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


Tuesday, July 09, 2013

Sneak preview # 2

ROOTSI FIKA

Working on my next cookbook project with the lovely Juta Kübarsepp. We shot five photos on Tuesday (2 items are missing from the main photo).

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

Sunday, July 07, 2013

Sneak preview # 1

INGLISE KELLAVIIETEE: afternoon tea, üldvaade

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

Can you guess what's on the photo? :)

Saturday, July 06, 2013

Georgian recipes: green beans with herbs and garlicky yogurt (mtsvane lobios borani)

Rohelised oad ürtide ja jogurtikastmega / Mtsvane lobios borani / Green beans with herbs and garlicky yoghurt

It's a season for green beans (aka French beans, fine beans, string beans), though I'm getting my beans from the market stall just now and not from my garden. Back in April, when all decent gardeners were sowing their beans, I was in Tuscany with my dear K. and our three small kids, so some of my vegetables will be ripening later than usually this year, as they were planted or sown later than they ideally should have been planted or sown :)

Today's recipe is a flavoursome Georgian (= the country in the Caucasus region, not the state in the US :)) vegetable dish, with loads of herbs and a garlicky yoghurt dressing. Simple to make (and during winter you can cheat by using frozen beans) and a great way to use a great variety of herbs from your allotment or backyard.

Enjoy!

You'll find all of Nami-Nami's Georgian recipes here.

French beans
Green beans (haricots verts) at a Lyon market in France, August 2009

Georgian-style green beans with herbs and garlicky yogurt
(Rohelised oad ürtide ja küüslauguse jogurtikastmega)
Serves four to six

450 g green beans
1 onion, chopped
4 Tbsp butter
0.25 tsp ground cinnamon
a pinch of ground cloves
freshly ground black pepper
finely chopped fresh herbs, including (purple) basil, tarragon, coriander/cilantro, dill, savory

Yoghurt dressing:
250 g strained Greek yoghurt
1 small garlic glove, minced
0.5 tsp salt

Garnish:
1 Tbsp fresh spearmint, finely chopped

Trim the beans, cut into 2 or 3 and blanch in a salted water for a few minutes or until al dente. Drain. (If you use frozen beans, then these are pre-cooked and just need to be defrosted.)

Heat the butter on a large frying pan/skillet, add the chopped onion and sauté till translucent. Add the pre-cooked beans, then season with cinnamon, cloves, pepper. Fry gently on a medium heat, stirring every now and then, until the beans are fully cooked and soft.

At the same time prepare the yoghurt dressing. Place the minced garlic clove and salt into a bowl and pound into a paste (or simply use a fine Microplane zester/grater). Mix with yoghurt. Put aside.

Add the chopped herbs to the cooked green beans, toss thoroughly and heat for another minute. Transfer the herbed beans into a serving bowl, drizzle the yoghurt dressing on top.

Garnish with mint. Serve hot or at room temperature.