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 Originally made in and named for Val Taleggio near the Swiss-Italian border, this soft cow's milk cheese has been described as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

Simple delights: an avocado on rye bread

If you've been blogging about food for long enough (say for 5 years minimum), you may remember the I LOVE CHEESE SANDWICH campaign back in February 2006 (I contributed this beetroot and goat cheese toast). Somehow I remembered that blog event earlier today, and this inspired me to post a photo of one of my recent favourite quick snacks - an avocado open sandwich. All you need is a slice or two of homemade naturally leavened rye bread, a spreading of butter, a creamy Hass avocado and a sprinkling of Maldon sea salt flakes.

Bliss, I say...

What's your favourite snack in a hurry?

Meatless Monday: Chickpea and Tomato Soup with Pimentón

I needed to look up some Portuguese recipes for a friend last weekend and obviously I turned to the very helpful Leite's Culinaria website. I did find the recipes I was looking for, plus a lot more. One of them was this simple, yet delicious soup recipe, originally from Tamasin Day-Lewis's book "Supper for a Song: Creative Comfort Food for the Resourceful Cook". I've adapted the recipe a little to suit our tastes, and we'll be definitely making this again. Puréeing some of the chickpeas/garbanzos to thicken the soup was a neat idea, and you can add more or less pimentón (aka smoked paprika) depending on the freshness and strength of your paprika powder.

While it's filling, it's also gluten-free and vegan, so perfect recipe for a Meatless Monday.

Chickpea and Tomato Soup with Smoked Paprika
(Kikerherne-tomatisupp, kergelt suitsune)
Serves four

1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 red onion, finely chopped
3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
2 celery sticks, chopped
2 Tbsp chopped fresh rosemary
400 g can tinned chickpeas/garbanzo beans, drained
1 tsp Pimentón de la Vera (smoked paprika)
2 bay leaves
1 Tbsp tomato paste
400 g can chopped tomatoes
1 litre of hot vegetable stock/bouillon
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
some parsley leaves, to serve

Heat olive oil in a large saucepan. Add the onion, garlic, celery and rosemary and fry for a few minutes, until the aromatics are beginning to soften.
Add the chickpeas, smoked paprika, bay leaves, tomato paste and chopped tomatoes. Give it a stir and bring into a boil.
Add the stock, season with salt and pepper and bring into a boil again. Then reduce the heat, cover and simmer for about 10-15 minutes.
Remove the bay leaves.
Using a hand-held/immersion blender, purée some of the soup, leaving some of the chickpeas whole.
Divide between warmed soup bowls, garnish with parsley and serve.

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.

Cabbage & buckwheat kasha recipe

It's time for another buckwheat recipe here on Nami-Nami. The inspiration for this recipe is from an Estonian author Aive Luigela (we share the publisher :)), but I've adapted it slightly. It's an excellent dish for those who are trying to shed some post-Christmas (or post-pregnancy) pounds - light in calories, yet surprisingly packed with flavour.

Note that buckwheat is naturally gluten-free, so it's a suitable and tasty grain alternative to all those who need to avoid gluten.

Buckwheat with Cabbage
(Kapsa-tatrahautis)
Serves 4

2 Tbsp oil or butter
150 g buckwheat groats
300 g white cabbage, shredded
750 ml (3 cups) boiling water
0.5-1 tsp salt
1 tsp caster sugar
fresh lovage or dill, chopped

First, you may need to toast the buckwheat. The buckwheat we usually use in Estonia is pre-roasted and dark brown, so this can be skip this stage. If you're using the "light" buckwheat groats, then roast them on a dry hot skillet for about 5-6 minutes, until it's nicely toasty and aromatic.

Heat the oil in a large high frying pan/sauté pan. Add the buckwheat and sauté for a couple of minutes, stirring every now and then.
Add the cabbage and boiling water. Season with half a teaspoon of salt. Cover the saucepan with a lid, reduce heat and simmer on a low heat for about 30 minutes, until the cabbage is soft and buckwheat cooked.
Season with sugar and more salt, if necessary. Sprinkle fresh herbs on top and serve.

Smoked salmon and potato gratin

It's not always about lamb's tongue in Nami-Nami kitchen, you know. Most of the time I cook - and we eat - perfectly "normal" food. Here is one of my favourite weekday dishes. It's not exactly quick - that is to say, it won't be on your table within half an hour of walking in the door - but if you're at home anyway, just unable to stand in the kitchen watching keenly over your Sauce Bearnaise, then this is for you. It needs about 15 minutes of active involvement and then it simply cooks in your oven. Ideal for a mum like me :)

I've made this both with hot smoked salmon and cold smoked salmon over the years. I slightly prefer the latter one, but it's lovely with both.

Smoked salmon and potato gratin
(Kartulivorm suitsulõhega)
Serves 4

750 g potatoes
100 g smoked salmon, sliced
handful of fresh dill, chopped
2 large eggs
200 ml fresh cream
100 ml milk
freshly ground black pepper

Wash the potatoes, peel and cut into thin slices or matchsticks (I used the thick julienne cutter in my food processor).
Butter a medium-sized oven dish (I used a 30 cm round dish). Scatter half of the potatoes in the dish, sprinkle with dill and layer with salmon slices. Top with the remaining potatoes.
Season with black pepper.
Whisk eggs with cream and milk and pour evenly over the potatoes.
Bake in a pre-heated 175 C oven for about 1 hour, until potatoes are cooked (the exact time depends on the thickness of your potato slices or matchsticks).

Chickpea and tomato soup with Moroccan spices

Here's a delicious chickpea/grabanzo soup recipe adapted from this book by the lovely Irish chef, Rachel Allen. It's quick, flavoursome, vegan and gluten-free (unless you serve it with crispy bacon or some herb croutons) and easy to make. It's been a while since I made it - seeing one of the few Estonian male foodbloggers making this the other day (check out the video!) - brought it back to our table. Our daughter loved it, K. loved it, and I loved it - so it's definitely a keeper. Hope you enjoy it, too!

I used canned chickpeas - dried ones are much harder to come by here in Estonia. If you prefer using dried chickpeas, then take 150 grams of pulses, soak them overnight in cold water and then boil in unsalted water for about half an hour.

Moroccan chickpea and tomato soup
(Maroko kikerhernesupp)
Serves four



2 Tbsp olive oil
1 large onion, peeled and chopped
2 celery sticks, chopped
salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 tsp cumin seeds, slightly crushed
400 g can of chopped tomatoes
a generous pinch of sugar
400 g can of chickpeas, rinsed and drained
600-750 ml vegetable or chicken broth
juice of half a lemon
2 Tbsp fresh cilantro/coriander or parsley

Heat the olive oil in a saucepan. Add the onion and celery sticks, season with salt and pepper. Cover the saucepan with a lid and sauté over low heat for about 10 minutes, until the onion and celery are soft, stirring every now and then (do not burn!)
Add the cumin seeds, fry for another minute to release the aromas.
Add the tomatoes, sugar, chickpeas and hot stock. Simmer on low heat for 5-10 minutes.
Season with lemon juice, stir in the chopped herbs and taste for seasoning. Serve.

Nasu dengaku or miso-glazed aubergine

You'll get two Japanese recipes in a row now - on Friday I blogged about tonkatsu (breaded pork cutlets, Japanese style) today's blog post is dedicated to nasu dengaku or miso-glazed aubergine/eggplant. I first made this for the Japanese feast at our place back in summer 2009 (pictured above), but I've made them on several occasions since (and it has become one of my favourite cousin Ingrid's favourite dishes ever).

It's an easy and very flavoursome dish to make. All you need is some nice small aubergines (slim Japanese ones are best, but ordinary bulbous ones will do), some miso paste (I used hatcho and shiro miso pastes) and sesame seeds. I was lucky to use an additive-free dark hatcho miso that's typical to the Aichi Prefecture in Japan (thank you, Ryoko!!!):



Here's the recipe, should you want to make this at home, using the non-Japanese eggplants:

Nasu dengaku
(Eestikeelne retsept)
Serves four to six



1 large or 2 smaller eggplants/aubergines
vegetable oil

Miso-glaze:
6 Tbsp miso paste
4 Tbsp mirin or sweet rice wine
2 Tbsp sake or dry sherry
2 Tbsp caster sugar

Topping:
sesame seeds

Rinse and dry the eggplant and cut into 1 cm thick slices, crosswise. Make some slashes with a sharp knife onto one side of the vegetable slices. Brush both sides with oil, then place onto an oven sheet and bake in a 200 C oven for 15-20 minutes, turning once - you want the aubergine slices to be nicely brown on top. (Alternatively - fry on a griddle pan until golden brown on both sides).
Place the grilled/fried aubergine slices onto a large oven sheet - or even better, onto a heat-proof serving tray - on one layer:



Make the miso glaze. Mix all the ingredients in a small saucepan. Bring slowly to the boil, then reduce heat and simmer, stirring all the time, until the glaze is thickened slightly and nice and shiny. Remove from the heat.



Spread a spoonful of miso-glaze on each aubergine/eggplant slice, sprinkle some sesame seeds on top.

Put under a hot grill for a few minutes, then serve either hot or at room temperature.

Stewed red cabbage with prunes

Christmas is just around the corner, so I'll be focusing on various festive dishes for the next week or two. We'll definitely have some traditional roast pork with sauerkraut and black pudding for a couple of times. But we've got a big family and many festive meals ahead, so there's plenty of room to play. For the last few years we've also roasted a goose, and my favourite side dish to a goose is stewed red cabbage. Here's the way I've been making it couple of times now - and I love it. The prunes add a sweetness, orange juice some freshness and a good balsamico a lovely tang. And it's a light and virtually fat-free side dish - a great alternative to the usual rich Christmas fare.

Stewed red cabbage with prunes
(Hautatud punane kapsas ploomidega)
Serves eight

2 Tbsp olive oil
2 red onions, halved and sliced
1 kg red cabbage, shredded
250 g dried plums/prunes, halved
200 ml (just under a cup) of orange juice
2 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
1-2 tsp salt
freshly ground black pepper

Heat oil on a large saucepan. Add onion and fry for a few minutes, until onion starts to soften.
Add the cabbage and sauté for 5-7 minutes, stirring regularly.
Add the prunes, orange juice, balsamic vinegar. Season with salt.
Cover with a lid and simmer on a low heat for about 45 minutes, stirring every now and then, until the cabbage has softened, but still retains some bite. (Check the liquid level at the end, and add some water, if it looks too dry).
Season to taste, and serve.

NB! You can prepare this a day or two in advance. Gently re-heat thoroughly before serving.

NIPID:
* Võid kapsa paar tundi varem valmis hautada. Enne serveerimist kuumuta tasasel tulel umbes 20 minutit.

Beet & buckwheat kasha recipe

It's time to up the number of buckwheat recipes on Nami-Nami - and I think this beautiful kasha recipe fits the bill nicely. The inspiration for this recipe is from Rose Elliot's book Learning to Cook Vegetarian, and if you love buckwheat and you love beets, then you must try this! It's best served hot, but if you have any leftovers, then this is also an excellent lunch box dish.

Note that buckwheat is naturally gluten-free, so it's a suitable and tasty grain alternative to all those who need to avoid gluten.

Buckwheat with beetroot and dill
(Peedi-tatrahautis)
Serves six to eight

2 Tbsp rapeseed or olive oil
1 large onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
250 g buckwheat groats (about 300 ml)
750 ml boiling water (3 cups)
salt and freshly ground black pepper
500 g cooked beetroot, grated
2 Tbsp chopped fresh dill

sour cream or plain yogurt, to serve

First, you need to toast the buckwheat. The buckwheat we usually use in Estonia is pre-roasted and dark brown, so this can be heated on a dry skillet for about 2-3 minutes. If you're using the "light" buckwheat groats, then roast them on a dry hot skillet for about 6-7 minutes, until it's nicely toasty and aromatic.
Heat the oil in a large high frying pan/sauté pan. Add the onion and sauté for 5 minutes. Add the garlic and fry for another minute or so.
Add the toasted buckwheat and boiling water, season with salt and pepper. Cover the pan with a lid, reduce heat and simmer on a low heat for 15-20 minutes, until the water has absorbed and buckwheat is nice and soft (but not mushy!!!).
Fold in the grated beets and heat for another 2-3 minutes. Taste for seasoning, stir in the dill and serve hot.

Lovely with a dollop of sour cream/yogurt and some grilled (Portobella) mushrooms.

Meatloaf-beetloaf

Time for another beetroot recipe, don't you think?

Here's a nifty way to make your everyday meatloaf slightly more interesting, colourful and flavourful - by adding some grated cooked beetroot. The resulting "beetloaf" doesn't just have an amazing colour, but it's also lovely and moist. I like to serve this with a cold tartar-style sauce, and some mashed potatoes.

Meatloaf with beets
(Peedi-hakklihavorm)
Serves six to eight

500 g mince (I used a mixture of 70% beef and 30% pork)
400 g cooked beetroot, grated
2 finely chopped onions
100 ml (6-7 Tbsp) dried breadcrumbs
1 large egg
some freshly grated nutmeg
salt and black pepper

Combine all ingredients in a bowl, mixing until you've got a uniform mince mixture.
Take a large loaf pan and brush it with melted butter or oil. Transfer the mince mixture into the loaf tin, smooth the top.
Bake in a pre-heated 200 C / 400 F oven until it's cooked through and lovely golden on top.

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).

Roasted cauliflower with bacon and garlic

First of all, thank you all for your kind feedback about the upcoming Nami-Nami Cookbook! Your support means a lot to me...

I'm trying to blog more often this month, as the amount of dishes that I'd love to share with you is actually rather impressive - and now, that the cookbook is out of my hands, so to say, I may have more time. We'll see. I'll start with something rather easy, yet super-yummy that we had for dinner last night. It was exceptionally well received both our little daughter (she's 1 year and 9 months already, and a very good eater!) as well as her 74-year-old grandmother who was visiting. So this dish appeals potentially to a very wide age group :)

The recipe is from Jaden's Steamy Kitchen. I cannot even really say that I've adapted it in any particular way - apart from specifying the amount of bacon in the recipe (sold in 100-125 g packets around here) and changing the cooking times a little. I roast cauliflower quite often (usually just sprinkled with salt and drizzled with oil), and used the same timings and temperatures I'm used to (and these were both different from Jaden's).

Roasted cauliflower with bacon and garlic
(Röstitud lillkapsas peekoni ja küüslauguga)
Serves 4

1 large cauliflower, cut into rather small florets
6 cloves garlic, cut into thick slices
100-125 grams smoked bacon, cut into bite-sized pieces
2 Tbsp olive oil
sea salt flakes and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 200 C. On a large baking sheet, toss together the cauliflower florets, garlic slices and bacon bits. Drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper.
Roast in the middle of the pre-heated oven for about 30 minutes until bacon is crisp and cauliflower is cooked and slightly golden brown here and there. Taste for seasoning, and serve at once.

Pumpkin Scones

Considering the pumpkin feast that's approaching on the other side of the Atlantic, I decided to share a delicious pumpkin recipe :) The original recipe had much more sugar in it and used boiled pumpkin. I've recently used roasted pumpkin instead, and if anything, it's improvement on the flavour. Use whatever you prefer.

These were also a great hit with various kids (aged 1 year and 4 months to 39, by the way), so a truly family-friendly recipe.

Pumpkin Scones
(Kõrvitsapräänikud)
Based on a recipe in Tesco Recipe Magazine (October 2003)
about 18 cookies



100 g butter, softened
150 g dark muscovado sugar
200 g steamed or roasted pumpkin, pureed
100 g small seedless raisins
1 tsp vanilla extract
225 g plain/all-purpose flour
1.5 tsp baking powder
1 tsp ground cinnamon

Cream butter and sugar until fluffy. Fold in the pumpkin puree, raisins and vanilla extract, stirring thoroughly.
Sift flour, baking powder and cinnamon into another bowl, then stir into the wet ingredients until combined.
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Take dessertspoonfuls (ca 10 ml) of cookie dough and transfer them onto the baking sheet. Leave plenty of room between the heaps of dough, as the cookies spread when cooking.
(I always get 18 cookies :))
Bake in a preheated 200 C oven for 12-15 minutes, until the cookies are light golden brown.
Cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes, then transfer onto a metal rack to cool.

Cauliflower cheese with mustard

This is a delicious cauliflower cheese, but not like the one you know. Instead of a much more traditional Bechamel sauce and cheese topping, this one is covered with a mixture of uncooked double cream, grated cheese and gutsy mustard. Much easier to make, yet very flavoursome and delicious. We love it as a vegetarian main dish, but it'd also make a nice side dish to some good-quality British bangers (cauliflower cheese being such a classic British dish after all).

Cauliflower Cheese with Mustard
(Sinepine lillkapsa-juustuvorm)
Serves 4-5



1 large head of cauliflower
salted water, for boiling

butter, for greasing

Topping:
200 ml whipping cream or double cream
2 Tbsp grainy mustard (I like Maille's Moutarde à l'Ancienne)
150 g grated cheese (Cheddar, Havarti, Eesti juust - it's your call)
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
some fresh herbs (I like dill here)

Cut the cauliflower into florets. Put the florets into lightly salted boiling water and boil for about 10 minutes, until cauliflower is cooked. Drain thoroughly, then place into a lightly buttered medium-sized shallow oven dish.
Mix cream, mustard and most of the cheese in a bowl, season with salt, pepper and herbs. Spoon the cheese mixture over the cauliflower florets and sprinkle with the rest of the cheese.
Bake in a preheated 200 C / 400 F oven for about 10-15 minutes, until the cheese has melted and the topping is lovely golden.
Serve.

Our aubergine/eggplant bounty

The eggplants/aubergines thrived in our greenhouse as well, as you can see :)

Now I need to think of the best way of using them - something that would allow their looks to shine as well. Any suggestions?

Bottomless Polenta Pie with Tomatoes

Well, I'm not sure I can even call this a pie (hence the 'bottomless' in the title), but I cannot think of a better name either. The recipe is slightly adapted from a Finnish women's magazine Talo & Koti ('house and home', 5/2010), where it was kindly shared by a Finnish chef in France, Jormi Törmanen (can you pronounce that name? ;)). I loved it, but it's pretty mild on its own. I think it's best served as a side dish to some grilled meat or with a green rucola salad drizzled with a gutsy vinaigrette dressing.

I might try shaving some Parmesan cheese (or perhaps shredding some Mozzarella?) on top next time, but it's definitely lovely as it is as well.

Polenta Pie with Tomatoes
(Polentapirukas)
Serves six to eight



1 litre of water
1 tsp salt
250 g quick-cook polenta
2 Tbsp butter (or olive oil) + extra for brushing
couple of ripe tomatoes (not too soft)
2 Tbsp fresh rosemary or oregano or thyme, finely chopped
extra-virgin olive oil, for drizzling

Bring the water to the boil in a large saucepan, season with salt. Add the polenta, all at once, whisking vigorously to avoid any lumps forming. Stir in the butter or oil and simmer on a low heat, stirring regularly, until the polenta is cooked (it's hard to give exact timings here, as different products behave differently - look at the cooking times described on the packet).
Butter or oil an oven gratin dish (about 24x34 cm), pour the cooked polenta into the dish.
Cut the tomatoes into thick slices, press onto the polenta. Sprinkle with chopped herbs and drizzle with olive oil.
Bake in a pre-heated 250 C oven for about 20-25 minutes, until the polenta is lovely golden on top and tomatoes are ever so slightly charred on edges.

French tomato tart with a lot of mustard

I guess you gathered from yesterday's tomato posting that we're swamped with tomatoes this year. That means lots of tomato dishes - like this flavorsome tomato salad, for instance. Here's another flavoursome tomato dish - a mustardy French tomato tart that's excellent with some peppery green salad leaves. Choose tomato variety with few seeds, as then you don't have to deseed or drain them first and save some valuable time for yourself.

French tomato tart
(Sinepine tomatipirukas)
Serves six to eight

Crust:
200 g plain flour
pinch of salt
100 g butter
1 egg

Topping:
3 Tbsp sour cream, creme fraiche or double cream
3 Tbsp Dijon mustard
5 to 6 medium sized tomatoes
sea salt flakes and freshly ground black pepper
fresh thyme or oregano
extra virgin olive oil, to drizzle

First make the tart crust. Mix flour, salt and cold cubed butter in the food processor until crumbly, then add the egg and give it a few turns. Press into a dough ball with your hands, then use your fingers to line a 26 cm pie dish with the dough. Pierce the bottom with a fork in a couple of places, then place into the fridge for half and hour.
Bake the cool crust in a preheated 200 C oven for about 15 minutes (you can also blind-bake, but I didn't bother with that).
Combine mustard and cream, then spread onto the base of the pre-baked pie crust.
Cut the tomatoes, crosswise, into 5 mm slices, layer nicely onto the mustard layer. Season with salt and pepper.
Bake in the pre-heated 200 C oven for about 40 minutes, until tomatoes are nicely roasted and coloured.
Drizzle with some olive oil, sprinkle fresh thyme or oregano leaves on top and serve either hot or cold.

Tomato tasting party, 2010

We had lots of tomatoes for dinner tonight, all from our very own greenhouse :)


Click on the photo to enlarge and see the variety names.