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.

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.

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!

Hearty soup of potato and smoked cheese

If there is one thing that is the basis of estonian cuisine, then that must be potato. Our families eat it almost every day, either baked, boiled, mashed, roasted, fried or in salads. Also, estonians are good in smoking food. A beautiful snack of ours, is smoked cheese with it´s strong taste and smoky aroma. In this soup, potato and smoked cheese work together. The idea comes from a great little farm restaurant in Southern Estonia, Tammuri Talurestoran. You need:

600 gr of potatoes
200 gr of smoked cheese
1 tbs of butter
50 ml of heated milk and 150 ml of cream (around 20 % of fat)
Salt and pepper
Smoked ham or bacon

Boil the potatoes until they are soft, smash them to puré. The soup will turn out especially silky, if you push the potatoes through a thin sieve. Use a blender to mix together the smoked cheese and cream-milk mixture. Heat up the cheese mixture, add butter and mashed potatoes. If the soup seems too thick, add a bit more of milk and mix well. Season with salt and pepper. Grill quickly under high heat some strips of smokes ham or bacon until crispy. Serve the soup garnished with fresh dill and grilled ham on top.

Kartuli-suitsujuustusupp Tammuri Talu moodi

600 gr kartuleid
200 gr suitsujuustu
1 spl võid
50 ml soojendatud piima ja 150 ml vahukoort
soola/pipart
veidi suitsusinki

Keeda kartul pehmeks ja tambi püreeks (eriti ilusa supi saab, kui kartulid läbi sõela ajada). Purusta saumikseriga juust ja vahukoore-piima segu. Aja juustusegu potis kuumaks, lisa või ja kartulipüree. Kui supp on liiga paks, vedelda piimaga. Maitsetsa soola ja musta pipraga. Grilli suitsusingi või peekoni ribad grilli all krõbedaks. Pane serveerimisel supile värsket tilli ja grillitud suitsusingiribad.