NAMI-NAMI: a food blog

Nami-Nami Easter Brunch 2024

noreply@blogger.com (Pille) — Sun, 30 Mar 2025 08:34:00 +0000

Easter last year was on March 31st in 2024, exactly a year ago (well, one year tomorrow). As I am planning the menu for this year's Easter on April 20th, it's a good to time to look back to the previous brunch.

We've been hosting an Easter brunch on an Easter Sunday for over a dozen years now and it's one of the entertaining highlights for me. I love Christmas, don't get me wrong, but while Christmas is all about family, then Easter is all about friends, so they are two very different occasions. Also - while Christmas traditions seem to be more set in stone, sorry, traditions, then Easter gives much more opportunities to try something new. I think the only Easter constant is the traditional pashka dessert :)

Here's the Facebook event cover from 2024 - we had 27 people around, including ourselves:

And here's the menu (in Estonian):

We usually set the whole table at once, so it's buffee-style or "Swedish table", as we say in Estonian ("rootsi laud"). Not the best of photos, but you get an idea.

We started with some cold cuts and starters. We had some fish preserves from our skiing trip to Ruka, Northern Finland. Our friend Piret brought along some of her home-made and delectable cep/porcini mushroom preserves.

I made some rye canapes with smoked tofu and cucumber (on the photo at 2 o'clock from the apples, recipe in Estonian here). A really nice vegan canapé - I used a local smoked tofu, a Fiinish fermented oat cream, some red onion, lemon and some seasoning. Tastes a bit like a smoked fish salad and looks really nice garnished with fresh cucumber and some micro greens. (See yourself here).

There was a big bowl of fresh cabbage salad with Green Goddess dressing. (Pictured on the top left corner above). I know some versions of this dressing also use anchovy, but I make a vegetarian version with either sour cream or Greek yogurt, avocado, garlic and different herbs (usually basil, parsley, cilantro/coriander). Again, you'll find the recipe in Estonian here.

Two of the dishes were inspired by Yotam Ottolenghi, as recommended in the Guardian (see here). One was vegetarian, a fennel and pepper gratin, which I served sans cheese and bread crumb topping;

(Recipe in Estonian here; in English here).

The other was a spiced Easter lamb with marmalade glaze, which was absolutely wonderful and flavoursome. We often serve lamb at our Easter brunch and this did not dissappoint. (You'll find recipe in English here and in Estonian here).

When I was still living and working in Scotland, but already dating K, we met up in Paris for a romantic getaway May 2006 - almost 19 years ago. The date went well, obviously, as I decided to move back to my homeland 5 months later - and we're still living together 19 years on, parenting our three lovely kids etc. Anyway, during that weekend in Paris, we had a delicious spinach and smoked salmon quiche at a small deli-cafe near Luxemburg garden. I later recreated that quiche and we still make it regularly - and it always brings back nice memories of that first trip to Paris. (We went back to Paris to celebrate our tenth anniversary and since then we've been there with our kids as well.)

I have shared the recipe on this blog,

One of my favourite dishes at the brunch was this warm roast beetroot and broccoli salad with spicy chickpeas - a recipe from an Estonian food writer Rita Osa (recipe in Estonian here).

I had planned to make Nigella Lawson's cherry tomato couscous, but had run out of couscous, so used fine bulghur instead. It worked really well (recipe in Estonian here).

For sweets, I made pecan brownies, using my regular - and favourite brownie recipe.

We also had some fresh fruit and berries on the table, as well as cheese. My friend Liina brought along a curd cheese cake (kohupiimakook) and of course we had home-made pashka:

For drinks we had Virgin Palomas (recipe in Estonian), sea buckthorn and lemonade Semusas (recipe in Estonian) and some delicious non-alcoholic drinks from Öun Drinks, a local producer of fine beverages.

So, have you started thinking of this year's Easter menu already? What dishes are on the long list at the moment? Let me know in the comments.

From the archives:

We've hosted an Easter brunch for friends annually since 2007 (I moved back home to Estonia and in with K. from Scotland in October 2006, so it's 'our thing'). I see I have a lot of catching up to do :)

Easter brunch 2024
Easter brunch 2023
Easter brunch 2022 - just a small family gathering for a change
Easter brunch 2021
Easter brunch 2020
Easter brunch 2019
Easter brunch 2018
Easter brunch 2017
Easter brunch 2016 - no Easter brunch, as we were travelling in Singapore and on Bali
Easter brunch 2015
Easter brunch 2014
Easter brunch 2013
Easter brunch 2012
Easter brunch 2011
Easter brunch 2010
Easter brunch 2009
Easter brunch 2008
Easter brunch 2007

IKRA - Russian eggplant caviar/Russian aubergine caviar

noreply@blogger.com (Pille) — Thu, 19 Mar 2020 14:45:00 +0000

Someone was looking for a "soft aubergine/eggplant spread with tomatoes" and I knew exactly what they were talking about. There's a dish in Russia, our Eastern neighbour, which is called IKRA or fake caviar.

I got this recipe from Russian friend Galina back in Edinburgh sometimes around 2000. Still makes a regular appearance in our kitchen. It's lovely on a slice of toast, or as a condiment or spread on a mezze-table.

Russian aubergine spread IKRA

1 large aubergine/eggplant
1 large onion
2 garlic cloves
2 tomatoes
1 Tbsp olive oil or vegetable oil
2 Tbsp white wine vinegar or lemon juice
salt and freshly ground black pepper
fresh parsley or dill

Prick the aubergine with a fork here and there, then place into a preheated 200C/400F oven and bake for about 60 minutes, until fully cooked and slightly charred on the outside. Flip over once or twice during baking.

Remove from the oven, let it cool. Then cul half lengthwise and scoop out the flesh. Place into a cutting board and chop finely. Place into a medium-sized bowl.

Peel the onion, cut into halve and then chop finely. '

Peel the tomatoes (make a small X-cut at the bottom, place into a boiling water for about 30 minutes, drain and peel). Dice the tomatoes finely.

Mince the garlic.

Mix the aubergine, onion, tomatoes and garlic in the bowl, add the oil and vinegar/lemon juice. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Cover the bowl with a clingfilm and put the ikra into the fridge for a few hours, so the flavours can mingle and develop.

Sprinkle with chopped fresh herbs just before serving.

Dyeing Easter Eggs with Onion Skins, Estonian style

noreply@blogger.com (Pille) — Mon, 15 Apr 2019 21:00:00 +0000

This was originally posted in 2011. You'll find all my Easter recipes here.

We don't really 'do' chocolate eggs for Easter here in Estonia, but real, chicken eggs. Dyeing eggs for Easter is very popular, and using onion skins is probably the most popular method. Using onion peels gives you most beautiful dyed eggs, each one unique and special. Here are some photos of the process that I took few years ago.

Here's what you need to do:

* Few weeks before Easter start collecting onion peels. Yellow ones are better than red onion skins, as they give a nice colour.

* You need white eggs for doing this (this gives the shops a chance to sell specially packaged white eggs for a much higher price before the festivities).

* Take an egg and neatly put few onion peels around it:

* Take a piece of mesh/muslin/kitchen foil or even an old nylon stocking and wrap it around the egg to keep the onion peels on place. I used foil here:

* Boil as usual. Cool, then unwrap and unpeel.

Here's the result - each egg is unique and gorgeous:

Natasha describes a similar, though less complicated way of dyeing eggs with onion peels that's popular in Russia and Ukraine: Russian Easter Eggs. My 91-year old grandmother uses the same method - she says she's too old to "play around" with the onion peels too much :)

Estonian layered curd cheese cake (kihiline kohupiimakook)

noreply@blogger.com (Pille) — Sun, 08 Jul 2018 19:02:00 +0000

The photo is from January 2008

We love our curd cheese cakes in Estonia - and you'll find at least five curd cheese cake recipes here on my blog. This particular one is one of the most common curd cheese cakes out there. It uses a shop-bough yellow cake mix ("Juubeli tordipulber" or "Jubileum cake mix"), making it super-quick to assemble, and many Estonian cooks would have a packed somewhere in the kitchen drawer, just in cake. I'm an avid baker, love baking from scratch, and I do, just in cake :)

I'm posting it here, as someone was looking for the English recipe and I realised I hadn't shared it yet.

It's lovely when enjoyed lukewarm, with a glass of cold milk, but it's also really nice when completely cooled and accompanied with a cup of coffee or tea or cacao.

Layered curd cheese cake

(Kihiline kohupiimakook)
Feeds 6 to 8

400 g creamy curd cheese
200 g sour cream (20% fat content is perfect)
4 eggs (L)
4 Tbsp caster sugar
1 yellow cake mix (450 g)
50 g butter
a handful of seedless raisins (optional)

Break the eggs into the mixing bowl, add sugar and whisk until thick, pale and frothy. Gently fold in the curd cheese and sour cream (and raisins, if using).

Butter a Ø 26 cm (10 inch) cake tin or springform tin.

Sprinkle 1/3 of the cake mix (still dry, in its powder form!) onto the base, then scatter small dots of butter on top.

Gently pour or spoon half of the wet mixture into the tin. Now scatter half of the remaining dry cake mix into the tin, cover with the rest of the wet mixture and then the rest of the dry cake mixture. Scatter the remaining butter on top.

Bake in the middle of a pre-heated 200 C oven for 35-40 minutes, until the cake is golden brown and cooked through.

Let it cool before serving.

Nami-Nami Easter Brunch 2018

noreply@blogger.com (Pille) — Sun, 01 Apr 2018 11:16:00 +0000

Happy Easter, everyone!

Easter fell on April 1st this year. Here are some of the dishes from our Easter party:

Fresh pea quiche:

Some kind of salad:

Nigel Slater's sweet and sticky chicken wings:

Matjes herring bites with lemon and trout roe:

I found this fun meatball and beetroot salad recipe from the Swedish ICA.se site:

Raisin buns:

Sweet rolls, dusted with icing sugar:

Of course, pashka:

From the archives:

Easter brunch 2024
Easter brunch 2023
Easter brunch 2022 - just a small family gathering for a change
Easter brunch 2021
Easter brunch 2020
Easter brunch 2019
Easter brunch 2018
Easter brunch 2017
Easter brunch 2016 - no Easter brunch, as we were travelling in Singapore and on Bali
Easter brunch 2015
Easter brunch 2014
Easter brunch 2013
Easter brunch 2012
Easter brunch 2011
Easter brunch 2010
Easter brunch 2009
Easter brunch 2008
Easter brunch 2007

Oven-roasted duck with plums and red onions

noreply@blogger.com (Pille) — Fri, 24 Nov 2017 10:08:00 +0000

We love duck in our house. It's just as easy to cook as your regular Sunday chicken roast, but because it's less common, somewhat pricier and much bitter, it has a more festive feel to it. We don't cook duck for weeknight dinners, but for weekend roasts and entertaining at home, it's such a worthy bird.

Here's a version I cooked a few times this autumn, trying to perfect it for a magazine photo shoot :)

Serves around 6

Oven-roasted duck with plums and red onions

(Ahjupart ploomide ja sibulaga)

1 whole duck (ca 3-3,5 kilograms; I prefer chilled to frozen)
salt and freshly ground black pepper
300-400 ml of hot water
5-6 smallish red onions
few decent garlic cloves
4 cloves (the spice)
1 kilograms large red plums
3-4 fresh thyme sprigs

Preheat the oven to 180 °C/350 °F.

Season the duck with salt and pepper, both inside and out. Place into a good-sized oven dish (I used a lasagne dish on the photo, but a wide dutch oven would do as well). Pour hot water into the dish, place the dish into the preheated oven and roast for an hour.

While the duck is roasting, peel the onions, halve lengthwise. Peel the garlic cloves.

Remove the duck from the oven and place the onions, garlic cloves, cloves (the spice) and thyme sprigs around the duck. Return to the oven for another hour.

Halve the plums, remove the stones. Take the duck out of the oven, and place the plum halves around the duck.

Increase the heat to 220 °C/425 °F. Return the duck into the oven and roast for another 30 minutes or until the duck skin in deliciously golden brown and crispy. The meat thermometer should read 73-74 °C/163-165 °F when pierced into the middle of the thickest part of the duck leg.

Remove the duck from the oven and let rest of 10 minutes. Pour the pan jus through the sieve, place into a small saucepan and cook until slightly thickened.

Then carve the rested duck into portions and serve with roasted plums, onion and garlic and the reduction.

Nami-Nami Easter brunch 2017

noreply@blogger.com (Pille) — Sun, 16 Apr 2017 10:43:00 +0000

Easter was on April 16th this year and of course we had friends over for our traditional Easter brunch on that day. Here's what we served :)

There was duck with pomegranate seeds and mint - a recipe from Nigella Lawson's book "Nigella Express" (2007; recipe in Estonian here).

There was carrot and sunflower seed salad - a recipe from now-defunct blog "Our Four Forks", who had adapted it from "The Rose Bakery" cookbook (recipe in Estonian here):

I made a salad with sweet potato and feta cheese (recipe in Estonian here):

For our main dish this year, I baked a leg of lamb with rosemary and juniper berries, inspired by this BBC recipe:

I baked a large cottage cheese and Väasterbottensost cheese tart:

Our friend Liisa contributed this cheese quiche:

One of my staple crostini recipes for years now - and for years to come - is this little thing from Tesco UK - Brie and grape crostini. Goes beautifully with wine, by the way, and can bridge the savoury and sweet courses:

Of course, there was pashka - this time made by our friend Kristiina:

Hope you all had a lovely Easter with your friends and family.

From the archives:

Easter brunch 2024
Easter brunch 2023
Easter brunch 2022 - just a small family gathering for a change
Easter brunch 2021
Easter brunch 2020
Easter brunch 2019
Easter brunch 2018
Easter brunch 2017
Easter brunch 2016
Easter brunch 2015
Easter brunch 2014
Easter brunch 2013
Easter brunch 2012
Easter brunch 2011
Easter brunch 2010
Easter brunch 2009
Easter brunch 2008
Easter brunch 2007

TOP 10 highlights from my trip to Australia in January 2017

noreply@blogger.com (Pille) — Thu, 30 Mar 2017 12:17:00 +0000

I'm a slow girl, a typical northener, you see. Back in January I had the opportunity to visit Australia, courtesy of the Australian winemaker, Jacob's Creek, and it's probably about time I shared some of the highlights from that whirlwind tour.

First of all, I almost didn't go, meaning I almost turned down the offer to visit. Leaving our three small kids in charge of my busy partner in the middle of the school term seemed a bit daunting, but he was more than happy to accept the challenge and let me go on a business trip for a change. Our girls were 4 and 7 in January, our boy turned 6 on the day of the departure - and there was school for the oldest and kindergarten for the two younger ones, violin practices, ballet classes, basketball and football/soccer sessions and so on and so on to be followed. On hindsight, he did a great job, my dear K, so next time such an exciting opportunity arises, I'll accept it without hesitation :)

Meeting new friends

Jacob's Creek invited two Estonians to participate at their first international Our Table event. I was travelling with a well-known Estonian wine expert, Kalev Vapper, whom I knew only from the TV screen. He used to host several TV shows few years ago, and is now the wine buyer for one of the big supermarket chains here in Estonia.

A trip to Down Under is not an easy one, when travelling from such a small country far north. We met at the Tallinn Airport late on a Sunday evening and hopped over to Helsinki in Finland - that's less than 30 minutes up in the air. We then had a few hours to chat in Helsinki, then spent the next 11 hours on a Finnair plane from Helsinki to Singapore. Another few hours of waiting, then 8 more hours on a rather, well, cramped Jetstar carrier to Melbourne. Factor in the different time zones - and here we are, all exhausted and bleary-eyed after arriving in Melbourne on Tuesday morning:

Catching up with old friends #1

While my travel companion headed straight to the hotel, I had a date at the airport. Back in 1992-1993 I spent a year in Denmark as an exchange student, part of an AYUSA programme. It was at the beginning of the programme that I met Anthony, a guy from Melbourne. He actually spent his exchange year in Sweden, but the orientation programme for all the Estonians, Americans and Australians was in Denmark. We've kept touch over the years, and Anthony has actually been to Estonia twice.

I was of course looking forward to catching up with Anthony while in Melbourne, but as it happened, he was due to go on a family holiday in Tanzania on exactly the same dates. We did manage to meet a at the airport, however, and I'm extremely happy about that.

room picnic with Heidi Gruyere from Tasmania, potato crackerthins (Valley Produce Co.), mushroom and verjuice pate (@maggie_beer) also a bottle of @puntrdwines 2015 Pinot Noir from Yarra Valley and some mineral water :) #hotelroompicnic

Melbourne welcomed me with a soaring 33 Celsius - little did I know that this was only the beginning!

Lovely, lovely food #1 (Sezar, Melbourne)

After waving goodbye to Anthony, his lovely wife Maryanne and their two kids, I headed to the hotel. Although the initial plan was to unpack, refresh and get out to explore the city, I succumbed to sleep and only woke up before the first meal. Our Table group (rather big, 40+) was bussed toGlen Waverly, a suburb of Melbourne, for a welcome dinner and drinks at a trendy Sezar, a restaurant specialising on Modern Armenian food. I love Armenian food - although there's just lone recipe on this blog - with its heavy use of lamb, aubergines/eggplants and soft lavosh flatbreads, and I adored the food at Sezar. Served family-style, subtly spiced, well seasoned, cooked to perfection - That lamb! That pumpkin! The place was crowned, the buzz was overwhelming and I left the place very satiated indeed.

Here's a list of my three favourite dishes from Sezar:

Roasted Pumpkin, Red Pepper Paste, Crispy Bulghur, Sheep's Milk Cheese

Kataifi Wrapped Lamb Neck and Sesame Mayo

Slow Cooked Lamb Shoulder, served with Sour Cherry Sauce, Garlic Yogurt and Tahini Yogurt

Twice-Cooked Chicken Wings with Pomegranate Glaze, Pistachio and Coriander

(I'm also a lucky recipient of recipes of all those dishes - thank you, Kora & the Sezar team!)

This being a wine tour, we drank lots of good wine. Our wine ambassador for the night was Stockholm-based Australian musician/oenophile Richard Doumani (see @clarinet2claret), and he had paired the food at Sezar with Reserve Chardonnay Pinot Noir (Vintage 2016), Adelaide Hills Reserve Chardonnay (Vintage 2015), Limited Release Mataro Rosé (2016), Adelaide Hills Reserve Pinot Noir (Vintage 2015), Double Barrel Shiraz Barossa 2015 (which ended up being one of the favourites during the trip). Lots of good Australian wine, lots of it :)

Visit to Steingarten Wineyard, where it all began

To be continued...

Traditional Christmas roast (oven-baked pork shoulder with honey, mustard and rosemary)

noreply@blogger.com (Pille) — Mon, 19 Dec 2016 09:56:00 +0000

From the recipe archives (originally posted in December 2012. Still my favourite Christmas roast).
Photo by Juta Kübarsepp for the December issue of Kodu ja Aed magazine, 2012

What's your traditional Christmas roast (assuming you're eating meat)? Turkey? Goose? Duck?

In Estonia it's definitely pork, though roast poultry has become more popular during recent years. I've been flirting with roast goose and actually served duck leg confit on Christmas Eve this year. It was delicious.

However, for years I've been serving pork roast - a pork shoulder (kaelakarbonaad in Estonian) in a mustard-honey-garlic-rosemary marinade, to be more precise. I love that it's a pretty fool-proof recipe, simple to make, with lots of flavour. And - as an added bonus - any leftovers are excellent on top of rye bread on the days after the party, or as part of a salad. So if you're not making it for a big family feast, you can still make the same amount and simply make several meals out of it.

So here you go. Nami-Nami's traditional Christmas roast. On the photo above, it's accompanied by black pudding ('blood sausages') - another traditional Christmas dish.

Wish you all a lovely festive season!!!

Traditional Christmas roast
(Ahjupraad karbonaadist)
Serves about 10

2 kg boneless pork shoulder (Boston butt)
3-4 Tbsp honey
3-4 Tbsp Dijon mustard or Estonian Põltsamaa mustard
2-3 fresh rosemary sprigs (leaves only)
3 large garlic cloves
2 tsp sea salt

Finely chop garlic cloves and rosemary leaves, then mix with honey and mustard until combined.
Season the meat generously with salt, then spread the mustard-honey mixture all over the pork shoulder and massage into the meat.
Place the pork shoulder into a large ovenproof dish, cover with foil and place into a fridge or cold larder for 1-2 days.
Bring back to the room temperature about an hour before you plan to cook the meat.
If you have a meat thermometer, then stick it into the thickest part of the meat (you can do this through the kitchen foil).
Roast the meat in a pre-heated 160 C / 320 F oven for about 2,5 hours or until the meat thermometer has reached 82-85 C/ 180-185 F.
If you plan to serve gravy with your meat, then pour a cup of hot water into the baking tray half-way through the cooking.
When the meat is cooked, remove the foil, season the meat once more lightly with salt and then bake for another 10-15 minutes at about 200-220 C/ 390-425 F, just to brown the meat a little.

Remove the roast pork from the oven, cover again with a kitchen foil and leave to rest for 20-30 minutes before carving into thin slices.

This recipe was also included in my latest cookbook, Jõulud kodus ("Christmas at Home"), published in Estonian in November 2011.
I also included the recipe in the December 2012 issue of Kodu & Aed magazine.

Exploring the Fish Market in Jimbaran, Bali

noreply@blogger.com (Pille) — Wed, 23 Nov 2016 17:09:00 +0000

Our little family of five spent three weeks exploring the beautiful Island of the Gods aka Bali earlier this year. We began our family vacation in Jimbaran, then stayed in the quaint artists' village of Penestanan just outside Ubud, then explored Northern Bali from Dencarik on Lovina beach and ended our holiday with a short stay in Canggu on the West coast again. Although the kids - then 3, 5 and 7 - were the one setting the pace and nature of our vacation, we did cram in quite a few food-related activities as well.

Visiting the famous fish market in Jimbaran was one of them.

We relied on local taxis to get around on Bali, as the local traffic was somewhat intimidating to a Northern European like me. So I'm unable to give you exact instructions re: how to get to the market - just ask your cab driver. But do get there early - the market opens around dawn at 6 am - for the best selection of fish and liveliest action, even if you are there just for window-shopping.

Traditional fish baskets drying in the sun:

Balinese jukung, below, is a small wooden outrigger canoe, and they are always very colourful and highly decorated. These are traditional fishing boats on the island, though modern uses include transporting scuba-divers and whale-spotters as well :)

One of the many fish restaurants at the market:

While we did manage to identify all the fruit we ate while on the island and put an English and an Estonian name to all of them (post coming soon), we quickly gave up any hope of identifying the seafood. Just look at the selection - the colours are like I've only seen in a goldfish tank, not at your local fishmonger.

Although a lot of the trading takes place outside, just next to the incoming fishing boats, there is a large covered area, which is packed with vendors. There's no room to swing a cat in there - or "Kilud karbis," we'd say in Estonian - but there were plenty of transactions taking place. Unfortunately it was way too dark to take proper photos, and the kids felt somewhat uneasy in there - the noise, the smells, the sheer amount of funky-coloured fish and a number of people can seem intimidating when you're just three or five, I imagine :)

Have you been to Bali? Did you have a chance to enjoy some local seafood?

Persimmon with honeyed yoghurt

noreply@blogger.com (Pille) — Sat, 12 Nov 2016 14:28:00 +0000

How do you enjoy the persimmons, in season right now?

Here in Estonia we can by mostly the heart-shaped hachiya variety, which is astringent when raw, but meltingly sweet when ripe. We usually just wash them and cut into wedges, but there's also this super-easy and lovely way of serving them, adapted from the Australian Persimmon Inc page here.

Remember, only try this with perfectly rip persimmons unless you want to be utterly disappointed.

Persimmon with honeyed yoghurt
(Hurmaa mesise jogurtiga)
Serves 4

400 grams Greek yogurt
1 large hachiya persimmon
4 tsp of runny honey
fresh thyme leaves

Divide yoghurt between four small dessert bowls or glasses.
Wash and dry the persimmon (no need to peel!), cut into thin wedges. Top the yoghurt with 2-3 persimmon slices. Drizzle some honey on top, garnish with fresh thyme leaves and serve.

Previously on Nami-Nami:

Persimmon and cottage cheese dessert (December 2008)

Genius Apple Rollups aka Crispy Apple Bread Cigars

noreply@blogger.com (Pille) — Tue, 18 Oct 2016 07:26:00 +0000

Those baked apple pie roll ups by Spend With Pennies turned up on social media last week and I decided to give them a go. It's a very good year for apples in Estonia this year, we're inundated with them! A good reason to try out as many new and old apple recipes out there :)

For the original recipe, see Spend With Pennies blog. Here's what I did, using homemade apple jam of course :)

Crispy Apple Roll-Ups
(Moositäidisega saiarullid)
18 "cigars"

18 sliced of white bread
thick and chunky apple jam
50 g butter, melted
cinnamon
demerara sugar or golden caster sugar

Preheat the oven to 180 C/370 F. Take a medium-sized shallow oven dish and brush lightly with melted butter.

Pour the melted butter onto a small shallow dish.

Remove the crusts off the sliced bread, then roll each slice with a rolling pin until flattened thin. Put a heaped tablespoonful of apple jam alongside one end of the flattened bread (see this pic on my Instagram), then roll tighly. Roll the rolled bread quickly in the melted butter, then place into the oven dish, "seam" underneath.

Repeat with the rest of the bread slices and apple jam. When all "cigars" are done and neatly tucked into the oven dish, then sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar (go easy on the sugar, be generous with the cinnamon).

Place the dish into the preheated oven and bake for about 15-20 minutes, until the bread cigars are golden and crispy.

Remove from the oven, let cool a little. Enjoy - eating either with your fingers, or nicely plated with some vanilla ice cream.

It's cinnamon bun day (kanelbullens dag)!

noreply@blogger.com (Pille) — Tue, 04 Oct 2016 05:30:00 +0000

It's Cinnamon Bun Day in Sweden today. Cinnamon Bun Day was established in 1999, or 17 years ago, when Swedish Home Baking Council (Hembakningsrådet) came up with the idea when looking for a way to celebrate their 40th anniversary. Many Swedes rush to their favourite bakery today and buy some kanelbullar - or bake their own. You'll find a good recipe for Swedish kanelbullar over on Sweden.se site (written by Anne).

I've previously given you recipe for my traditional cinnamon rolls (with step-by-step photos), as well as the hugely popular cinnamon pull-apart bread. Today's recipe is for Finnish korvapuustit ('Slapped ears') - more or less the same thing, just shaped and braided slightly differently.

Korvapuustit/Finnish cinnamon buns
(Soomlaste kaneelisaiad)
Makes about 16 large buns

450 g all-purpose flour (about 750 ml or 3 cups)
85 g caster sugar (100 ml)
1.5 tsp ground cardamom pods
0.5 tsp salt
1 packet of fast-action dried yeast (about 11 g)
250 ml lukewarm milk (1 cup)
1 egg (divided)
75 g butter, softened

Filling:
50 g butter, softened
4 Tbsp caster sugar
cinnamon

Topping:
pearl sugar (optional)

In a large mixing bowl, mix most of the flour, sugar, cardamom, salt and yeast. Stir in the milk and about half of the egg (leave some for brushing the buns before baking). Knead in the softened butter and the rest of the flour, if necessary. Knead until you've got a soft and pliable dough that releases from the sides of the bowl. Cover with clingfilm or a clean towel and leave to prove for about 45-60 minutes, until doubled in size. (The place for proving should be warm and draught-free).
Turn the dough onto a lightly floured table, knead gently couple of times. Roll into a reclangle sized 30x60 cm. Spread soft butter over the dough, then sprinkle generously with cinnamon and sugar. Roll up tightly, starting from the long side, leaving the "seam" under the roll.

Now use a sharp knife to cut into buns, following the scheme here. The buns should be about 2 cm wide on the narrow end and 5 cm on the wide end.

Transfer onto a parchment-lined baking sheet, placing them upright. Using your thumbs or a large pencil, press a dent into the middle of each bun, just like this:

Cover with a kitchen towel and leave to raise for another 30 minutes in a warm place. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 225 C/450 F.

Brush with egg wash and sprinkle with pearl sugar. Bake in a preheated oven for 10-15 minutes, until the buns and golden brown.

Take the baking sheet out of the oven, and cover the buns with a kitchen towel and let them cool (a little) - this way they remain nice and soft.

Berry muffins, fit for the Queen

noreply@blogger.com (Pille) — Mon, 08 Aug 2016 20:29:00 +0000

For some reason, our northern neighbours, the Finns, call dishes containing raspberries and blueberries (well, actually bilberries) kuningatar-this and kuningatar-that, the prefix kuningatar- meaning the queen. I'm yet to conduct research why this is so (any Finnish readers out there who know? Ritva, perhaps?), but here are some delicious summer muffins containing blueberries and raspberries - and would hence be called kuningatarmuffinsit or "queen's muffins" in Finland :)

I call them simply:

Summer Berry Muffins
(Kuningannamuffinid)
Yields 12 regular muffins

100 g butter, at room temperature
125 g caster sugar
2 tsp vanilla sugar
2 eggs (L)
50-100 ml (about 4-7 Tbsp) milk, buttermilk or kefir
120 g all-purpose flour or fine white spelt flour
60 g wholemeal flour
1.5 tsp baking powder
200 g blueberries and raspberries
pearl sugar (optional)

Cream the butter and sugars until white and soft (I use the paddle attachment of my standing mixer). Add the eggs, one at a time, and whisking thoroughly after adding each egg. Pour in the milk.

Mix the dry ingredients (flours and baking powder), fold into the egg, butter and sugar mixture.

Finally, gently fold in the berries.

Line the muffin pan with paper muffin liners, then divide the muffin mixture into the muffin cups. Sprinkle with pearl sugar, if you feel like.

Bake at pre-heated 200 C (390 F) for 15-20 minutes, until the muffins have risen and are lovely golden brown.

Let cool a little and serve.

These are best on the day they are baked. Here's a sneak peek to the inside of the muffin: my instagram muffin-pic.

Anne's shrimp and mango salad

noreply@blogger.com (Pille) — Sun, 24 Jul 2016 19:20:00 +0000

We had some friends over today and I needed something bright and yummy (and without gluten) to be served on this sunny day. I was browsing my to-do(-again) lists, and opted for a refreshing mango and shrimp salad that I've made before. It's light, it's easy, and it's quite an eye-catcher, so perfect for a summer get-together. As I suspected, it was very well received - though you might hold back with the chilli when catering for kids as well ;)

The original recipe is from Anne's blog, and she's actually blogged about it a couple of times (see here and here)

Shrimp and Mango Salad
(Kreveti-mangosalat)
Serves four

300 g peeled cooked shrimp
300 g mango cubes
1 red chilli
1 small red onion
2 Tbsp freshly squeezed lime juice
a small handful of fresh coriander leaves/cilantro
a generous pinch of pink peppercorns

If you use frozen shrimp, then defrost them overnight in the fridge or put into a bowl of lukewarm water for a few hours. Drain thoroughly.

Defrost the mango cubes or cut to the fresh mango into small cubes.

Thinly slice the chilli (discard the seeds). Peel the onion, cut either into a small dice or cut into two lengthwise and then into thin slices.

Mix mango, shrimps, chilli, onions and coriander leaves in a bowl. Drizzle with lime juice and sprinkle some crushed pink peppercorns on top.

Serve immediately.

Vegan delights of Tallinn 2016 (guest post)

noreply@blogger.com (Pille) — Tue, 31 May 2016 16:46:00 +0000

As the tourist season approaches, I get many emails asking for dining recommendations in Tallinn specifically and in Estonia more generally, some asking about special diets. I asked my friend and colleague Kadri and her partner Luke, both vegans, to share their favourite recommendations.

Kadri is the host of veganmaailm.com, the oldest Estonian vegan food blog and her partner Luke is an Australian coffee snob.

100% vegan:

V (Rataskaevu 12)

V is just awesome: food and atmosphere are second to none... We thinks. Nestled in Old Town, it's just a three-minute walk from the central square. Its medieval digs create a wondrous ambience that is relaxed and cosy. Far from ostentatious. Great al fresco deck for the warmer months too. Trip Advisor rates V as second best in all of Tallinn. Popular with all and sundry, we suggest booking a table in advance. If you can't get a table, you can get something to take away and enjoy as you meander through the cobblestones of Old Town. Prices are very reasonable - especially for Old Town: with mains between €7-10.

The place is run by Mikk, the first professional vegan chef in Estonia and Loore, a vegan foodie and activist. The talented pair started out as a catering business - the first in Estonia to be 100% vegan. Due to popular demand, Restoran V was born. Two fantabulous cook books have since been published by the duo.

While beautifully presented, it is the delicious food that keeps us making up excuses to come back, week in, week out. Everything is good, but our favourite is the spicy tofu with quinoa and vegetables in tomato-coconut sauce. Yum! Daily specials are always worth checking out. Portions are good, but you must make room for cake! ... At least a cupcake! Keep an eye for new cakes that come in. V's snack platter works well for larger groups. Kadri is particularly fond of the beetroot ravioli with cashew cream, although it rather small as an entrée. Good selection of vegan wines. They do serve coffee, but it is perhaps not their forte.

Mahemarket (Lootsi 8)

The largest organic store in Tallinn, recently relocated to the port-area close to the city centre. A great all vegan and organic buffet! We have had some of the best meals there. However, we have yet to visit the new joint. We loved being able to sample so many scrumptious salads and hot foods. Potato salad usually takes up half of our plates, though! It is hard for Luke to resist piling his plate high. As it's priced according to weight, it can quickly add up!

Inspiratsioon (Lai 44)

A vegan café located in the Old Town of Tallinn. A good selection of dishes with reasonable prices. Gluten-free folk are particularly well served. Menu has improved considerably of late. With a lovely outdoor seating in the summer, it's great for breakfast and lunch. In fact, it's the only place for a vegan breakfast, opening at 8 am. Kadri is keen to try their new coffee smoothie and chickpea omelet with vegan cheese. Luke really enjoys their falafels and veggie wraps. Not the best place for coffee and cake, although Kadri has had the odd good latte there. Luke's attempts at ordering a ristretto have not gone well... Cakes have not been on the same level as V: they tend to be be smallish and overpriced. Quality of food and speed of service however varies, as the place is often understaffed or has inexperienced staff. We haven't ever needed to book a table, but take-away is also an option. This may change with the refurbished menu. Watch this space!

Vegetarian, with vegan options:

Bliss (Mustamäe tee 17)

As the largest veggie buffet in Tallinn, it has plenty of vegan options. Kadri is particularly enthusiastic. Luke, more lukewarm. The varied menus includes salads, hot foods and desserts that Kadri can't get enough of. She also appreciates their range of Indian and Chinese dishes. There is a small organic store above. For a somewhat austere cafeteria setting, prices are what you might pay at a restaurant. Located outside the centre, at the beginning of the Mustamäe suburb.

GreenBakery (Maakri 19/21)

A tiny bakery/veggie café tucked away on a small street in the new centre of Tallinn. Good vegan options. It's an interesting little bakery that Luke thinks is well worth a visit. It's growing selection of cakes makes them another place to keep an eye on.

Serves meat, but vegan options:

Burger Box (Kopli 4)

A tiny hole in the wall place in the Kalamaja hipster neighbourhood, right next to Balti Jaam, the main train station of Tallinn. Not entirely vegan, but with vegan-friendly options. Limited selection and cash only. Their falafel burger & fries are among the best in town. The vegan laksa is a must-have! (probably the only place that serves laksa in Tallinn).

F-Hoone (Telliskivi 60a)

An old warehouse tastefully converted into a cosy café/restaurant, retro style. This place is very popular among Tallinners and gets very busy at weekends. Menu features some vegan items. Their falafels are great. They make decent soy latte (still not something to be taken for granted in Tallinn). A trip to the hipsterish Kalamaja district is definitely worth making.

Aed (Rataskaevu 8)

Located right next to V. This restaurant features organic options, with at least a few vegan dishes in the menu, clearly marked, including at least one vegan dessert. The restaurant offers a different vegan lunch dish every day, at a very reasonable price. Kadri has not been there for quite a while and Luke has never set his snobby coffee foot inside :)

Papa Joe (Sadama 25-4)

A small Lebanese falafel and kebab place at the Harbour Markets (Sadamaturg). The best falafel in town, reasonably priced. The dream of a vegan fast foodie! Mostly good for take-away, has only 1-2 tables to sit at.

Elevant (Vene 5)

A cosy and stylish Indian restaurant located right in the Old Town. Most vegetarian dishes include dairy, with a few vegan options and the option to veganise some vegetarian dishes. Kadri’s favourites: Channa masala and Vegetable curry.

Luke’s favourite coffee in Tallinn

(soy milk available in all those places)

The Living Room (Pärnu maantee 9)

This became Luke's second home whilst in Tallinn. Their Monkey Blend ristretto is sublime! If you drink ristrettos, don't leave Tallinn without a visit to this joint. With good wifi, it's a great place to work or hold meetings. It really is a lounge room: complete with couches, chilled music and friendly folk - none as delightful as Triin herself. Triin made most of my ristrettos, but thought other baristas were great too. Kadri often goes to the Living Room to enjoy her afternoon latte over her laptop.

August (Väike-Karja 5)

Tucked amongst the cobbled streets of Old Town, August is treat for coffee lovers. I had a few great ristrettos in this chic cafe. However, the quality did depend on who was making it. We loved sitting by the window to watch people going by. Highly recommended.

Coffee Angels (Telliskivi Loomelinnak)

Down in the trendy Telliskivi district, the Angel Café was a great find. I enjoyed a very tasty organic ristretto. The barista graciously pulled another once when I was served a double espresso. Kadri cringes every time I do this. While not often, I do politely check with the barista when served an espresso. I appreciate there is little demand for ristrettos.

Epic (Vabaduse väljak 9, in the tunnel)

Peeter co-runs a little coffee shop in the tunnel to Vabaduse Väljak (Freedom Square). It's all about the coffee here at Epic. He has this fabulous wall which showcases how coffees are made - like ristretto shots being between 15-20 mLs! Peeter uses Italian beans with 20% robusta. It's not bad, but it's no Monkey Blend. After making coffee for the snobs in Melbourne, he enjoys the more tolerant clientele of Tallinn.

All photos from the restaurants' Facebook pages.

Check out Kadri's wonderfully inspirational blog VeganMaailm.com here:

Lemony bread and butter pudding with custard and berries

noreply@blogger.com (Pille) — Mon, 21 Mar 2016 20:31:00 +0000

It's been a while since my last proper blog post, I know. It's not that I've neglected my food-loving readers, I've just been focusing on my Estonian readers during the last months. Apologies :) But here I am, attempting to start blogging again with this fun take on bread and butter pudding.

Why bread and butter pudding? We were sorting the bread and butter recipes over on my Estonians site with one of my editors, Kaare, and while doing the research, I came across this shortcut version in the British food magazine Delicious. Meanwhile, if you read Estonian, you can check out Kaare's great article on this humble - yet versatile dessert: Millal Sa viimati saiavormi sõid?

Lemony bread and butter pudding with custard and berries
(Saiavorm sidrunivõide, vanillipudingi ja marjadega)
Serves 6 to 8

400 g good white bread (brioche, challah or such like)
butter, softened
500 ml (2 cups) fresh vanilla custard
200 ml double cream/whipping cream
300 g berries (raspberries, blackberries, blueberries)
6 Tbsp lemon curd or toffee/caramel sauce

Preheat the oven to 160°C . Thickly slice the bread and butter one side of each slice. Cut each slice into large triangles or halves and layer in a 2 litre ovenproof dish.

In a 1-litre jug, mix the vanilla custard and fresh cream, then pour in around the bread slices, pressing the bread down gently. If you can, leave to stand and absorb for about half an hour.

Scatter berries on top, tucking them between the bread slices. Spoon dollops of lemon curd or caramel sauce on top.

Bake in a preheated oven for 40-50 minutes until the bread slices on top are golden brown on edges and nicely crispy.

Leave to rest for 10 minutes before serving. Serve with a jug of cream or milk (pictured).

How do you make bread and butter pudding?

It's not Pancake Day, it's Shrove Tuesday cream bun day soon ;)

noreply@blogger.com (Pille) — Mon, 08 Feb 2016 22:00:00 +0000

Photo by Juta Kübarsepp for the March 2014 issue of Kodu ja Aed magazine.

It's time for semlor or lenten cream buns again soon - February 9th, to be precise. Remember, instead of pancakes, in Estonia and other Nordic countries cream-filled buns are eaten (semlor in Swedish, vastlakuklid in Estonian, laskiaispulla in Finnish). I've got three different recipes here on Nami-Nami, all delicious :)

Recipe for classic lenten buns
Recipe for chocolate lenten buns
Recipe for raspberry and marzipan lenten buns

So, are you having pancakes or cream buns next week? ;)

Sautéed garlic scapes with tomatoes

noreply@blogger.com (Pille) — Fri, 17 Jul 2015 12:39:00 +0000

Are you familiar with garlic scapes? I've actually mentioned them here on my blog, Nami-Nami, just over ten years ago (YES, NAMI-NAMI BLOG QUIETLY CELEBRATED ITS 10 BLOG ANNIVERSARY IN MID-JUNE) - when I was still living in Edinburgh. I used to go to the fabulous Edinburgh Farmers Market every weekend, and it's there that I first encountered those spindly scapes, at the stall of Really Garlicky Company (I'm thrilled to see that they're still going strong, those Scottish garlic heroes). I threw those curly garlic tops into stir-fries back then, or chopped them and added to mash.

I grow some hardneck garlic in our beautiful garden these days as well, tucked between our strawberry plants to keep nasty bugs away. Sometimes - but only sometimes - I remember to snip the curly-spindly scapes off in the spring or early summer. This time I did, and made this lovely sauté with tomatoes and cheese. I found a recipe by William Woys Weaver over at Mother Earth News that sounded lovely. Mr Weaver topped his sautéed garlic scapes with cubed and fried halloumi cheese. Although the Cypriot halloumi-cheese is widely available in Estonia, I had none at home. However, as Mr Weaver mentioned that he got an idea for the dish in Slovenia - where local kajmak cheese* is way more popular than halloumi - and kajmak is similar to feta and bryndza cheese. Luckily I had bought some fresh bryndza cheese as well as Georgian suluguni cheese at the market on a previous day, so I used a mixture of these two instead.

A verdict - lovely and tasty and such a genius way for using up those spindly-curly scapes. One of my 5 aunties and one of my 13 cousins came over for dinner that night and the dish got their approval as well. At least none of us will ever waste any garlic scapes again :)

* A huge thanks to my friend Mann for helping me with the Slovenian cheese terms.

(Hautatud küüslauguvõrsed)
Serves 4

2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
2 Tbsp dark brown sugar
250 g garlic scapes
400 g fresh or canned chopped tomatoes
180 ml (about 3/4 cups) dry white wine
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 Tbsp chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
about 100 g of cheese (crumbled brynza or feta or cubed and fried halloumi)

Trim the garlic scapes by snipping off the thin tip on top of the garlic buds - this would simply burn on your pan. Discard. Cut the rest of the scapes into 5 cm/2 inch pieces.

Heat oil on a heavy frying pan over medium heat. Add sugar, then stir for a couple of minutes to melt and caramelise the sugar. Add the garlic scapes, cover and fry on a moderately high heat for about 3 minutes, shaking the pan every now and then.

Uncover, then add the tomatoes and wine. Cover the pan again, reduce heat and simmer on a low heat for 8-10 minutes, until the garlic scapes have al dente or softened, depending on your preference.

Season to taste, fold in the parsley and scatter with cheese. Serve hot or at room temperature.

Badrijani nigvzit - Georgian aubergine rolls with walnut filling

noreply@blogger.com (Pille) — Wed, 20 May 2015 06:20:00 +0000

Badrijani is the Georgian rolled eggplant dish we've been missing our whole life, wrote Lucky Peach on its Facebook page yesterday. I don't really know about rolled eggplant/rolled aubergine dishes in particular, but as far as eggplant dishes in general go, Georgian rolled aubergines are pretty wonderful. They're pictured on the top left corner above.

My recipe is pretty minimalist, as far as the seasoning goes. I've served them as part of a bigger Georgian spread (see f. ex. here), where the famous Georgian spice blend khmeli-suneli was used in various dishes. That's why I like my badrijani nigvzit (badrijani = aubergine/eggplant, nigvzit = walnuts) seasoned just with herbs, onion and vinegar. But feel free to use garlic instead of onion and to add some ground coriander or cumin seeds - or a generous spoonful of khmeli-suneli - to the walnut mixture to make it more flavoursome. Even chilli powder could be added, if you're fond of spicy dishes.

This great appetizer is low-carb, LCHF (low carb, high fat), gluten-free, vegan, Paleo etc. For more Georgian recipes, see my Georgian Flickr album or browse my Georgian recipes here.

Badrijani nigvzit aka Georgian eggplant rolls with walnut paste
(Pähklitäidisega pommurullid e. badrižani)

Serves 6 as an appetizer

2 slender eggplants/aubergines
sea salt
olive oil

Walnut filling:
250 g walnuts
2 onions
fresh dill, cilantro/coriander and parsley, chopped
3-4 Tbsp red wine vinegar
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

To garnish:
pomegranate seeds

Cut the aubergines into long thin slices, lengthwise. Sprinkle with salt and let stand in a colander for 20-30 minutes. Drain the liquid, pat the slices dry with kitchen paper.

You can cook the aubergine either by frying or by baking. To fry them, heat some oil on a frying pan and fry on moderate heat until golden on both sides. To bake them, place into a 220C/450F oven and bake for about 20 minutes, turning once.

To make the walnut filling, spread the walnuts on a baking sheet and roast at 180C/350F for about 10 minutes, until they're aromatic and golden. Remove from the oven and let cool.

If you dislike the taste of raw onion, fry the chopped onion in olive oil until translucent.

Place all the filling ingredients into the food processor and blend until coarse and combined. Transfer into a bowl and season to taste - the filling has to be just a wee bit vinegary.

Place a spoonful of the filling onto one end of the aubergine slice, then roll into a cigar (alternatively, spread a thin layer of the walnut paste over the whole length of the aubergine, then roll up). Place onto a serving tray, and do the same with rest of the aubergine slices and the filling. Garnish with pomegranate seeds and fresh herbs.

More aubergine/eggplant recipes on Nami-Nami:
Grilled aubergine with feta, golden raisins and mint
Armenian aubergine stew
Ottolenghi's roasted aubergine with saffron yoghurt
Nasu dengaku (miso-glazed aubergine)
Aubergine curry with tomatoes, coriander and Nigella seeds
Sautéed aubergine (Melanzane al funghetto)
Israeli roasted aubergine and feta spread
Moussaka, deconstructed

More badrijani recipes on food blogs:
Karen @ Rambling Spoon
Gill @ Gill Stannard
kahviaddikti (recipe in Finnish)
Christina Nichol @ Lucky Peach

Nami-Nami Easter brunch 2015

noreply@blogger.com (Pille) — Mon, 06 Apr 2015 13:00:00 +0000

We held our traditional Easter brunch for friends on 6 April 2015. Here are two photos of the spread:

And here are some close up photos. Our friend Kristiina and her daughter Gretel brought along this cauliflower salad:

I made a big bowl of layered salad with surimi (imitation snow crab), boiled eggs, shredded cheese and plain yogurt (recipe in Estonian here).

Our friend Piret brough some salted wild mushroom salad:

We had some pulled lamb:

Some Georgian (not the state in the U.S., but a country in the Caucasus mountains in Eurasia) aubergine rolls/eggplant rolls stuffed with walnuts (recipe in Estonian here):

As well as some roasted fennel with Parmesan cheese:

No separate photo, but we also had some ceviche-style salmon with leeks and pink peppercorn (Vaasa ämma kuldkala) and of course pashka.

From the archives:

Easter brunch 2024
Easter brunch 2023
Easter brunch 2022 - just a small family gathering for a change
Easter brunch 2021
Easter brunch 2020
Easter brunch 2019
Easter brunch 2018
Easter brunch 2017
Easter brunch 2016
Easter brunch 2015
Easter brunch 2014
Easter brunch 2013
Easter brunch 2012
Easter brunch 2011
Easter brunch 2010
Easter brunch 2009
Easter brunch 2008
Easter brunch 2007

A recipe for gluten-free hazelnut meringue roulade aka Budapestrulle (Budapestbakelse)

noreply@blogger.com (Pille) — Sat, 21 Mar 2015 20:22:00 +0000

I am writing this post while sitting on a really comfortable bed in a brand new hotel in Helsinki, called Indigo Hotel. I'm in town for a long weekend to enjoy the Streat Helsinki street food festival. The press trip is organised and hosted by Visit Helsinki, and we have been taken very good care of. This morning Heather of Heather's Helsinki took us for a coffee and Budapest cake at Karl Fazer Café at Kluuvikatu 3. The cake in question was a Budapest slice.

It's a popular cake from Sweden, attributed to a pastry chef Ingvar Strid who was born in 1926 in Vetlanda. It's a hazelnut meringue roulade filled with whipped cream and peeled clementine slices. Delicious! The version popularised by Fazer in Finland is slightly different - the clementines/mandarine oranges are replaced with bananas and raspberries. Different - and sweeter - but still nice.

Here's my version of Budapestrulle - I make the classic Swedish version. The recipe below uses a popular and widely available Swedish product, Marsán snabb vaniljsås, but feel free to replace it with cornflour or potato starch or even all-purpose flour (in latter case it won't be gluten-free, of course).

Since 2013, May 1st has officially been the Budapestbakelsensdag in Sweden.

Budapest slice
(Besee-pähklirull)

Serves 8 to 10

Meringue:
4 large egg whites
100 g caster sugar
150 ml (about 90 g) vanilla custard powder
100 g toasted hazelnuts, finely chopped

Filling:
200 ml whipping cream
1 tsp caster sugar
300 g canned mandarine oranges/clementines, drained

Decoration:
50 g dark chocolate
some canned mangarine oranges/clementines

Heat the oven to 200 C. Grease and line a shallow Swiss roulade tin/baking tray with a parchment paper.

Using electric mizer, whisk the egg whites until stiff but not try. Add the sugar in 2-3 installments, continue whisking until the mix is shiny and white.

Combine the hazelnuts and vanilla custard powder, then gently fold into the meringue mixture. Spread the mixture into the prepared tin. Bake in the middle of pre-heated oven for 12-15 minutes, until the meringue is risen and slightly golden on edges.

Take out of the oven and cool completely. Then turn over onto a new piece of parchment paper and peel off the "baked" parchment paper.

For the filling, whisk the cream and sugar until thick and fluffy, then spread over the meringue. Put some mandarine slices aside for decoration, then scatter the rest over the cream. Roll up the roulade, starting with the long end, and using the paper underneath to help. Carefully lift onto a serving dish, leaving the "seam" underneath.

Melt the chocolate, drizzle over the meringue roulade. Garnish with mandarine orange slices. To serve, cut the cake into thick slices.

The photo above is by Juta Kübarsepp, taken for my cookbook "Nami-Nami. Maailma maitsed 1" (Varrak, 2013).

In praise of Georgian food

noreply@blogger.com (Pille) — Wed, 04 Mar 2015 07:30:00 +0000

The Washington Post muses on March 3rd, 2015, whether the Georgian food might be the next big thing. It certainly deserves much more attention, if you ask me. There was this incident almost ten years ago, when Kuidaore's Joycelyn began her cookbook meme (memes were a big thing in the early days of food blogging) wondering whether she really needs a Georgian cookbook. I left a long comment insisting she does :)

I've been a fan of Georgian food as long as I remember. The food is so flavoursome and colourful, providing plenty of textures and variety. The picture here is from the chapter dedicated to the cuisine of Georgia in my third cookbook, "Nami-Nami. Maailma maitsed 1" that was published in October 2013 (see my blog post here). Doesn't it look really appealing and appetising?

There are 99 photos in my Georgian album over on Flickr, most with links to the Estonian-language recipe. However, there are plenty of excellent Georgian recipes here on Nami-Nami as well for you to browse, helping you to get familiar with the "next big thing". Enjoy!

Georgian-style green beans with herbs and garlicky yogurt or mtsvane lobios borani (pictured at the bottom right, below) is a wonderful side dish (#glutenfree #lowcarb).

Beet salad with walnuts and garlic, pkhali, is a potent vegetable salad that brightens up any festive table (#glutenfree #Paleo):

Cucumber and tomato salad with fresh cilantro/coriander is a delightfully different way to serve the summer favourites, tomatoes and cucumbers.

Chicken in a cold walnut sauce, satsivi, is another winner from Georgia (pictured in the front, below). Georgian cuisine is rather unique in that they use walnuts a lot as a the main ingredient, not just to give some extra flavour or texture. Here the walnuts and mixed with spices and fried onions to form a wonderfully aromatic sauce. (#glutenfree #lowcarb #Paleo)

Creamy mushrooms with spices and herbs, is a great way to cook and serve those rather bland-tasting cultivated white mushrooms (#glutenfree #lowcarb):

Walnut and egg salad, are here pictured on crispy toasts (#glutenfree #lowcarb):

If you can get hold of the salty Suluguni cheese, then it's excellent when fried in butter:

Yet the most wonderful way of using the Georgian Suluguni cheese is to make a Georgian cheese pie, khatchapuri. There are lots of different versions about that Georgian cheese bread. I've got three recipes in my cookbook, but the recipe you find here on the blog is the simplest one, Imeretian khatchapuri.

Chicken with herbs and tomatoes, chakhohbili (pictured at the centre, below), was the first Georgian recipe to appear here on Nami-Nami, and still finds its way to our table quite regularly (#glutenfree #lowcarb #Paleo)

So, which Georgian dishes have you eaten? Which one would you cook first from this selection here on Nami-Nami?

Gâteau Marcel. A recipe for a delicious layered chocolate mousse cake (gluten-free)

noreply@blogger.com (Pille) — Tue, 17 Feb 2015 22:15:00 +0000

Happy Valentine's Day to all the lovely Nami-Nami readers out there!

Today's recipe is this gluten-free and fun cake from Denmark, where it's considered to be the French chocolate cake. The recipe is from Michel Michaud, a French chef. Well, Michel Michaud was born in France in 1946, but moved to Denmark in 1971, where he introduced the Danes to the culinary delights of French cuisine. Including this cake.

I never came across this cake when living in Denmark at the tender age of 18. I only came across the cake few weeks ago, when somebody mentioned in one Danish-language Facebook group that "oh, this [cake] is very similar to Gateau Marcel." Well, I had to check out what's behind that fancy name and turned out that it's a gluten-free cake that consists of only 4 ingredients (chocolate, butter, eggs, sugar), results in three dirty bowls and one decadent two-layer chocolate mousse cake.

Intrigued? So was I - and we loved this cake a lot!

Best made on a previous day.

Gâteau Marcel
(Eestikeelne retsept)
Adapted from several Danish-language sources, but modfied
Serves 10

200 g good-quality dark chocolate (chips/pellets or chopped)
200 g unsalted butter
200 g caster sugar
6 large eggs
a pinch of salt (optional)

To serve:
cacao powder (un-sweetened)
fresh raspberries or chocolate curls

Pre-heat the oven to 175 C/350 F.

Melt the chocolate chips and butter in a bowl set over barely simmering water. Stir until combined, then cool a little.

Separate egg yolks from egg whites. Whisk egg yolks and about 2/3 of the sugar in a large bowl until pale and fluffy. In another, very clean bowl, whisk the egg whites until soft peaks form, then continue whisking and adding the sugar, until the egg white mixture is shiny and stiff.

(You've got 3 bowls now - one with melted chocolate and butter, one with egg yolks and sugar, one with egg whites and sugar).

Gently fold the chocolate mixture into the egg yolk mixture. Then fold in about a third of the meringue (aka egg white mixture) until combined, then very gently add the rest of the egg whites to the batter.

Grease a 24 cm/9 inch springform tin thoroughly with butter, sprinkle lightly with sugar or cocoa powder. Spoon up to a half of the batter into the tin, smooth the top. Bake in the preheated oven for 30 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool a little - it'll collapse a little, which is perfectly normal.

Then spoon the rest of the chocolate batter on top of the cooled chocolate cake - this will become the chocolate mousse layer. Smooth the top, then place into a fridge for at least 4 hours or until the next day.

Before serving, remove the cake carefully from the tin and transfer onto a serving plate. Sprinkle generously with cocoa powder, then decorate with fresh or frozen raspberries or fancy chocolate curls.

Cullen Skink, a Scottish smoked haddock and potato soup (gluten-free)

noreply@blogger.com (Pille) — Wed, 28 Jan 2015 13:43:00 +0000

Few days ago the Scots - and friends of Scotland - celebrated yet another anniversary of the birth of Robert Burns, hosting or attending a Burns Supper. Any self-respecting Burns Supper begins with a proper Scottish soup. I've shared a recipe for Cock-a-leekie before, other options are Scotch broth and Cullen Skink. Now it's time to share my recipe for the smoked haddock and potato soup - think of it as a Scotch chowder :)

The soup is from the North-East of Scotland, from the fishing town of Cullen. Originally it's a comfort food, cheap and easy fare, and it's still popular in and around Cullen. Yet somehow that humble soup has tranformed into a fancy fare to be enjoyed at various festive Scottish occasions.

Scots know their smoked fish. Arbroath Smokie is a pair of salted haddocks, hot-smoked in a humid smoking chamber. Finnan Haddie, the traditional fish used for making Cullen Skink, is gutted and cleaned haddock that's been dry-salted and then smoked in a cool smoking chamber for 8-9 hours. If Finnan Haddie is hard to find where you live - that's probably most of the world apart from the British Isles - (and avoid the bright yellow dyed stuff, it discolours the soup), then any other nice smoked white fish would do. I used smoked cod, a user of my Estonian Nami-Nami site said that the soup worked well with smoked herring.

Cullen Skink
(Šoti suitsukalasupp)
Serves 6 as a starter, 3 as a main dish

500 g smoked haddock (ideally Finnan Haddie)
500 ml (2 cups) of water
butter for frying
1 yellow onion, chopped
1 large leek, cleaned and sliced
2-4 floury potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks
500 ml (2 cups) whole milk
1 bay leaf
salt and freshly ground black pepper
fresh chives, finely minced

Place the fish into a pan, add the bay leaf and cold water. Gently bring into a boil, then simmer for about a minute or two. Remove the fish from the pan, transfer onto a plate and leave to cool. Keep the fish stock!

In another pot melt the butter gently. Add onion and leek, cover and sauté gently for a about 10 minutes. Stir every now and then, do not brown! Season with salt and pepper. Add potato pieces to the onion and leek, give it a stir. Add 500 ml/2 cups of fish stock, bring into a boil and simmer until the potato is cooked.

At the same time remove the fish from the bones carefully, flake into smaller pieces (discard the fish skin and bones). Using a slotted spoon, take couple of spoonfuls of the potato-leek mixture from the soup and put aside. Discard the bay leaf. Add the milk, bring gently into a boil. Add about half of the smoked fish. Mash the remaining soup or pureé using the hand-held/immersion blender. Season with salt and pepper.

To serve, place a large spoonful or two of potato-leek-smoked fish mixture into the middle of each soup bowl, then ladle the liquid soup neatly into the bowls as well. Garnish with chives and serve.