Estonian delicacies: spiced sprat sandwiches

The Baltic sprat (Sprattus sprattus balticus) is a subspecies of the European sprat (Sprattus sprattus), also known  as brisling or skipper. They are up to 12,5 cm long (about 5 inches), small, silvery and herring-like. The sprats are commonly marinated in a mixture of black pepper, allspice (aka Jamaican pepper), cloves, nutmeg, coriander seeds, bay leaves, salt and sugar etc. The result: spiced Baltic sprats aka vürtsikilud, a famous Estonian delicacy.

Vürtsikilud aka spiced Baltic sprats are used to make some delectable small sandwiches here in Estonia, known as kiluvõileivad (literally, sprat sandwiches). I knew they were popular, but didn't realise they're so popular. You see - I've been to four different Christmas parties during the last week, and kiluvõileivad were served at three of them. Each time these were the first to disappear off the table (yes, I did keep an eye of them to verify that). When I shared the realisation on Nami-Nami's Facebook page, then oven 300 people clicked on the LIKE-button to declare their love for kiluvõileivad :) 

These aren't necessarily a Christmas food, you can serve them throughout the year, but somehow I've  just noticed their particular popularity at this time of the year. You've actually seen them here on Nami-Nami before, they were part of our New Year's Eve party spread back in 2007 (see the blog post) - back then I garnished them with finely grated eggs. So I've been "guilty"of serving them during winter festivities as well :)

In any case, I thought it's a good idea to share the "recipe" with you, my dear readers. Although hard-core fans of kiluvõileivad probably filet and pickle their own fresh Baltic sprats, then you can buy rather decent prepared and canned/packed Baltic sprats in the supermarket. I use the Briis brand, made in a nearby Maardu town, so they're almost local :)

Do buy a packet or two next time you're in Estonia, ok! ;) Alternatively, you could try with Swedish "anchovies" (these are actually sprats or Baltic herrings), probably available at IKEA, but these are much sweeter in flavour.

Estonian spiced sprat sandwiches
(Kiluvõileivad)

sliced dark rye bread

butter, at room temperature

cleaned spiced sprats fillets

red onion and/or green onion tops, chopped

hard-boiled (quail) eggs

Remove the crusts of the bread and butter the bread slices. Cut into small rectangles, top with a cleaned spiced sprat fillet. 

Top with either sliced or grated hard-boiled (quail) egg, then sprinkle with chopped onions. 

Serve and enjoy.  

Tuna and egg sandwich cake (Smörgåstårta aka võileivatort)

Although it's Sweden that is most famous for its sandwich cake - smörgåstårta - sandwich cakes aka  võileivatordid have been popular in Estonia for a few decades now. We celebrated our older kids birthday parties last weekend - our daughter turned 4 and our son 2 in January, and I made three sandwich cakes for the occasion. One with ham and egg filling, using dark rye bread and decorated with small cheese-filled ham rolls. The other was with tuna and egg filling, using light wholegrain bread and garnished with strips of cucumber and egg.

Here's the recipe for the latter. It's incredibly easy to make, and tastes like one big nice tuna sandwich. As with all sandwich cakes, it's best made a day before, but garnished just before serving. I've made it with dark rye bread previously, but prefer making it with sliced wholegrain bread these days.

You're welcome to follow my Sandwich cake Pinterest board (there are some great ideas for decorating sandwich cakes) or check out the relevant topic on my Estonian site (võileivatordid ja nende kaunistamine).

Tuna and Egg Sandwich Cake
(Maitsev ja mahlane tuunikalatort)
Serves 12 to 18
Original idea: Pereköök, November 2000 (adapted over the years)


24 square slices of (wholemeal) toast bread

Filling:
2 canned tuna chunks in brine or oil, drained
1 medium-sized leek, white and pale green parts only
2 hard-boiled eggs
200 g good-quality mayonnaise (I use Jaani)
150 g sour cream, smetana or creme fraiche
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

To cover:
about 150 g mayonnaise or a mix of mayonnaise and sour cream

To decorate:
2 hard-boiled eggs
1 green cucumber
salad leaves or finely chopped fresh parsley

Cut the leek half lengthwise, rinse, if necessary, to get rid of any dirt. Cut into thin slices. Crush the tuna with a fork, chop the egg finely or use the coarse grater. Mix the eggs, leeks and tuna.
Add the mayonnaise and sour cream, season with salt and pepper to taste. You're aiming for a well-seasoned and moist sandwich filling here - add more sour cream or mayonnaise, if your filling seems to dry.

(You can remove the crusts from your bread slices for a neater finish. I almost never do.)

Place 6 bread slices on your serving tray, neatly next to each other. Spoon half of the tuna and egg filling on top. Then cover with another 6 bread slices, the rest of the tuna and egg filling and the final six bread slices.

That's how easy it is :)

Now cover the sandwich cake with cling film and place into the fridge for at least 4 hours, preferably overnight.

When ready to serve, spread some mayonnaise on top and on the sides of the cake. Cover the sides with finely chopped parsley or some salad leaves.

For the topping, I prefer thin strips of coarsely grated cucumbers, egg whites and egg yolks, but it's really up to you.

Canapés with mustard-lemon-dill butter and beets

Here's one of the appetizers from our New Year's Eve menu -  a tangy mustard-lemon-dill butter on a slice of dark rye bread, garnished with my old favourite, beetroot. A very Scandinavian flavour combination, it's a great all-year appetizer that packs a lot of character (read: not the ideal accompaniment to your glass of fine champagne, but would go well with some more rustic beverages). The recipe is adapted from the British food magazine's BBC Good Food, more specifically their 2004 Vegetarian Christmas supplement. I made it quite a few times back in Edinburgh, but forgot all about it once I moved back home. But somebody left a comment on my Estonian site after making this canapé - and loving it - and I immediately new it'll be on our festive buffét table soon.

Rye bread canapés with mustard-dill butter and shredded beets
(Tilli-peedikanapeed)
12 to 24, depending on the size of the appetizers

Lemon, mustard and dill butter:
100 g butter, softened
2 Tbsp finely chopped fresh dill
2 Tbsp grainy mustard
finely grated zest of 1 small lemon
salt to taste

To serve and garnish:
6 slices of dark rye bread
100 grams of cooked beets, shredded or julienned

Make the compound butter - mix butter, dill, mustard and lemon zest until combined, season to taste with some salt, if necessary.

Cut each bread slice into small triangles or squares or rounds. Spread with compound butter.

Garnish with shredded or julienned cooked beets and some dill fronds, if you like.

Serve immediately or cover and keep refrigerated until ready to serve.

Shrimp salad on rye appetizers

Christmas and New Year, although just a scant week apart, seem to be different seasons altogether for our little family here in Estonia. Throughout December and until Christmas, we eat black pudding and sauerkraut and pork roasts - the traditional Christmas fare - a lot. We'll start eating Christmassy food early, weeks before Christmas. You see, you need to identify the best brand of black pudding (aka blood sausages) at the market each year, so you start sampling in mid-November already. Sauerkraut, on the other hand, is the seasonal vegetable at this time of the year, so we eat a lot of that as well. When the Christmas comes, we still eat the traditional Christmas fare and enjoy it.

And then, suddenly, I've had enough. For the New Year's Eve I want to hear nothing about the heavy winter stuff, and am serving various elegant and light canapés instead (and even if there is some black pudding on the table, it's hidden in puff pastry pinwheels or black pudding profiteroles).

Here's a little and light and elegant canapé I'm planning to serve this time*. Not so dissimilar to Toast Skagen or this Swedish shrimp salad, but being served on small crisp dark rye bread slices, it's a a great and festive mouthful. Oh, and once we are talking about rye bread appetizers - these smoked salmon mousse canapés are wonderful, too!

* And yes, of course we are hosting a big New Year's Eve bash this year as well. The logistics of getting three kids to a party at a friends' house is too much to bear just now, so we are being lazy and staying at home, asking dear friends to come over instead :))

Shrimp salad on rye bread
(Krevetisalat rukkileivaviiludel)
Makes about 16

 


250 grams cooked and peeled shrimps
2 Tbsp finely chopped red onion
1 Tbsp finely chopped fresh dill
100 g good-quality mayonnaise
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
lemon juice, to taste

To serve:
8 slices of dark rye bread

If using frozen shrimps, defrost them and drain thoroughly (I prefer those in brine, which are more expensive but easier to use). If you wish, chop them coarsely. Mix with onion and dill, then add the mayonnaise. Season to taste with salt, pepper and lemon juice.
Toast the rye bread slices, then cut into triangles or squares or small rounds. Spoon shrimp salad on top.
Garnish with some dill and serve.

Crispy rye bread canapés with cream cheese and smoked salmon

I did a bit of catering on Saturday for a group of friends*, and this smoked salmon and cream cheese paté/spread on crispy rye bread buttons was one of the dishes I brought along. It disappeared very quickly and I wish I had made a double batch - it's an excellent nibble indeed - savoury (smoked salmon), creamy (cream  cheese), crispy (rye bread buttons), fresh (cucumber slices). I also think the contrasting colours look very pretty.

Although I love this spread on crispy rye bread buttons, it works also beautifully with sliced (and toasted) ciabatta or baguette, of course. Here's a photo from last June:


Cream cheese and smoked salmon paté
(Toorjuustu-suitsulõhepasteet)
Makes about a cup

100 g good-quality cold smoked salmon
150 g cream cheese, at room temperature
a small bunch of dill
lemon juice, to taste
freshly ground black pepper, to taste

To garnish:
cucumber or lemon slices
fresh dill or chives
finely grated lemon zest

Chop the smoked salmon into small chunks, place into the food processor together with the cream cheese. Add some lemon juice for seasoning and the dill. Process until smooth.
Taste for seasoning - add more lemon juice and season with pepper.

If you're serving this with crispy rye bread buttons, then you need some sliced rye bread (I like a very dark bread here and used "Fazeri must leib"). Cut out small squares or circles and toast them in a preheated 200 C/400 F oven for about 6-7 minutes, until crispy. Cool, then spoon the cream cheese and smoked salmon paté on top and garnish before serving.

You can make the paté up to a day in advance, but don't spread it on toasted rye bread until up to an hour before serving, or you lose the crispiness.

* The other two dishes were tiny spicy chorizo profiteroles and an Estonian crumb cake, cut into tiny slices.

Imitation Snow Crab Sandwich Recipe (Surimi)

In the ideal world, of course, I would use freshly picked and cleaned proper crab meat to make this open sandwich. However, good-quality crab meat (actually, any crab meat) is hard to come by here in Estonia. Instead I have to settle for imitation crab, or surimi.

Here's a quick and simple topping for a slice of toast or soft roll that I quite happen to like.

Imitation Snow Crab Sandwich
(Lumekrabist saiakate)
Makes four

120 g packet snow crab (surimi; make sure you use the best one around with highest surimi percentage)
3 Tbsp mayonnaise
freshly squeezed lemon juice
salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 soft rolls, halved or 4 slices of toast

Break up the snow crab sticks. Place into a bowl, fold in mayonnaise. Season with lemon juice and a sprinkling of salt.
Serve on a halved soft roll or on a slice of toast, garnish with fresh dill and season with black pepper (and perhaps some finely grated lemon zest).

More surimi recipes:
Open-faced surimi and egg salad sandwich @ What's Cookin, Chicago
Surimi Maki @ Inspired Bites
Imitation Crab Salad @ Karen Cooks
Russian Style Crab Salad @ Natasha's Kitchen

My favourite fish salad, using smoked seabass

There's a smoked fish salad that I've been making for years. Here's the routine. On a Saturday morning, the kids and I (and usually my K. as well) head to the local farmers market, Viimsi Taluturg.  There are several stalls selling excellent fish, and one of them, Pepe Kala, sells excellent hot-smoked seabass. It's my choice of fish for this salad, although other smoked specimens would work just as well.

We head home, unpack our lot. I'll open the paper-wrapped smoked seabass and start cleaning the fish. I must work quickly here, or otherwise our 3-year old daughter eats most of the fish and I'll have none left for making the salad (she loves fish!). I'll then mix the salad (recipe below, of course) and enjoy. Sometimes we eat it as it is, sometimes we put that on top some toasted rye bread (photo above), sometimes we use it as a filling for paper-thin crepes, sometimes we enjoy it with some just-out-of-the-oven jacket potatoes. It's versatile and it's delicious.

Will keep well in the fridge (covered, of course) for a few days.


Smoked Fish Salad
(Maitsev suitsukalasalat munaga)
Serves four

1 medium-sized smoked fish (hot-smoked seabass is good)
4 eggs
1 or 2 (red) onions
handful of fresh dill and chives
some mayonnaise and/or sour cream
freshly ground black pepper

Hard-boil the eggs, then cool under cold running water. Peel the eggs, and smash with a fork in bowl.
Peel the onion(s), chop finely.
Clean the smoked fish carefully, discard the skin and bones. Chop the fish into smaller pieces.
Finely chop the herbs.
Mix the eggs, onions, smoked fish and herbs in a bowl. Fold in just enough mayonnaise or sour cream (or indeed, both) to bind the ingredients.
Season to taste with salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Bruschette with chantarelle pesto

We've had another wonderul wild mushroom year in Estonia. With two small kids, I've only made it to the forest twice myself, but friends and family have supplied us with plenty of different wild mushrooms. Chanterelle is one of the most popular wild mushrooms - they're easy to recognise, versatile and taste lovely, and I've had more than my fair share of chantarelle dishes this summer. Chantarelle bruschetta, boiled potatoes with fried chantarelles, creamy chantarelle sauce, chantarelle quiche - you name it, I've had them all. Again. And again. So when I spotted a recipe for chantarelle pesto in the Finnish Kotiliesi magazine, it immediately caught my attention - something new, something that I hadn't tried with chantarelles before..

It turned out to be a lovely mushroom spread that I'll be making over and over again when I get fresh mushrooms.

Chanterelle pesto
(Krõbesaiad kukeseenepestoga)
Serves 4 to 6



Chantarelle pesto:
250 g fresh chantarelles
1 Tbsp butter
1 small garlic glove, coarsely chopped
salt and freshly ground black pepper
80 g toasted pinenuts
1 small bunch of fresh basil
5 Tbsp freshly grated parmesan
about 5 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil

To serve:
ciabatta or baguette
olive oil
garlic

Clean the mushrooms, avoid washing them, if possible. Transfer onto a hot dry non-stick frying pan and heat, until the liquid has evaporated.
Add butter and garlic, fry for a few minutes. Remove from the heat, season with salt and pepper and cool
Place the basil and pinenuts into a food processor and blitz for a few seconds. Add the cheese, fried mushrooms and about 2-3 Tbsp of oil. Process until you've got a coarse paste. Fold in the rest of the oil, check for seasoning.
 To make bruschette, cut the bread into thin slices and sprinkle with some oil. Bake under a grill until lightly golden and crispy, then smear some garlic over the bread slices.
Spread the chantarelle pesto on top, garnish with some Parmesan cheese shavings and serve.

Summer crostini with feta cheese and strawberries

Here's a truly summery crostini from one of my favourite food magazines, Swedish Lantliv Mat & Vin. I'm really sorry I got the magazine issue and came across the recipe just last week, as the Estonian strawberry season has come to an end. I can just imagine how lovely it would have tasted with just-picked sun-kissed strawberries as opposed to those much less pleasant imported ones. Still, these were wonderful and come highly recommended.

Crostini with feta cheese and strawberries
(Krõbesaiad maasika ja fetaga)



sourdough bread (ciabatta, baguette)
extra virgin olive oil
feta cheese
strawberries
fresh basil leaves
freshly ground black pepper

Slice the bread thinly, halve the slices, if necessary. Brush or drizzle with a little bit of oil and toast in a pre-heated 220C/450F oven until golden and crisp.
Slice the cheese, divide the cheese slices on hot bread.
Garnish with sliced strawberries and basil leave, grind some black pepper on top.
Serve.

Crostini with radishes and anchovy butter

Here's a little something that I served at my birthday back in April. I spotted the recipe in Anne Rosso's Flickr photostream, and knew immediately that it'd go down well with my family and friends. I was correct :) The recipe is originally from Bon Appétit (Sliced baguette with radishes and anchovy butter). If you like the umami-note* that a good oil-preserved anchovy lends, then I heartily recommend this - super-easy to make and it looks pretty elegant.

Crostini with radishes and anchovy butter
(Krõbesaiad anšoovisevõi ja krõmpsuvate redistega)
Source: Bon Appétit (April 2011)
Makes about 20 canapés

1 baguette or ciabatta

Anchovy butter:
100 g butter, at room temperature
2 to 3 anchovy fillets
2 Tbsp finely chopped fresh chives
sea salt flakes

Topping:
young radishes
fresh chives

If using ciabatta, then cut it into to and then into thin slices. If you're using baguette, just cut it into thin slices. Place the bread slices onto a baking sheet and bake in a 200 C/400 F oven for about 5 minutes. Turn the slices around and bake for another 5 minutes, until the bread slices are slightly golden on edges. Cool.

Meanwhile, make the anchovy butter. Chop the anchovy fillets finely, cut chives into very short lengths. Mix anchovy and chives into the softened butter, add some sea salt flakes for extra flavour.

Spread the anchovy butter onto bread slices, garnish with thinly slices radishes and fresh chive.

* Check out Melissa's early post on a topic of anchovy umami.

Cod liver paté on toast

I've briefly mentioned cod liver on Nami-Nami previously - here and here, but it deserves a new post :) There are almost no blog posts on the topic - a FoodBlogSearch enquiry ends with plenty of posts about cod liver oil capsules, and just one food blog posts apart from mine, written by Rosie Dequattro (now available only in in cache) and a mention of foie de morue by Clotilde back in 2004 (!). I always keep a can of cod liver chunks in oil in the larder, as it's a great stand-by to have when you have unexpected friends. Or when you simply need a lunch in a hurry.

I got the recipe from my mum, but it's the same universal recipe used in pretty much every cod-liver-loving family in Estonia (or Russia, for that matter, as Rosie's post reveals). I love it on toast, but you can also serve it to fill vol-au-vents or top small crostini.

Cod Liver Paté
(Klassikaline tursamaksasalat)



190 g can cod liver chunks in oil (look for it in Russian markets)
1-2 eggs, boiled, peeled and finely chopped
a small (shallot) onion, finely chopped
salt and freshly ground black pepper

Drain the cod liver, then place in a small bowl and mash with a fork. Add the egg and onion, season with salt and pepper. (You can add some mayonnaise, if you want a smoother paté, but it's not really necessary).
Garnish with fresh herbs (dill, parsley and chives are especially fine here) and serve.

Simple delights: an avocado on rye bread

If you've been blogging about food for long enough (say for 5 years minimum), you may remember the I LOVE CHEESE SANDWICH campaign back in February 2006 (I contributed this beetroot and goat cheese toast). Somehow I remembered that blog event earlier today, and this inspired me to post a photo of one of my recent favourite quick snacks - an avocado open sandwich. All you need is a slice or two of homemade naturally leavened rye bread, a spreading of butter, a creamy Hass avocado and a sprinkling of Maldon sea salt flakes.

Bliss, I say...

What's your favourite snack in a hurry?

Lamb's tongue

Homemade Estonian rye bread, sliced lamb's tongue and horseradish, beetroot and cream cheese spread.

There may have been a time when I was (at least occasionally) a kind of culinary trendsetter among Estonian foodbloggers, introducing exciting new flavours. Not any more - being stuck at home in a suburb without a car and two little kids means that I am the last one to visit newly opened cafés, I miss all the exciting restaurant review events and am the last one to hear about the best source for exciting ingredients. Take lamb's tongue. There were several local foodbloggers singing praise to this humble delicacy (first Piret, then Tuuli, followed by Zoozi), and I spent days restlessly dreaming about those little tongues. Finally, on Saturday, I demanded a trip to a new (and currently the best) market in town and returned with a whole kilogram of lamb's tongue (it's _very_ cold here and our little son turned 1 month old only today, hence the reluctance to venture out earlier). What a delight (if you like tongue, that is)!



My dear K. was kind enough to take a nice photo of them (above; apparently inspired by the movie "Saw III" that he saw recently - I cannot comment, as I refused to join him and watch this), and then let me proceed with the dish. Well, preparing lamb's tongue for use in other dishes (like the open sandwich on top and below) is the easiest thing ever. Here's what you do.

Lamb's tongue
(Keedetud tallekeel)

1 kg lamb's tongue (I had 17 pieces)
cold water
1 large onion, halved (no need to peel)
1 large celery stick (break into 3-4 pieces)
2 bay leaves
10 whole black peppercorns
5 whole allspice berries
few parsley sprigs
1 tsp salt

Rinse the tongues under cold water, place into a large saucepan and cover with fresh cold water. Bring it to a slow boil, skimming off any froth that emerges on top.
Then add the onion, celery, bay leaves and seasoning. Reduce heat and let simmer for about 50-60 minutes, until cooked (test with a sharp knife).
Cool a little, then peel the tongues (as the tongues are quite small and there are many of them, it will take a bit of time).
Serve as they are (sliced thinly, on top of an open sandwich) or use to make salads or whatever else you fancy.



Have you had lamb's tongue before? And what's your favourite way to prepare/eat it? I'm already looking forward to buying and preparing lamb's tongue again, so any cool suggestions are welcome.

Other foodbloggers writing about lamb's tongue:
Ryan @ Nose to Tail at Home
Florian @ Food Perestroika

Cream Cheese Spread with Beetroot and Horseradish

I should start a regular feature here on Nami-Nami, called the "Beetroot Recipe of the Month" or "This Week's Way with Beets" - as we do eat beetroot pretty much each week. It's cheap, seasonal and actually much more versatile than one might think. This recipe is inspired by a cream cheese spread served in a lovely deli-café in Tallinn, called NOP. I've used it as a sandwich filling here, but it would also work as a dip for crudités or as a topping for a jacket potato.

Cream Cheese Spread with Beet and Horseradish
(Rukkileib peedi-mädarõika kreemiga)
Serves 4

75 g cooked or roasted beetroot
150 g cream cheese, at room temperature
1 heaped tsp creamed horseradish
1 Tbsp finely chopped fresh dill
salt
freshly ground black pepper

dark rye bread, to serve

Grate the beetroot finely. Add the cream cheese, horseradish and chopped dill and mix until thoroughly combined. Season with salt and pepper.
To serve with rye bread, spread about a tablespoon of the mixture on a slice of bread, then top with another bread slice and cut diagonally into two triangles.

OTHER BEETROOT RECIPES @ NAMI-NAMI:
January 2010: Dashing Coconut and Beetroot Soup
May 2009: Beetroot Salad with Cottage Cheese and Leeks
November 2008: Oven-baked Salmon with Beetroot
September 2008: Roasted Beets with Caraway Seeds
August 2008: Beetroot and Potato Salad
March 2008: Marbled Beetroot Eggs
March 2008: Bruschetta with Cheese, Garlic and Beets
February 2008: Beetroot Hummus
January 2008: Creamy Beetroot Soup with Horseradish
December 2007: Russian Vinaigrette Salad
November 2007: Beetroot Soup with Goat's Cheese
September 2007: Delicious Vegetarian Borscht Recipe
(to be continued...)

Wild Garlic Butter Recipe

Wild garlic season is almost over, but I wanted to share another simple recipe for that wild plant. Need something zesty on your grilled steak? Want to lend garlicky flavour to your steamed spring vegetables? Fancy some toasted garlic (rye) bread?

Well, what about this wild garlic butter?

Wild Garlic Butter
(Karulauguvõi)
Yields 150 g

150 g butter, at room temperature
30 g wild garlic (about 20 leaves)
grated zest of 1 lemon
a generous pinch of Maldon sea salt

Wash and dry the wild garlic leaves, then chop very finely. Mix with soft butter and grated lemon zest, until combined. Season with salt.
Keeps in the fridge for a few days (can be successfully frozen).

A Cheese, Garlic and Beetroot Bruschetta

I am so cheating here. There's no recipe as such, and it's not even a proper bruschetta (or is it, Susan?). But I didn't know what else to call it - a grilled cheese and garlic and beetroot bread is a bit clumsy.

But the 'recipe' is from our friend Kristel, who claims not to be a great cook. I don't know about that - I've had some pretty brilliant salmon at her place, and now this grilled sandwich. She's on a mission to fight winter fatigue with plenty of beetroot and garlic, and this is her favourite snack at the moment. She shared the recipe on the discussion board of my Estonian site last week, and three other readers immediately made this and praised it. So although I said recently that I won't bother you with my latest beetroot recipes just now, I thought it'd be unfair to keep this from you.

Thank you, Kristel!

A Cheesy-Garlicky Beetroot Bruschetta
(Grillitud peedi-küüslauguleib)



sliced white or dark bread
cream cheese
garlic, peeled and sliced
cooked beetroot, coarsley grated
cheese, coarsely grated

Spread the cream cheese on the bread slice, cover with garlic slices. Top with grated beetroot and grated cheese.
Place under a hot grill for 7-8 minutes, until the sandwich is warm and cheese begins to melt.

Enjoy!

Rye bread canapés with wild mushroom 'Caviar' and soft-boiled quail eggs

We went to one last mushroom forageing trip on Saturday, and got a large basket of mushrooms. Sadly, the season is now over - night frosts are here, and frost-bitten wild mushrooms aren't as nice. From the season's last saffron milkcaps, chantarelles and various porcini mushrooms I made these small rye bread canapés for a dinner with friends on Sunday night.

Delicious!!

Rye bread canapés with wild mushroom 'Caviar' and soft-boiled quail eggs
(Metsaseenesuupisted)



finely chopped wild mushrooms (preferably picked by yourself, then cleaned and sautéed with a little butter)
a small minced onion
some lemon juice
fresh dill
salt and pepper.
quails' eggs

Fry the rye bread slices in butter on both sides, cool a little.
Cover with mushroom 'caviar' and top with a soft-boiled (1 minute) quail egg.

New Höganäs teacups, three Swedish foodbloggers, a great tomato toast recipe

While I'm still a bit exhausted after a day forageing for wild mushrooms in the forests on Saturday (and then cleaning, pickling, salting, frying them until the wee hours of the morning - and yes, of course I will be writing about those gorgeous mushrooms soon), and completing my latest Daring Baker challenge yesterday, I thought I post a photo of my newest kitchen acquisition, 2 lovely Höganäs mugs (above).

You see, last Tuesday I had the pleasure of meeting three lovely Swedish foodbloggers - Dagmar, Anne and Kristina. It was a meeting that should have happened over a year ago, when I was in Stockholm for a wedding, but unfortunately all three girls were out of town back then. However, now we met, and I had great time with them exploring Old Tallinn. We met under the Town Hall Raekoda, headed for a rustic Estonian lunch at Kuldse Notsu Kõrts, then wandered around the cobblestoned streets, before relaxing with a cup of coffee at Chocolats de Pierre. Dagmar and Kristina have written in much more detail about the Tallinn Tuesday here and here - do go and check out the posts and the photos.

And the two Höganäs mugs? Well, Anne, Dagmar and Kristina brought those as a gift to me, to accompany my gorgeous Höganäs teapot. What a thoughtful present, and what wonderfully perfect-sized mugs!



Meanwhile - the bruschetta-lookalikes on the top and above photo are nothing but. They're butter-fried crispy white bread slices with tomato-onion-dill topping, prepared according to a recipe from a very sweet Estonian blogger Krentu. Bread slices are fried slowly and gently in plenty of good butter, and topped with finely chopped sweet onion, ripe tomato and fragrant dill. That's it. That's how a friend of Krentu's late grandmother ate tomatoes during the summer, so the recipe is very old, definitely local and utterly delicious :) Aitäh, Eveli!!!

A tasty salmon spread

A starter from a dinner party some 10 days ago. A smoked salmond spread/pâté that preceded a wonderful boeuf bourguignon and delicious risalamande. On the photo below you can see it being served alongside the first - and rather good - local Estonian blue cheese, Breti Blue, some rocket leaves and crostini.

Can be eaten standing up around the table (read: perfect for cocktail parties and such like).

Smoked salmon spread
Adapted from Rachel Allen's Rachel's Favourite Food for Friends (2005)
Serves 10



100 grams ('cold') smoked salmon
100 grams cream cheese
100 grams sour cream/creme fraiche
about a tablespoonful of lemon juice
couple of spoonfuls of finely chopped dill
freshly ground black pepper
Maldon sea salt

Chop the smoked salmon finely, mix with cream cheese and sour cream. Season with lemon juice, dill, salt & pepper.
Serve.

Easy-peasy, I know.

UPDATE 14.1.2007: "Elust siin ja seal" also made this simple salmon spread and liked it!

Picking cloudberries in Estonia

After forageing for wild strawberries in Paluküla, we headed into the bog forest to look for cloudberries. Cloudberries are definitely one of my favourite berries - another berry strongly reminiscent of my childhood, and last August I breakfasted on delicious cloudberry & cream cheese yogurts, and I regularly stock up on cloudberry jam at my local IKEA store. Even if you're unfamiliar with the berry, you have probably heard of it. Tessa Kiros, the queen of nostalgic and sultry cookbooks, has a beautiful book called Falling Cloudberries - though I was somewhat puzzled by her choice of title - the cover image depicts cranberry sorbet and there isn't a single cloudberry recipe inside, just a brief mention on p. 69.

Cloudberry (Rubus chamaemorus) is a member of the rose family. It is also known as baked-apple berry, especially in Canada, although I'm not sure about this name - I can't see the similarity between baked apple - another great yogurt flavour! - and cloudberries; it is one of the species of salmonberries (probably called so for its colour and not for its taste!). They're related to raspberries, but taste anything but, being much more exquisite in flavour, with a slight hint of honey. Cloudberries grow on mossy and boggy land in the cold northern climates of Scandinavia (apparently very abundant in the bogs of Lapland, though I cannot confirm this myself. Yet.), Finland (where it even decorates the back of the 2 EURO coin), Estonia and other Baltic countries, Siberia and Canada, as well as near the Arctic Circle. As there is just one berry per plant and the growing area is very limited, they are rather costly. Certainly, cloudberry jam in IKEA costs thrice as much as other jams! Indeed, cloudberries are so costly that they can trigger wars among the usually calm Scandinavians: cloudberries are
"so valued in northern Scandinavia where Finland, Sweden, and Norway meet; the cloudberry has long been the cause of "cloudberry wars". These otherwise peace-loving countries have been known to become quite territorial when it comes time to harvest this berry, causing the Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs to develop a special section just for cloudberry diplomacy."
(Alan Davidson. 1999. The Oxford Companion to Food. Oxford: Oxford University Press)



Just like looking for wild strawberries requires a good and attentive eye, forageing for cloudberries needs patience and a sharp vision. Here's what you do. You arrive at your secret cloudberry spot and look around. Carefully. Look at the various green-yellow bumps of grass on the ground, trying to spot a golden-pink berry amongst the dark leaves. Voilà! After spotting a berry, you go, bend your knees and pick it up, twisting the berry off its stalk. Stand up. Repeat. Very good exercise, both for the body and the mind!

As it's been a particularly dry and hot summer in Estonia this year, with temperatures reaching mid 30s Celsius, the bog was rather dry. This wasn't all bad, as it meant I could look for cloudberries without getting my toes wet. But it also meant that cloudberries were rare, and the ones that did exist, tended to be on the small side.

This was one of the few cloudberries in the bog that was ready for eating then and there. A ripe cloudberry is orange-yellow in colour, and very juicy. Pop these straight into your mouth.

This is another close-up of the cloudberry. Pretty, isn't it? This one is slightly underripe though (hence the reddish hue). You would have to leave it at room temperature for a few days to ripen. However, it is in the perfect stage for jam-making.

Again, between three of us we managed to collect a small glass of cloudberries, so no jam-making followed. Instead, we ate the ripe ones then and there, and left the rest on the kitchen table to ripen for a few days.

I had couple of my girlfriends over for a drink and some nibbles on my new balcony at my parents' house few days before my trip to the strawberry fields and cloudberry bogs. One of the canapes I served was inspired by this recipe from the Swedish Arla website. Very Nordic, slightly unusual and oh-so-tasty. Even the only man in the company (Siim Oskar, aged 10 months) had a few.

Rye bread canapés with blue cheese and cloudberry jam
(Sinihallitusjuustu-murakaamps)



cloudberry jam (I used Meie Mari murakamoos, but IKEA sells a decent one)
blue cheese (I used Dolcelatte)
crisp bread or rye bread

Cut the rye bread into small squares (4x4 cm), or break into similarly-sized pieces, if using crisp bread.
Spread with blue cheese and top with a small spoonful of cloudberry jam.
Garnish with small basil leaves or blue borage flowers (above).