My first ever macaroon

For some time now already, I have been longingly glancing at pictures and recipes of macaroons at various foodblogs. The equisite creations at The Traveler's Lunchbox, Kuidaore and Anne's Food have left me drooling in front of my computer screen. Whispering names like Pierre Hermé and Ladurée in the same sentece as macaroons did nothing to convince me that I could muster these delicate sweets myself. I was convinced I am doomed to wait for my maiden trip to Paris to get a taste of my first ever macaroon.

Until yesterday. I had - finally - bought a hand held electric mixer cum mini food processor. I had some leftover egg whites in my fridge. I had picked up a packet of green pistachios last weekend. And Nigella's How to Be a Domestic Goddess: Baking and the Art of Comfort Cooking had once again found its way to my bedside table.

This could mean only only thing - pistachio macaroons á la Nigella:

"These are the world's most elegant macaroons. The colour alone, that waxy pale jade, perfectly matches the aromatic delicacy of their taste; and their nutty chewiness melts into the fragrant, soft paste with which they're paired." (p 53)

Tempting, isn't it?

Pistachio macaroons
(Pistaatsiamakroonid)
Source: Nigella Lawson, How To Be A Domestic Goddess



For the macaroons:
75 g green pistachios
125 g icing sugar
2 large egg whites
15 g caster sugar

To make the macaroons, grind the pistachios and icing sugar in a food processor until you have a fine dust.
Whisk the egg whites until fairly stiff, add the caster sugar and whisk until very stiff. Fold the egg whites into the pistachio sugar and combine gently.
Pipe small rounds onto your lined baking sheet, using a plain 1 cm nozzle.
Bake in a 180˚C oven for 10-12 minutes. The macaroons should be set, but not dried out.
Remove from the oven and let them cool, still on their sheets.

For the buttercream:
55 g green pistachios
250 g icing sugar
125 g softened unsalted butter

To make the butter cream, grind the pistachios and icing sugar into a fine dust again.
Cream the butter, and continue creaming as you add the pistachio sugar.
Sandwich the biscuits with the soft buttercream mixture.

Makes 20 macaroons (i.e. 40 sandwiched together).

I did many many many things wrong during my first macaroon baking attempt. My pistachio dust had quite a few crumbs in it. I should have whisked the egg whites patiently for another 5 minutes (but as I was simultaneously making some Hungarian gulyas soup for a friend who was coming for dinner, I got distracted). I used greaseproof paper instead of parchment paper and hence half of my macaroons remained stubbornly stuck on the paper (so I ended up with just 10 macaroons and loads of pistachio roll-ups:) I didn't pipe the mixture onto the baking sheet, but used a teaspoon, so the macaroons were unevenly sized and shaped.

But - they were delicious. They maybe didn't look perfect, but they looked cute enough. They were very very pistachio-nutty and beautifully green in colour. Just-barely crisp outside and mouthmeltingly chewy inside. Sandwiched with the pistachio buttercream, these were very elegant biscuits indeed.

UPDATE 15.2.2007: Although I didn't have much success with these macaroons in terms of looks, then Annie of BonAppeGeek was brave enough to try out this recipe after all. And at least one of her macaroons turned out perfect. Read her post here. I think I need to give those macaroons another go, too :)

Spanakopita, my way

Photo updated in June 2010.

Somewhere in Toronto lives a lovely Canadian Estonian woman, Liisa. Every now and then Liisa and her husband John (an American Estonian) take their 4 children and move to Estonia for a while, where I've had couple of chances to meet up with her - we belong to the same student organisation, which is how we met. Many years ago Liisa served us a very yummy feta spinach pie at one gathering, where it was a huge success. Many asked for the recipe, but I was the only one to get one. I don't know whether it was because Liisa's middle name is Pille, or whether she could see that I really really wanted the recipe much more than others:).

Just like I've remained loyal to my first apple cake recipe, I'm loyal to my first feta spinach pie recipe. I've changed it a bit over the years (omitting the milk from the filling, using fresh spinach instead of frozen and using less puff pastry), so it's not strictly Liisa's feta spinach pie any more. But I still owe her a huge thank you for sharing her recipe all those years ago.

As most of you know, a proper Greek spanakopita is made with filo pastry. I admit, all in shame, that I have never cooked with filo pastry in my life. I did once buy a packet, but I have no idea what happened to it (the joys of living in shared university residences?) Also, more often than not, I use one of those tetra pack feta-type or fetaki cheese and not 'proper feta cheese'. So it's a cheat's spanakopita throughout. But many Greek friends have announced that this spanakopita - spanakopita a la Pille - tastes just as good, if not better, than their mothers. Or even grandmothers. And that's a creme de la creme compliment from any Greek person..

Spanakopita á la Pille
(Liisa spinati-fetapirukas)
Serves 10-12

500 grams of puff pastry

200-225 grams fresh (young) spinach leaves
olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
500 grams feta or fetaki cheese
a generous Tbsp of dried Greek oregano
1 egg

Wash the spinach leaves, removing any large stalks. Drain slightly, put into a large frying pan and heat until the spinach has wilted. Quickly refresh under a cold running water (see the banner). Press dry, chop roughly.

Heat the olive oil on the pan, add the onion and fry gently for 5-10 minutes. Add chopped spinach and feta cheese. Stir, until the mixture is even. Season with oregano. Let cool a little, then add the egg.

Roll out the puff pastry, cover with the feta spinach filling and roll up into a large fat sausage. Criss-cross slightly with a knife to make a nice pattern, brush with egg and sprinkle with Maldon sea salt flakes and/or dried oregano.

Bake in the middle of a 200˚C oven for about 30-45 minutes, until the pastry is nicely golden brown (dark rather than light, to be sure that it's properly baked throughout).



I find this makes a perfect dish for a buffet table (when cold, it can be cut into small slices quite easily). It's great as a snack. Very very good as a late night nibble. Goes down well for breakfast. Universally delicious..

And I am yet to meet a Greek person who:
A) doesn't help himself/herself for a 2nd or 3rd or even further slice;
B) points out that this is not like the spanakopita their grandmother or mother makes (alias questions the authenticity of my version despite of this obviously being a rather non-authentic version; I consider this quite a compliment!);
C) doesn't ask me if this is on the table when they're invited around (read: are suggesting that they wouldn't really mind having some of my spanakopita).

If you fancy some feta and spinach, but don't feel like baking a whole pie just now, then you can always try these lovely mini spinach & feta frittatas/omelettes.

An autumnal meal x 2

I entertained two nights in a row last weekend and although I hadn't planned so, the menu was the same both nights. On Sunday night I had the pleasure of hosting my former supervisor and now colleague Michael and his girlfriend Emma. And as Emma is a vegetarian, I had to come up with an autumnal Nordic vegetarian meal plan.

On Monday, I was supposed to cook a casual pasta supper for 2 friends before going salsa dancing. But on Monday afternoon I got a phone call from a Brussels-based dear friend of mine, Helen, who happened to be in Edinburgh for the night. Rather than trying to find a time for a quick coffee during the day, I invited Helen along that night, which meant that my plan of a casual pasta supper was out of the window. As a celiac, Helen has been on a strictly gluten-free diet since her childhood. Until we met in Edinburgh in 1998, I had never even heard of that condition. Since then I've baked flourless chocolate whisky roly-polys on several occasions and have became much more aware about special diets. Luckily, I still had all the ingredients from the previous night, so I just recreated all the dishes once again (no, I was not serving leftovers, there were none on either night).

Here's the menu - slightly Nordic, slightly late autumnal/wintry.

Starter: Mushroom salad cocktail
(Seenekokteilsalat)



When the British hostesses served prawn cocktails in 1980s, the Estonian hostesses had to settle for the non-prawn versions. Various salad cocktails served in small glasses were very popular back home and I can still remember eating them as a kid. Flipping through various cookbooks from 1980s provide a range of recipes for salad cocktails, and here is one of them.

I returned from Estonia in August with a jar of mushrooms - rufous milkcaps - picked and pickled by my auntie Vaike. I layered these with some grated Norwegian Jarlsberg cheese (in terms of texture, this is closest to the type of cheese we eat back home), cubed English apples and topped with a dollop of sour cream seasoned with hot mustard and salt and sugar.

For the garnish, I used some dill and a tiny pickled milkcap. Isn't that tiny tiny mushroom just adorably cute?

Main course: garlicky and creamy potato gratin with various salads

The main course was a simple potato gratin: sliced peeled potatoes, onions, garlic, single cream, chopped chives.


This was baked (covered with a piece of foil) for almost an hour, then topped with grated cheese and grilled until golden brown. On Monday I served some grilled chicken mini fillets with the main dish (marinated in yogurt and Arabic Masala Mix brought by my friend Guro from Lebanon).

The potato gratin was accompanied by various 'raw salads':

Sliced organic cucumber, sprinkled with Maldon sea salt flakes, drained and mixed with chopped dill (both Sunday and Monday).


Grated raw carrots and apples, seasoned with sugar and garnished with parsley.


Boiled grated beetroot (vacuum packed, make sure it's not doused with vinegar by the producers!), seasoned with crushed garlic, salt and mayonnaise and garnished with chives. This was on the table on Sunday only and was the favourite with my guests that night:)

Dessert: banana and coffee concoction
(Banaani-kohvimagustoit)



Even the dessert was the same both nights. But you see, I was so pleased with it on Sunday, that I simply had to have it again on Monday. Just to make sure it really was tasty despite of being so deceptively easy and effortless to make.

I came across the recipe in a Estonian-language cookbook "100 puddings" (well, "100 magustoitu") and although I did change to ingredient amounts a little, it really didn't need to be improved at all..

Take some ripe bananas (1 medium sized banana per eater), mash with a fork. For 4 banananas, add about 100 ml strong coffee (season with some sugar).

Now layer the banana-coffee mixture with thick and creamy Greek yogurt (sprinkle each banana layer with some soft brown sugar). Garnish with some roasted almond slices. Serve at once.

Really really easy. And as one my guests on Monday said, this would make a delicious and show-off breakfast in bed (coffee, yogurt and a banana, anyone?) Just that you know..

Have a great weekend! Oh, and just in case you were wondering - the beautiful red maple leaves are from my trip to Göttingen in October.

Peedi-küüslaugusalati retsept