Maple-glazed drumsticks and vegetables

Chicken drumsticks are a really affordable cut of meat that can be made into a number of delicious dishes. I'd call it a perfect recession dish, if it weren't for the maple syrup - hardly a cheap ingredient, at least here in Estonia (and I doubt that the proper stuff is cheap anywhere). Maple syrup lends these drumsticks a lovely sweet flavour, the potatoes add the bulk and roasted cherry tomatoes cheer the whole dish up with their lovely colour.

You could obviously use chicken thighs or even breast fillets instead of drumsticks.

Maple-glazed roasted chicken drumsticks and vegetables
(Vahtrasiirupis röstitud kanakoivad)
Serves three to four

8 chicken drumsticks
4-6 large garlic cloves
6 Tbso maple syrup
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 Tbsp Dijon mustard
2 fresh rosemary sprigs, leaves only
juice of half a small lemon
500 g small potatoes
250 g cherry tomatoes
sea salt
freshly ground black pepper

Mix maple syrup, olive oil mustard, rosemary leaves and lemon juice in a medium-sized oven tray, season generously. Add the drumsticks and stir them in the mixture to cover. Add the garlic cloves (we LOVE oven-roasted whole garlic cloves over here. If that's not your favourite thing, then simply add 2-3 crushed garlic cloves to the maple glaze).
Peel the potatoes and cut into thin wedges. Add to the oven dish and give them a quick stir.
Roast in the middle of a pre-heated 200 C/400 F oven for about 20 minutes.
Scatter the cherry tomatoes on top and roast for another 15-20 minutes, until the potatoes are cooked and chicken is done.

Raspberry Cheesecake Brownie a la The Hummingbird Bakery

The Hummingbird Bakery is the bakery in London at the moment, specializing in American-style cakes and sweets. It's a brainchild of Tarek Malouf that opened in 2004, and the book - The Hummingbird Bakery Cookbook - featuring their most popular cakes and pastries was published in 2009. It's a gorgeous book, full of inviting and appetizing recipes, though the only one I've made so far is this Raspberry Cheesecake Brownie. And I've made it three times during the last month or so - for K's mum's birthday (twice) and for our daughter's first birthday party as well. I've followed the recipe more or less - replacing the icing sugar with caster sugar, topping up the amount of cheesecake to suit our local 150 g packs of cream cheese, and baking it in a round cake tin instead. I might reduce the sugar content in the brownie layer next time, as the cake is rather sweet (though the slight acidity of the raspberry layer balances it all out nicely).

The interesting thing about this cake is that the cheesecake and brownie layers are cooked at once - and this can be made a day or even two days before serving. A great cake for making in advance, as all you have to do before serving is topping it with raspberry whipped cream.

Raspberry Cheesecake Brownie
(Vaarikatega šokolaadi-toorjuustukook)
Serves 12



Brownie layer:
200 g dark chocolate, roughly chopped
200 g unsalted butter, softened
250 g caster sugar
3 large eggs
110 g plain flour (200 ml)

Cheesecake layer:
450 g cream cheese, softened
150 g caster sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 large eggs

Raspberry topping:
200 ml whipping cream
100 g caster sugar
200 g raspberries

Butter a 26 cm springform tin, line the base with a sheet of parchment paper.

For the brownie layer:
Melt the chocolate in a heatproof bowl placed over a pan of simmering water.
Cream the butter and sugar, then whisk in the eggs one at a time. Sift and fold in the flour and finally fold in the slightly cooled melted chocolate.
Pour the chocolate mixture into the cake tin.

For the cheesecake layer:
cream the softened cream cheese with sugar and vanilla extract until combined, then whisk in the eggs one at a time.
Pour the cheesecake mixture carefully over the uncooked brownie mixture.

Bake in the middle of a pre-heated 170 C / 325 F oven for 30-40 minutes, until the cheesecake is firm to the touch and light golden around the edges. (The cheesecake layer will firm furthen when cooling).

Remove the cake from the oven and let cool for at least 4 hours, preferably overnight.

Before serving whisk the cream and sugar until soft peaks form, then fold in the fresh or frozen (defrost and drain first!) raspberries. Spread the raspberry cream over the cheesecake and decorate with chocolate and extra raspberries.

Green Fruit Salad

Making fruit salads during summer is easy. Take some strawberries, apples, pears, wild forest berries, juicy apricots or nectarines - basically, whatever is in season - slice, dress, garnish and serve.

During winter - at least in this part of the world - it's a lot more difficult. We're in the middle of the coldest and snowiest winter many of us can remember. None of the local fruits are in season, and the imported stuff is often of questionable quality. However, here's a recipe I've made few times that seems to suit the chilly climate of the moment. You can find reasonably good and sweet kiwi fruit, and the grapes (all imported, of course) in the shops at the moment.

I guess what I like about this simple salad is the colour. The vibrant green reminds me that the Spring is just around the corner, however unlikely it seems in Estonia at the moment...

Green Fruit Salad Recipe
(Roheline puuviljasalat)
Serves 4 to 6

4 to 6 ripe and sweet kiwis
250 g green (seedless) grapes
half a lime, juiced and zested
a drizzle of maple syrup

Peel the kiwis and cut into thin slices. Wash the grapes, halve and remove the seeds, if necessary. Drizzle the kiwi slices and grape halves with lime juice and maple syrup, place on a serving bowl.
Scatter the lime zest on top and serve.