Monday, July 29, 2013

Blueberry and feta salad

Mustika-fetasalat. Blueberry and feta salad.

We've had a few good sunny and warm weeks here in Estonia, with temperatures hovering above 20 C on most days (that should be around 70 F). Warmer on some days, with occasional showers. A nice summer indeed.

The weather also determines the food, of course. Ice teas, panzanella and fattoush salads, gazpacho-style and kefir-based cold soups (sweet and savoury) - all these feature heavily. Ice-cream as well, both homemade and shop-bought (Estonian major ice cream makers have come up with some nice flavours, and there's the expensive, but delicious, local organic ice cream brand now, La Muu). Various berries from the farmers market stalls and straight from the bush in our backyard.  Proper summer food :)

I love watermelon and feta salads and have shared few recipes here on my blog: watermelon and feta salad with olives, watermelon and feta salad with lime, watermelon and feta salad with roasted pepitas and balsamic glaze. Still, I was thrilled to discover an alternative fruit and feta cheese salad using blueberries instead. I spotted the recipe over @ the improvised life, and vowed to make it as soon as bilberry season begins. At the end I ended up using large blueberries instead, as I thought they'd be easier to chase with a fork and a knife on a plate than our smaller forest bilberries.

(See the end of the post for more blueberry and feta salad ideas).

Blueberry and Feta Salad with Mint
(Mustikad feta ja mündiga)
serves 1, can be easily multiplied

a large handful or two of blueberries
crumbled feta cheese
few mint leaves, chopped, if too large
sea salt flakes and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
extra virgin olive oil

Place the blueberries into a shallow plate, crumble the feta cheese on top and sprinkle with mint. Season with salt and pepper and drizzle about a teaspoonful of olive oil on top.

Serve immediately.

More blueberry and feta salad recipes:
Blueberry and feta salad with poppyseed dressing by Laura @ Real Mom Kitchen
Blueberry, cucumber and feta salad by Stacie @ One Hungry Mama
Blueberry feta salad with toasted pecans by Courtney @ The Fig Tree: Vegetarian cuisine from around the world
Blueberry, almond and feta salad @ Savvy Mom
Blueberry and grapefruit salad with mint and feta by Briat @ Thought for Food
Blueberry feta cheese salad by Alessandro @ Curative Cuisine
Watermelon, blueberry and feta salad @ Skinny Muffin
Cold pasta salad with asparagus, blueberries, feta and basil by Rowena @ She Knows
Blueberry, cucumber, feta salad by Sharib @ My Judy The Foodie
Salad with feta, blueberries and almonds by Catherine @ Albion Cooks
Blueberry and feta salad by Sues and Chels @ We are NOT Martha

Thursday, July 25, 2013

Sneak preview # 6

Supra. Gruusia pidusöök. Georgian feast.

Working on my next cookbook project with the lovely Juta Kübarsepp. We shot five photos on Thursday.

Can you guess what's on the photo? Quite a few of the recipes have been featured here on Nami-Nami previously :)

Tuesday, July 16, 2013

Raspberry and Coconut Crumble Recipe

Raspberry and coconut crumble. Vaarika-kookoshelbevorm.

This recipe was originally posted in August 2008. Fully revised and updated in July 2013.

If you are looking for recipes using those lovely raspberries in your backyard or farmers market, then may I suggest this raspberry and coconut crumble. It's easy to put together and it's a great alternative to more cake-like concoctions.

I've served it both with vanilla ice cream and thick yogurt/sour cream, and currently prefer the latter, as it's not as sweet then - just fruity and summery :)

Raspberry and Coconut Crumble
(Vaarika-kookosevorm)
Adapted from Swedish Allt of Mat magazine (12/2008)
Serves 6

Vaarika-kookosevorm. Raspberry and coconut crumble.

400 g fresh or frozen raspberries
2 Tbsp sugar
1 tsp potato starch/potato flour or cornflour

Crumble topping:
150 g butter
180 g coconut flakes (unsweetened, I used MEIRA)
85 g (100 ml (less than half a cup) caster sugar
60 g (less than half a cup) plain/all-purpose flour

To serve:
whipped cream (season with vanilla, if you like)

Gently mix raspberries with sugar and potato flour and scatter on a buttered pie dish.

Melt the butter. Combine coconut flakes, sugar and flour in a medium-sized bowl, pour over the melted butter and stir until combined. Crumble the mixture on top of raspberries.

Bake in the middle of a pre-heated 180 C/350 F oven for 15-20 minutes, until the coconut crumble is light golden brown.

Serve warm or cold with some whipped cream, vanilla ice cream or Saare Smetana.

Vaarika-kookosevorm. Raspberry and coconut crumble.

More raspberry recipes @ Nami-Nami:
Raspberry cheesecake brownie
Raspberry and vanilla friands with raw cacao nibs
Kefir jelly with raspberry jam
Chocolate brownie with raspberries
Raspberry and mascarpone fluff
Raspberry focaccia
Chocolate and raspberry muffins
Bakewell pudding

Recipes combining raspberries and coconut @ other foodblogs:
Raspberry and coconut macarons @ Smitten Kitchen
Vegan Coconut Raspberry Ice Cream @ Two Peas and Their Pod
Raspberry tart with coconut crust @ Lottie and Doof