made rounds in foodblogs last summer. The author of the original recipe was a Greek chef Dina Nikolaou. Her recipe was picked up and adapted by Peter of the Kalofagas, and the rest was history. I then spotted it on my dear friend's Alanna's blog, and earlier this year on Farida's blog. I bet there are many more :)

We had this for dinner tonight. I made some changes, leaving out the Kasseri cheese and upping the amount of feta cheese. I also added some dried oregano to the dish, a herb I always associate with my visits to Greece. Overall, this is an excellent supper dish - either with a light salad, as Peter recommends, or with flash-fried chicken strips, as we did. It's delicious both hot and cold, making it ideal for summer brunches and buffets.

Greek Courgette Pie Kourkouto
(Kreeka suvikõrvitsavorm)
Serves 6 to 8



100 ml olive oil
1 kg courgettes/zucchini (4-5 younger ones)
2 large onions
0.5 tsp salt
1 tsp dried oregano
6 large eggs
250 g plain yogurt
150 g plain/all-purpose flour
1 Tbsp baking powder
200 g feta cheese
a large handful of fresh parsley
salt and freshly ground black pepper

To garnish:
1 slender green courgette
mild paprika powder

Preheat the oven to 180 C / 350 F.
Peel and chop the onions. Cut the courgettes/zucchini into small cubes.
Heat oil in a heavy-bottomed saucepan, add zucchini and onion cubes. Season with salt and oregano and heat over a moderate heat for 15 minutes, until the vegetables are soft, but not mushy.
Meanwhile, whisk eggs with yogurt until combined. Stir in baking powder and flour, then add feta cubes.
Using a slotted spoon, transfer the cooked vegetables into the batter. Add parsley, and stir until combined.
Pour into a well-buttered or lined oven dish, sized 25x35 cm.
Slice the extra zucchini into 5-6 mm rounds, then place nicely on top of the dish. Sprinkle with paprika powder.
Bake in the middle of the preheated oven for about 30 minutes, until cooked through and nicely golden on top.

Warm Gingered Carrot Salad with Feta Cheese

Updated and revised, with a new photograph. Originally posted on November 24, 2005

We don't eat meat every day in our household. We're not vegetarians, but meatless days definitely outnumber the meaty ones. Here's a typical dish we would have as an evening meal - a large portion of sauteéd, yet still slightly crunchy carrots, seasoned with mustard seeds and lots of ginger and topped with feta cheese just before serving. Served with some crusty Italian or French bread, and you're set for a wholesome and light meal. It would also work well on a buffet table, as the carrot salad tastes nice when lukewarm.

See other vegetarian carrot recipes @ Nami-Nami:
Oil-marinated carrots with rosemary and orange
Alanna's carrots with African spices, my way
Kalyn's Roasted Carrots and Mushrooms with Thyme and Parsley
Alanna's Cumin Carrot Chips
Estonian grandmother's Carrot Ragout
Warm Moroccan Carrot Salad

Warm Ginger and Carrot Salad with Feta Cheese
(Soe porgandisalat fetaga)
Serves 4 as a side dish or 2 as a main meal



500 grams of organic carrots, thickly sliced
1 onion or 3 shallots, peeled and sliced
1 heaped tsp mustard seeds
2 Tbsp butter
100 ml /almost 1/2 cup/ water
2-3 tsp finely grated fresh ginger
1 tsp sea salt
2-3 Tbsp fresh parsley or basil or chives
100-150 grams crumbled for cubed eta cheese
freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Peel the carrots and slice thickly. Peel and slice the onions finely.
Heat butter on a heavy frying pan over a medium heat, add mustard seeds and fry for a minute, until the mustard seeds start 'popping'.
Add carrots and sauté for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Reduce heat a little, add the onion slices and continue sautéeing for another 5 minutes, until onion starts to turn opaque.
Add the water and cook, until the water has evaporated and the carrots are al dente.
Season with ginger, salt and herbs, cook for another minute and then remove from the heat.
Transfer onto a warmed serving dish, scatter feta cheese on top and season with some freshly ground black pepper.

Cheesy Oatcakes for your Picnic Basket

Planning a picnic soon? Or need something to nibble while working away at the desk? Try these savoury oatcakes with cheese. They're soft and slightly chewy, quite filling and very easy to make. The recipe is adapted from a Finnish magazine. I used an Emmenthaler-type cheese, but good old Cheddar or Monterey Jack would work just as well.

Cheesy Oatcakes
(Kaerahelbeküpsised juustuga)
Makes about 2 dozens

100 g old-fashioned oats
135 g plain/all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
75 g cheese, grated
250 ml / 1 cup milk
40 g butter, melted
0.5 tsp salt

Mix oats, flour and baking powder in a large bowl. Add the grated cheese, milk, melted butter and stir, until everything is combined. The batter with be rather soft.
Take spoonfuls of the batter and place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
Bake in a preheated 225 C/450 F oven for about 15 minutes, until the cookies are golden.
Transfer onto a wire rack to cool.

Zucchini Rolls with Herb-Marinated Mozzarella Balls

Given that so many of you were interested in my recipe for Zucchini Rolls with Goat's Cheese aka "Makis" au Chèvre that I served on the Easter table, I wanted to share a recipe for another kind of Zucchini Rolls that I served on my Birthday table. This time the courgette slices are blanched first, and the goat cheese has been replaced by herb-marinated mini mozzarella balls. The ones available here are aboiut the size of a large cherry tomato, so I used medium-sized courgettes/zucchinis. If you get hold of really small mozzarella balls, you may want to use smaller courgettes to wrap them in..

Zucchini Rolls with Herb-Marinated Mozzarella Balls
(Suvikõrvitsasse mähitud ürdised mozzarellapallid)
Adapted from Finnish food magazine Glorian Ruoka & Viini
Makes about 30



2 packets of mini mozzarella balls, drained
2 medium sized green courgettes/Zucchinis

Herb marinade:
4 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
2 Tbsp white balsamic or white wine vinegar
3 Tbsp of finely chopped fresh herbs (I used chervil and chives)
sea salt
freshly ground black pepper

In a medium-sized bowl, mix finely chopped herbs, olive oil and vinegar, season with salt and pepper. Add mozzarella balls and stir gently, until they're coated with the herb vinaigrette. Leave to stand for 30 minutes, stirring couple of times:



Wash the courgettes/zucchinis. Take a vegetable peeler and cut thin long strips of the courgette, first along the lenght of one side, when seeds appear, then another side. Blanch them in a salted water for 2 minutes, then drain and place in a bowl of cold water to cool.



Drain the zucchini slices. Take one slice at a time, and put a herb-marinated mozzarella ball at one end. Roll up, and place on a serving tray. Continue with the rest of the zucchini slices and mozzarella balls.

Sprinkle with some sea salt flakes, herbs and crushed black peppercorns and serve.

Zucchini Rolls with Goat's Cheese aka "Makis" au Chèvre

One of the items served at the Nami-Nami 2009 Easter Brunch were courgette/zucchini rolls stuffed with goat's cheese. The recipe is adapted from a French food magazine that we get by subscription, Régal, and it was K. who made these. However, he's authorised me to blog about making these :)

They're really quick to make, and the unusual stuffing really works.

Zucchini Rolls with Goat's Cheese aka "Makis" au Chèvre
(Suvikõrvitsarullid kitsejuustutäidisega)
Makes about 3 dozens



300 g creamy goat's cheese
4 medium-sized courgettes/zucchinis
6 dried soft figs
50 g hazelnuts, peeled, toasted and coarsely chopped
a large handful of fresh mint leaves
2 Tbsp good-quality fruity extra virgin olive oil
a good pinch of Maldon sea salt flakes
freshly ground black pepper

Wash the courgettes/zucchinis. Take a vegetable peeler* and cut thin long strips of the courgette, first along the lenght of one side, when seeds appear, then another side. Put aside.
Make a filling. Chop figs finely, toast the hazelnuts, cool and chop. Chop the mint leaves.
Mix the goat cheese, figs, hazelnuts, mint and olive oil in a bowl, season with salt and pepper.
Take a strip of zucchini, place a teaspoonful of goat's cheese filling at one end and roll tightly. Repeat.
Place the zucchini rolls alongside each other on a plate.

Will keep for a few hours in a fridge.

TIP: One of my Estonian readers suggests grilling the zucchini strips lightly before using, as otherwise they might taste 'raw'. If you like the taste of fresh and raw courgette, there's no need to do that. If you dislike the flavour, then grill the vegetable strips first.

* I like the V-shaped vegetable peelers, something like this.