24-hour cucumbers

We, estonians, eat a lot of cucumbers - fresh, in salad, pickled or marinated. In summer, we love to make a really quick and delicious snack - 24 hour cucumbers. We use the little fresh cucumbers, make a tasty marinade and after 24 hours they are ready to be eaten. I guarantee, you will love the crispyness and freshness of this tasty summer snack. It´s also wonderful to accompany your grilled meat!

You need:

As many cucumbers as you like (those little rough ones, not the long and smooth ones)

Enough marinade to cover the cucumbers

For the marinade:

per 1 l boiled water, you need

1,5 tbsp strong vinegar

4 tbsp coarse salt

0,5 tbsp sugar

Handful of fresh dill

Handful of black currant leaves

3 cloves of garlic, halved

3 peppercorns

Boil the water. Add vinegar, salt, sugar and pepper. Mix until sugar and salt are dissolved.

Put dill, black currant leaves and garlic to a big pot. Add washed cucumbers. Pour over the marinade, while it´s still hot. Cover with a heavy plate or something that presses down the cucumbers, but lets in the air. After 24 hours, you have wonderful, fresh, aromatic and crunchy sour cucumbers!

Cheese and fresh garlic spread

Huge fresh bulbs of pinkish garlic are on the market now. I love garlic in every season, but those new ones are especially tasty. This salad or spread, made of grated cow cheese, garlic and mayonnaise, is a very common estonian party-dish. Sometimes we have it on fresh or grilled white bread and sometimes we roll it inside thin slices of good ham. It takes just some minutes to make, so it´s all good, if you´re a garlic-addict, like me. You need:

100 gr of cow cheese (you can use edam, emmentaler, gouda, cheddar or any other you like)

2-4 gloves of garlic

100 ml of mayonnaise

black pepper and salt for seasoning

Grate the cheese. Chop the garlic as thin as possible. Mix cheese, garlic and mayonnaise. Season with salt and pepper. Serve with fresh bread or roll inside a thin slice of ham.

Cold and creamy summer soup with herring

After a few days, when it was actually possible to breath, the heat is back again. And the time for cold soups is back as well. This one, with light sour cream and herring, is another childhood favourites of mine.

You´ll need:

50-70 gr herring filet

300 gr light sour cream (10% fat for example)

1 tomato

1 small cucumber

1 small onion

salt and pepper

boiled potatoes to serve

Cut the herring, cucumber, tomato and onion to small pieces. Mix in the sour cream. Season with salt and pepper. Let the soup stay in fridge for 15 minutes. Boil some potatoes, sprinkle with fresh dill and serve with the cold herring soup!

Külm hapukoore-heeringasupp

50-70 gr heeringafileed

300 gr 10% hapukoort

1 tomat

1 väiksem kurk

1 väiksem sibul

soola ja pipart maitsestamiseks

kõrvale keedetud kartulit värske tilliga

Haki heeringas, kurk, tomat ja sibul. Sega kokku hapukoorega. Maitsesta soola ja pipraga. Lase vähemalt 15 minutit külmkapis maitsestuda. Serveeri koos keedetud kartulitega, millele puista värsket tilli.

Fresh field beans - soft and salty

No, I haven´t got a heart attack in this summer heat. Although I have to admit, I have the feeling of having one almost every day for the last month or so. Nobody here in Estonia remembers having this kind of heat for so many days in a row. Even my husbands great grandmother, who is already 80. So no, this is not the reason of my long absense from here, the Berries and the Blue Sky. I can assure that the pause has been nothing else than culinary and if everything goes as expected, I will write you about it more soon.
This extreme summer that has speeded up the growth of every summer berry and vegetable is now so far that the big field beans are ready. And my favourite thing to do with them is really easy. All you need is some fresh beans, a lot of salt and some water. Oh, and do not forget a cold bere to enjoy the beautiful snack after it´s ready!
So, take a lot of beans, with the pods. Cover them with water and add a little bit more water. Add a lot of salt. And I really do mean A LOT. The water should be too salty. Boil until the beans inside the pods are almost ready. Then turn off the heat and let the beans stay inside the salted water for half an hour. And then you´re ready to have them, with some cold beer, on your terrace, after the heat has gone to sleep and the grasshoppers are singing!

Estonian milk soup with fresh veggies

I bet this soup brings back many childhood memories to all estonians. Both, good and bad. Some people, like me, just love it! Some people hate it as it was often served in school canteens during the Soviet times and was usually not made with the freshest ingrediences of the market. But this is a soup where the freshest of the fresh is a must. If all you got is frozen veggies of an unknown origin, then skip it. But when the little new potatoes, thin crunchy carrots and tiny green peas have just arrived, then I strongly recommend to cook this summer soup, that is really easy to make!

You need:

about 0,5 litres of water

6-7 little potatoes

100 gr fresh peas

4-5 little carrots (mine are beautifully dark red this year)

0,7 litres of milk

1 tbs butter

salt for seasoning

fresh dill to serve

Wash the vegetables. Cut the potatoes to quarters and carrots to about 1,5 cm pieces. Boil in salted water until cooked. Pour in milk and butter. Bring to boil. Serve with fresh dill.

Piima-köögiviljasupp

umbes 0,5 l vett

6-7 väikest värsket kartulit

100 gr herneid

4-5 pisikest porgandit

0,7 l piima

1 spl võid

soola maitsestamiseks

värsket tilli serveerimiseks

Puhasta köögivili ja lõika parajateks tükkideks. Keeda soolaga maitsestatud vees pehmeks. Lisa piim ja või. Aja keema, tõsta tulelt. Serveeri värske tilliga.

Rhubarb and strawberry crumble

Crumble is not exactly an estonian dessert, to be honest. But we have a similar cake, called Purukook, that has a crumbly top. Plus, strawberries and rhubarbs are the most common cake material during the summers here. This must be one of the last cakes I make from the rhubarbs of my garden this year. Strawberry season is still going on. I am planning to eat as much as I can until I don´t want to see them anymore :). For the crumble you need:

100 ml of oats

100 ml flour

100 ml brown sugar

30 ml almond flakes

pintch of salt

6 tbs butter

200 ml strawberries (quartered)

200 ml rhubarbs (cut in pieces)

150 ml sugar

1 tsp grated lemon peel

juice of 1/2 lemon

1 tbs flour

1/2 tsp ground cardamom

Mix together the oats, flour, almond flakes, brown sugar and salt. Add butter, rub it in the dry mix until small clumps form.

Fore the filling, mix all the ingrediences together and let it stay until juices start to form.

Preheat the oven to 190 degreees. Butter six ramekins. Divide rhubarbs and strawberries to ramekins. Cover every ramekin with crumb mixture. Bake until the crumble is golden and the filling is bubbling out, about 30-40 minutes. Serve with whipped cream!

The inspiration for this crumble came from Pittsburgh Hot Plate blog! Thank you!

Maasika-rabarberi krõbedik

100 ml kaerahelbeid
100 ml jahu
100 ml pruuni suhkrut
30 ml mandlilaaste
suts soola
6 spl võid

200 ml maasikaid
200 ml rabarbereid
150 ml suhkrut
1 tl sidrunikoort
1/2 sidruni mahl
1 spl jahu
1/2 tl jahvatatud kardemoni

Sega jahu, kaerahelbed, mandlilaastud ja pruun suhkur. Lisa või ja näpi ta kuivainete sisse.
Täidise tegemiseks sega kõik koostisained kokku, lase seista kuni tekib mahl.
Määri kuus ramekini võiga kokku ja jaga täidis nende vahel ära. Kata iga vorm puruga ja küpseta eelkuumutatud ahjus 190 kraadi juures, kuni pealt on kuldpruun ja täidis äärtest välja mullitab. See võtab umbes 30-40 minutit. Serveeri vahukoorega!

Kefir jelly with oh-so-sweet wild strawberries

2010 is an exceptional year, everything is ready too early. For example, the first autumn mushrooms came out already a few weeks ago. And some days ago we found ripe blueberries near our gate. The peas are a few weeks ahead of their time. Well, it is normal, that the wild strawberries are ready, but they are so abundant and this surprises me! And, of course, makes me really happy! My theory is, that the summer dishes shoul be really quick and easy, as you do not want to stay in the hot kitchen for a long time. You want to sit outside in the sun, drink a glass of cold wine and eat something light and tasty. This dessert is perfect in that sense, it is so easy that it´s hard to believe :). You need (for 4-5):

300 ml kefir

3 gelatine leaves

6 tsp of sugar

seeds of 1/2 vanillapod

1/2 tsp of grated lemon peel

150 gr of wild strawberries

Add sugar, vanilla seeds and lemon peel to kefir, mix through. Soak te gelatine leaves in cold water for a few minutes. Squeeze out the excess water and melt the gelatine, stirring continuously, on low heat. Pour in the kefir, still stirring until even. Add some wild strawberries to every ramekin you are going to use. Pour the kefir on top of them. Cover with cling film and put to fridge for a few hours. Serve with some more strawberries!

Keefiritarretid metsmaasikatega (4-5-le)

Vaja läheb:

300 ml keefiri

3 lehte želatiini

6 tl suhkrut

1/2 tl sidrunikoort

1/2 vanillikauna seemned

150 gr metsmaasikaid

Sega keefir, suhkur, vanilliseemned ja riivitud sidrunikoor. Lase želatiinil mõned minutid külmas vees seista, pigista üleliigne vesi välja. Kuumuta pidevalt segades, kuni kogu želatiin on sulanud. Vala keefir peene joana želatiini sisse, ise pidevalt segades. Pane igasse ramekinvormi mõned metsmaasikad ja vala peale keefirisegu. Kata toidukilega ja pane mõneks tunniks külmkappi. Serveerimisel lisa veel maasikaid!

The best days of the summer - time for chanterelles

The best time of the summer has arrived. The markets are full of fresh produce - sweet peas, new potatoes, strawberries from garden and forest, fresh herbs, delicious tomatoes and... of course, my favourites, the little cute chanterelles. Now I am a happy foodie :). Although you can do all kinds of things with those beautiful yellow things, the best is to fry them slightly in butter, maybe add a bit of onion, sprinkle on some fresh dill and parsley and serve with new potatoes. Oh yes, and do not forget the salad that suites just perfectly - chopped green onion with thick sour cream. There´s a country-gourmet - ready in a few minutes!

By the way, 2 days ago we had the most important celebration of the summer - Jaanipäev. We make big big fire for this occasion, eat a lot of good food and search for glowing warms in the middle of the night from the forest. It is the shortest night of the year, it almost doesn´t go dark at all during the night. Usually estonians eat a lot of traditional shashlik during the Jaanipäev party. You can find out more about this in a beautiful estonian foodblog Nami-Nami (in english). Take a look!

You need:

Fresh little chanterelles (the more the better)
some fresh dill
some fresh parsley
a few new potatoes (the smaller the better, I think)
some green onion
some thick sour cream
a bit of chopped onion
a few tablespoons of good butter for frying
salt and pepper to season

Boil and drain the potatoes. Do not waist your time trying to peel the new potatoes - they are more tasty with the skin on. Fry the chopped onion in butter a bit, add the chanterelles and fry until fragnant. Season with salt and black pepper and add the chopped parsley. Mix together the green onion and sour cream. Add some salt, if you like. Serve immediately, adding some extra dill on top od everything!

Really rich knights

Remember the sweet eggy fried breads that are called "poor knoghts"? If we believe Wikipedia, then it is eaten in almost all the countries of the world, with slight variations and under different names. Well, we eat it here in estonia, too. But if you add a thick yoghurt with roasted strawberries and vanilla flavoured whipped cream and sprinkle over some chopped hazelnuts, then it would be very unfair to name them "poor". I would say, they are very rich, tasy and glamorous!

You need:

8 thick slices of good white bread

2 eggs

200 ml milk

2 tbs sugar

Mix the eggs, sugar and milk well. Dip the slices of bread in the mixture, hold for a few seconds and fry in hot butter on a pan until they are golden on both side.

200 ml thick natural yoghurt (or buy the usual natural yoghurt and drain it)

150 ml fresh strawberries

3 tbs brown sugar

a few drops of balsamico

1 ts grated lemon zest

Halve the strawberries, put them on a baking tray, sprinkle over with brown sugar, lemon zest and a few drops of balsamico. Cover with foil and bake in the oven of 180 degrees for about 20 minutes until they are soft. Strain away the liquid (makes a delicious drink with water and lemon). Push the strawbrries a bit with a fork and mix with the yoghurt.

150 ml whipping cream

2 tbs of sugar

seeds from one vanillapod

Mix the sugar, vanilla seeds and the cream. Whip until firm.

Serve the fried bread, putting a tablespoon of strawberry yoghurt and another of vanilla cream on them. Sprinkle over with a tablespoon of chopped hazelnuts. Makes a beautiful weekend breakfast for strawberry season!

Tõeliselt rikkad rüütlid

Vaja läheb:

8 lõiku head saia

2 muna

200 ml piima

2 spl suhkrut

Sega munad, piim ja suhkur. Kasta saiaviilud segusse ja hoia mõned sekundid. Prae kuumas võis mõlemalt poolt kuldseks.

200 ml paksemat maitsestamata jogurtit (või nõruta tavalisest liigne vedelik välja)

150 ml värskeid maasikaid

3 spl pruuni suhkrut

1 tl riivitud sidrunikoort

mõned tilgad balsamico äädikat

Poolita maasikad. Pane ahjupannile, raputa peale pruun suhkur, sidrunikoor ja mõned tilgad balsamicot.

Kata vorm fooliumiga ja küpseta 180 kraadi juures ca 20 minutit kuni maasikad on pehmed. Suru maasikaid kahvliga pisut puruks, nõruta välja vedelik ja sega maasikad jogurtisse.

150 ml vahukoort

2 spl suhkrut

vanilliseemned ühest vanillikaunast

Sega vahukoor suhkru ja vanilliseemnetega. Klopi korralikult vahule.

Serveeri praetud saiad, tõstes neile peale lusikatäis maasikajogurtit ja teine vanilli-vahukoort ning raputa peale veidi haitud metspähkleid. Suurepärane nädalalõpuhommikusöök suviseks maasikahooajaks!

Strawberry-semolina mousse with cold milk

Semolina mousse is an estonian dessert, that can be made with whatever you find in your cupboard or cellar - juice, jam, compote, fresh berries... So, it´s not exactly seasonal. But when you use the first strawberries of the summer, it suddenly becomes something else, it tastes so special. And you can feel the real unprocessed taste of the berries, when you eat the mild mousse. Perfect for a sunny summer day, especially if eaten with some cold fresh milk.

You need:
enough fresh strawberries to make about 300-400 ml when pureed
100-200 ml sugar (according to your taste)
about 500 ml water, to make 1 l when you add the pureed berries and sugar
1,5 dl semolina
fresh cold milk and a few extra strawberries for serving

Puree the strawberries, mix in the sugar and taste, if it´s sweet enough. Add water and mix through. Bring the mixture to boil, add quickly semolina, stirring continuously. Simmer in low heat for about 15 minutes until the mousse is porridge-like (not too thick). Remove from heat and let it cool down for a couple of minutes. Then use a mixer to whip it until the porridge turns to a beautiful mousse. Serve with some more berries and cold milk!

Mannavaht värsketest maasikatest

piisavalt maasikaid, et saada neist peale purustamist umbes 300-400 ml püreed

ca 100-200 ml suhkrut

ca 500 ml vett (kokku, koos püreestatud marjade ja suhkruga, peaks tulema umbes 1 l vedelikku)

150 ml mannat

serveerimiseks värsket külma piima ja mõned maasikad

Püreeri saumikseriga maasikad. Lisa suhkur ning maitse, kas toormoos on piisavalt magus. Lisa vesi, sega läbi ja lase keema tõusta. Lisa kiiresti manna, ise pidevalt segades. Keeda madalal kuumusel umbes 15 minutit, kuni manna paisub millekski pudrulaadseks. Tõsta tulelt ja lase mõned minutid jahtuda. Kasuta mikserit, et muuta puder ilusaks vahuks. Serveeri külma piima ja värskete maasikatega!

Summer in spinach soup

Spinach soup is another childhood favourite of mine. My mom used to make it in the beginning of every summer. It´s so light, so easy and so full of iron, to make children strong enough for all those summer games. I love the slight sourness and beautiful green colour. I always add a touch of lemon peel and I think it makes it just perfect. Do try it with fresh spinach of the summer! You´ll need (for 4 portions):

1 garlic clove

1/2 small onion

1/2 ts of grated lemon peel

1 tbs butter

1,5 l of vegetable or chicken stock

3 small potatoes (peeled and cut into small cubes)

2-3 big handfuls of fresh spinach leaves (cut into small pieces)

salt and pepper to taste

2 hardboiled eggs

sour cream and fresh dill to serve

Chop garlic, onion and lemon peel. Fry them for couple of minutes in butter. Add potato cubes to the pot and fry for a few minutes. Add stock and let it boil until the potatoes are cooked. Add spinach leaves, bring to boil. Let the soup boil for a minute and set aside. Season with salt and black pepper. Cut the hardboiled eggs to small pieces and stir into the soup. Serve the soup with a spoonful of sour cream and a bit of fresh dill!

Suvine spinatisupp

Vaja läheb:

1 küüslauguküüs

1/2 väikest sibulat

1 tl sidrunikoort

1 spl võid

3 väiksemat kartulit (lõika kuubikuteks)

1,5 l kana või köögivilja puljongit

2-3 suurt peotäit värskeid spinatileht (haki peeneks)

soola ja pipart maits järgi

2 kõvakskeedetud muna

hapukoort ja värsket tilli serveerimiseks

Haki küüslauk, sibul ja sidrunikoor, prae nad või sees läbipaistvaks. Lisa kartulikuubikud ja prae mõned minutid. Lisa puljong. Keeda suppi, kuni kartulid on pehmed. Lisa spinat, keeda umbes minutijagu ning tõsta supp tulelt. Maitsesta soola ja pipraga. Lisa hakitud munad. Serveeri hapukoore ja värske tilliga!

Floating isles on a rhubarb kissel

Floating isles is a traditional dessert in many countries. Also in Estonia. Here, it is sometimes called "a snowball soup". Rhubarb kissel, on the other hand, is another really popular spring dessert (or drink, as you like it) here. So, I put the two together and got a new approach to the dish we all know well. Who said you should boil the eggwhite isles in milk... I put them in boiling rhubarb kissel. I did not forget the usual sauce of milk and eggyolks, at the same time. I made a vanilla custard and put it on top of the isles. So, I think that if you like floating isles and if you like rhubarb, then this might be a dessert for you! You need (4 servings):

For the kissel:
250 gr of rhubarbs (peeled and cut to pieces)
500 ml cold water
1,5-2 dl of sugar
1,5 tbs of potato starch


For the isles:
3 big egg whites
3 tbs of sugar


You need a couple of tablespoons of good vanilla custard for every serving. So, you can make more, use some for some other desserts, some for the isles and freeze some for a nice vanilla ice cream!


For vanilla custard:
250 ml milk
250 ml whipping cream
3-4 tbs icing sugar
0,5 vanilla bean (split the pod and scrape the seeds out)
4 egg yolks


First, make the custard. For that mix the milk an the cream, add 2 tbs of sugar and vanilla pod (both, the seeds and the pod), bring to boil. Remove and let it cool down a bit. Put the eggyolks to another pot, add the rest of the sugar and whip until foamy. Remove the vanillapod from the liquid. Add a bit of milk-cream mixture to the eggyolks, stirring continously. Repeat this for a few times. Then add the whole milk-cream mixture and stir well. Heat the custard on a bain-marie until it gets thick. Cover and let it cool down!


For the kissel and the floating isles, put the rhubarb pieces to a pot and cover with cold water. Bring to boil.
Mix the eggwhites and sugar, whip until itgets really firm. Take spoonfuls of eggwhite foam and put on the boiling rhubarbs (in one layer). Keep for just a few seconds, then turn all the isles around. Few seconds more and take them out. Repeat until all the whites are turned to isles. Put a few isles to every serving plate. Mix potato starch with just a bit of cold water. When the rhubarbs are soft (about 8 minutes of boiling), add 1,5-2 dl of sugar and starch liquid. Mix through, let it come to boil and remove immediately. Add the kissel to the floating isles on serving plates. Cover with couple of tablespoons of vanilla custard!


Ujuvad saared (või lumepallid) rabarberikissellil


Kisselli jaoks:
250 gr rabarberitükke
500 ml külma vett
1,5-2 dl suhkrut
1,5 spl kartulitärklist


Ujuvate saarte jaoks:
3 munavalget
3 spl suhkrut


Vanillikastme jaoks (valmiv kogus on oluliselt suurem, kui ujuvatele saartele vaja läheb, samas võib ülejäänud koguse jäätiseks külmutada):

250 ml piima
250 ml vahukoort
3-4 tl tuhksuhkrut
0,5 vanillikaun (poolitatud ja seemned eraldatud)
4 munakollast


Esmalt valmista vanillikaste. Selleks sega kokku piim, vahukoor, 2 spl suhkrut ja vanillikaun (nii kaun kui seemned). Kuumuta keemiseni, tõsta tulelt. Lase veidi jahtuda. Sega teises potis munakollased ülejäänud suhkruga ja vahusta heledaks vahuks. Eemalda vanillikaun piimasegust. Lisa veidi piimasegu munakollasevahule, sega pidevalt. Korda sama veel paar korda, lõpuks vala munakollaste hulka kogu piimsegu. Sega korralikult läbi. Kuumuta veevannil, kuni kaste pakseneb. Eemalda ja lase jahtuda.


Pane rabarber potti, lisa külm vesi. Lase keema minna. Vahusta munavalge koos suhkruga tugevaks vahuks. Pane supilusikatäied munavalgevahtu keevate rabarberitükkide peale ujuma, ühe kihina. Lase hetk keeda, pööra neil teine pool. Lase veel hetk keeda ning tõsta saared serveerimiskaussidesse. Kui kõik saared on ära keedetud ja rabarber on pehme, lisa 1,5-2 dl suhkrut ning väheses külmas vees lahustatud tärklis. Sega läbi, lase hetkeks keema tõusta ja eemalda kohe tulelt. Vala kissell ujuvate saarte ümber. Vala igale taldrikule kõige peale paar spl vanillikastet!

Another rhubarb tart, this time on oatmeal base

Here is another great recipe for rhubarb season. I love the light pink swirls, that are hardly visible through the curd cheese (or sieved cottage cheese, if you like) and sour cream mixture. The base (the recipe for which is taken from a great estonian cooking site http://www.perenaine.ee/) adds an extra touch with the interesting texture that comes from a quite a big quantity of 4-grain flakes in it. You need:

For the base:

80 gr butter

60 gr sugar

1 egg

1,5 dl 4-grain flakes

1,5 dl flour

1 ts baking powder

Filling:

200 g curd cheese (or you can use sieved cottage cheese instead)

150 gr sour cream

1 egg

50 gr sugar

4 medium sized rhubarb stalks

100 gr sugar

To make a batter for the base, mix soft butter with sugar, add an egg (room temperature) and mix until smooth. Mix together the dry ingrediences and add to the batter mixture.

Peel the rhubarbs, cut to about 5 cm pieces and put them on a baking tray. Cover with 100 gr of sugar and bake in an oven with 180 C until soft. Remove and break the rhubarbs gently with a fork (not making a puree of them). Mix curd cheese (or cottage cheese) with sour cream. Add the egg and sugar.

Butter the baking mold (with a diameter of 24cm). Cover the base and sides evenly with the base batter. It is easy to do that with wet hands. Mix the baked rhubarbs to the curd cheese mixture and pour it over the base. Bake in the oven of 180 degrees for about 40 minutes or until slightly golden on top and crunchy on the sides. Serve, when it has cooled down!

Rabarberi kohupiimakook 4-viljahelbe põhjal

80 gr võid

60 gr suhkrut

1 muna

1,5 dl 4-viljahelbeid

1,5 dl jahu

1 tl küpsetuspulbrit

Täidiseks:

200 gr kohupiima

150 gr hapukoort

1 muna

50 gr suhkrut

4 keskmise suurusega rabarberivart

100 gr suhkrut

Sega taigna tegemiseks pehme või suhkruga. Lisa toasoe muna ja sega ühtlaseks. Sega omavahel kuivained ja isa taignasegule.

Koori rabarerid, lõika umbes 5 cm tükkideks. Pane ahjupannile ja kata 100 gr suhkruga. Küpseta 180 kraadi juures kuni rabarberid on pehmed. Võta ahjust välja ja suru rabarberid õrnalt kahvliga katki, ilma neid püreeks tegemata.

Sega kohupiim ja hapukoor. Lisa muna ja 50 gr suhkrut.

Määri 24 cm diameetriga vorm võiga, kata vormi põhi ja ääred ühtlaselt taignaga. Seda on hea teha märgade kätega. Lisa kohupiimasegule küpsetatud rabarberid ja vala koogipõhjale. Küpseta 180 C ahjus umbes40 minutit, või kuni kook on pealt õrnalt kuldne ja ääred on krõbedad.

Rhubarb ice cream with a ginger touch

I have lost counting just how many different tings I´ve done with my dear rhubarbs this spring - soufflé, tarts, cakes, muffins etc. But as the last two weeks have been as warm as our best summer here in Estonia, then I had to make something cooling to have next to your sunchair during these hot days. So, I decided to take another couple of rhubarb stalks from my garden and put them into a nice and creamy ice cream. And I added some ginger for that little extra touch. This recipe is perfect, if you don´t have the ice cream machine yet as I don´t. All you need is whipping cream, condensated milk and a freezer.

400 ml whipping cream

1 can of condensed milk (400 g)

4-8 rhubarb stalks (depends on size)

5 tbs of sugar

2 ts of grated ginger

a bit of vanilla seeds or vanilla extract with seeds

Peel the rhubarbs and cut to pieces. Put them on a baking pan, add sugar and grated ginger. Bake in an oven with 180 C until the rhubarbs are completely soft. Remove from oven and brake them with fork to make a puree.

Whip the cream and add one can of condensed milk (on room temperature). Mix through and add half of the rhubarb puree. Stir until smooth. Keep in freezer for about half an hour, until the ise cream is a bit frozen, but still creamy enough to be able to stir. Stir through and add the rest of the puree. Gently fold for a couple of times with a spoon to make beautiful swirls. Freeze completely!

Rabarberijäätis sutsu ingveriga

Retsepti leiad siit!

The easiest rhubarb tart

Another cake with rhubarbs, this time it is a really easy and quick one. It´s more beautiful, if you use the rhubarbs that are red all the way through, the ones that have seen a lot of sun! So probably not the first rhubarbs of the spring.

You need:

500 gr puff pastry

300 gr of curd cheese (or replace it with ricotta)

3 tbls icing sugar

4-8 rhubarbs

4 tbls sugar

a bit of vanilla extract or vanilla seeds

Heat up the oven to 200 degrees C. If you use thick rhubarbs, peel them, if you have young and thin ones, it is not that important. Cut the rhubarbs to about 5 cm pieces. Bake them in the oven, covered with sugar, for 10 minutes. Remove. Mix together curd cheese (or ricotta), icing sugar and vanilla. Cut the puff pastry to about 7-8 cm wide pieces. Make a shallow cut about 1 cm from each edge. Bake the pastry in the preheated oven until it is possible to remove the upper layers of the middle part of each piece. Now you have something like "little puff pastry bowls". Fill them with curd cheese (or ricotta) mixture and set the rhubarb pieces side by side on it. Bake until the edges are golden brown.

Lihtne rabarberi-kohupiima pirukas

Eestikeelse retsepti leiad siit!

Golden fried potatoes with wild garlic sauce

Everyone knows how to fry potatoes, isn´t it? But for many years I tried to figure out the secret of the ones my grandmother made me every morning when I went to her place. I remember that they were so yellow with dark golden edges around. Unfortunately it was too late to ask. So, I started to test. Today, I think, I can tell that I got it right. So, as weird as it might seem to write a detailed description of potato frying to a food blog, this is exactly what I´m going to do. To add a bit of spring freshness to the golden fried potatoes, I made a gorgeous wild garlic (my spring favourite, like rhubarb) sauce with sour cream and cottage cheese. It is so easy and quick, and most importantly - really healthy. Wild garlic has 10 times more vitamin C than lemon, so we have to enjoy it while we can, soon the wild garlic season is over. You need:


Potatoes, as many as you can eat
good frying oil
salt


For the wild garlic sauce:
100 ml of chopped wild garlic leaves
100 ml sour cream
50 ml cottage cheese
salt and pepper to taste
if you want to make more sauce, then just multiply the quantities

For the sauce you have to chop the wild garlic leaves really thin. Mix them with sour cream and cottage cheese. Season with salt and pepper. Let it stay in the fridge until you fry the potatoes.

Wash the potatoes, unpeeled. Put them to a pot full of cold water. Add quite a lot of salt and bring to boil. Let the potatoes boil until they are soft all the way through (try with a fork), but not breaking apart yet. Drain and let them cool down. Peel the potatoes and cut appr 5 mm thick slices. If the potatoe is still warm from inside, wait until it is totally cooled down.

Put a dry pan on hob, let it heat up and pour some oil on the pan. Let the oil heat up also. Then add the potato slices, one by one, in one layer. Wait until they have nice golden edges from one side, then turn around and fry the other side. Season with salt. Serve hot with the cold wild garlic sauce.


Kuldsed praekartulid karulaugu kastmega


eestikeelse retsepti leiad siit

Rhubarb season in Estonia - cake of (happy) tears, our family´s style

The cake of tears (pisarakook) has thousands of different recipes in Estonia. The base and the filling may be different, but the one certain thing is, that the cake is covered with a layer of slightly baked meringue and when it cools down, beautiful little tears appear on top. Well, as rhubarbs are my favourites and as they always are the ones announcing the beginning of summer that we have waited for so long, then it is a cake of happy tears.

Here comes a recipe from my mom. She is the kind of person, who can take a look at what´s in the fridge and bake wonderful cakes. But this one is written down to be shared with all of you. You need:



200 ml sour cream
200 ml sugar
350 ml flour
1 ts baking soda
4 medium sized egg yolks

300 ml rhubarb (peeled and cut to little pieces), if you want, replace some of the rhubarbs with pieces of strawberries

4 egg whites
appr 100 ml sugar



Mix sour cream and sugar together. Add egg yolks and mix until smooth. Mix flour and soda and add to the sour cream mixture. Test the thickness of the batter putting a piece of rhubarb on top of it - if it doesn´t sink, the batter is ok, if it´s sinks, you should add a bit more flour. Butter a round baking tray with a diameter of around 27 cm (if you have smaller tray, you should reduce the quantity of batter also, otherwise the base will be too thick). Pour the batter to the tray and cover evenly with the pieces of rhubarb (and strawbrries). Bake in preheated oven of 180 degrees for 30-40 minutes.



While the cake is in the oven, whip the eggwhites until they reach soft peaks. Add the sugar and whisk until they reach stiff peaks.

Remove the cake from the oven and turn up the heat to 225 degrees. Cover the cake with the meringue. Return the cake to the oven for about 3 minutes until some of the meringue starts turning slightly golden. Remove from the oven and let it cool down. The cake should have beautiful little teardrops on top of it when it has cooled down!

Rabarberi pisarakook meie pere moodi

200 ml hapukoort

200 ml suhkrut

350 ml jahu

1 tl soodat

4 keskmise suuruseg munakollast

300 ml kooritud rabarberi tükke (või asenda osa soovi korral maasikatega)

4 munavalget

ca 100 ml suhkrut

Sega hapukoor suhkruga. Lisa munakollased ja sega ühtlaseks. Sega sooda jahusse ja lisa taignale. Testi taigna paksust visates ühe rabarbritüki taignale - kui see ära ei upu, on kõik ok, kui upub, tuleb veel veidi jahu lisada. Määri 27cm läbimõõduga vorm võiga kokku (kui sul on väiksem vorm, tee ka tainast vähem, kuna muidu saab koogipõhi liiga paks). Vala tainas vormi. Puista ühtlaselt rabarbritükke peale. Küpseta eelkuumutatud ahjus 180 kraadi juures 30-40 min. Samal ajal vahusta munavalged pehmeks vahuks. Lisa suhkur ja vahusta edasi, kuni moodustub tugev vaht.

Tõsta kook ahjust välja ja keera ahju kuumus 225 peale. Vala munavalgevaht koogile ja silu ühtlaseks. Pista umbes 3 minutiks veel ahju, kuni pealispind hakkab õrnalt kuldses minema. Tõsta ahjust välja ja lase jahtuda. Koogi pinnale peaksid moodustuma kaunid pisarad.

Sweet curd cheese donut-balls

I still remember my happiness every time my mom decided to make those delicious little curd cheese donuts when I was a child. If you are looking for them in Estonia, look for something called "kohupiima pontšikud". They look so beautiful in their golden brown colour and tender icing sugar cover. The curd cheese in the batter gives a subtle sourness to them that suites so perfectly with the sweetness of the sugar. If you cannot get the curd cheese, then try to replace it with the cottage cheese (pushed through a sieve) or Petit Suisse (as my good friend Mari, who has lived in France, suggested). You need:

200 gr of curd cheese
1 ts baking powder
2 eggs
10 tbs milk
4 tbs sugar
400 gr wheat flour
a bit of grated nutmeg or orange peel
pinch of salt
icing sugar for serving
Rapeseed oil for deep frying

Mix curd cheese, eggs and milk. Add baking powder, sugar, flour and salt, mix until smooth. Season with nutmeg or orange peel. Heat oil (enough to cover the donut balls) up. Test if it is hot enough putting a wooden spoon in, if small bubbles start to come up, the oil is ready for frying. Take a bit of batter with tablespoon and pop the batter to oil. Repeat the same over and over again, until you have many little donut balls getting a golden skin in the oil. Remove the donuts and put them on a kitchen paper, to get rid of the extra oil. When the sweet little balls have cooled down, serve them with some icing sugar sprinkled on! Lovely with a big cup of fesh cold milk!



Kohupiimapontšikud

200 gr kohupiima
2 muna
1 tl küpsetuspulbrit
10 spl piima
4 spl suhkrut
400 gr jahu
riivitud muskaatpähklit või apelsinikoort
suts soola
serveerimiseks tuhksuhkrut
Rapsiõli pontšikute praadimiseks

Sega kokku kohupiim, munad ja piim. Lisa küpsetuspulber, suhkur, jahu ja sool. Sega ühtlaseks ja maitsesta muskaatpähkli või apelsinikoorega. Kuumuta õli potis. Et õli kuumust testida, pista puust lusikas õli sisse, kui selle pinnalt hakkavad üles tõusma väisked mullid, on õli piisavalt kuum. Vala supilusikatäied tainast õli sisse ja prae, kuni nad on kuldpruunid. Tõsta köögipaberile nõrguma. Serveerimisel raputa nad üle tuhksuhkruga. Maitseb imehästi tassikese külma piimaga!