Fennel bites with liver pâté

I sometimes have this habit of eating while I'm reading. Or rather, reading while I'm eating. Or, well, I don't know. I often spend my mornings like that when I don't have time for both eating slowly and devouring the morning newspaper, two things that make a morning complete (add morning workout and I'm in heaven).

But this one day I was deep in a book when my stomach called for lunch, so I just prepared some easy bites for myself to enjoy while reading on. Non-fat for fingertips, full-fat delight for that stomach of mine.

And those bites now totally want to visit a party with snacks.

Fennel bites with liver pâté
Fennel bulb
Liver pâté
Fennel greens, dill or chives for decorating

1. Cut the fennel bulb in half and cut its layers into nice bite-size 'boats'.
2. Top the fennel bites with liver pâté. Use a pastry bag for this or make a nice heap with a teaspoon.
3. Place fennel greens, dill or chives on top for great taste and decoration.
   

It's amazing how the flavours suit together. The sweetness and freshness of the fennel is just what a bite of liver pâté needs in order to be reached for again and again. It balances the strong and rich pâté perfectly. That's why I was especially fond of the thick fennel slices - the pâté does want something fresh at its side (hence the usual company of cucumber).
I used dill on top of the bites and believe I'd enjoy it more than just fennel greens as it makes the flavour pattern wider.

Yep, I recommend.

This post will take part of the first round of the event Original Recipes, hosted by Lore of Culinarty.

Warm curd cheese toasts with feta cheese and smoked sausage

Curd cheese toasts (or rather 'kohupiimasaiad') are sweet (sorry if I'm confusing you, but usually they are) Estonian treats we usually make during wintertime when stale bread seems to be lying around everywhere and curd cheese just happens to be in the fridge. They're delicious for a dessert and delicious for breakfast the next morning. Check out Pille's recipe, for example, cause this will be the last time you hear about sweet curd cheese toasts from me today.

INSTEAD, our curd cheese toasts went un poco loco. That's what confused appetite does to a person, because I really craved something savoury.

You could try using ricotta instead of curd cheese here. Or even cream cheese for a richer treat. Though as long as I've got curd cheese, I wouldn't even look towards those two...


Warm curd cheese toasts with feta cheese and smoked sausage
(makes 6 toasts)

about 6 slices of bread

250 g curd cheese
1 egg
1/2 - 1 onion (according to your love for onions)
butter
about 1/2 tsp dried herb mix of basil, oregano and marjoram (you could also use only one of them)
20 g smoked sausage of salami (I used deer sausage)
50 g feta
about 1 dl grated cheese
salt, pepper, sugar

1. Dice the onion and sautee it in butter until it becomes transparent and slightly golden, about 10 minutes.
2. Finely dice the sausage and also dice the feta.
3. Mix the egg into the curd cheese, add the herb mix, sausage, feta and sauteed onion. Flavour with salt, pepper and a bit of sugar.
4. Lay bread slices onto a greased baking sheet and spread the mixture onto them.
5. Bake at 200C for 10 minutes, then add the grated cheese on top of the toasts and bake for 5 more minutes. Serve warm.
   

Nothing is overpowering the taste in those toasts, just like in good pizza. The bread is crisp, the filling warm and creamy. They're good just on they're own, with slices of fresh tomatoes on them or together with a fresh salad for a lunch-er lunch.

Weird how dishes as ordinary as kohupiimasaiad can sometimes surprise so much:/
Just the weirdness I love!

Appetising lettuce rolls with smoky red fish

All kinds of snack rolls are essentially cool. But as is the case with most dishes, there's something inside us screaming 'I WANT TO EAT SEASONAL'! And despite all the coolness factor in ham rolls with cheese filling, I don't quite feel like them now. Come on, it's not even raining. And the hold-your-skirt-or-you'll-go-home-without-it wind does not really count.

Even though I didn't know it before, I now know that lettuce can be rolled into a cool summery appetiser.

That's why they invented the phrase sex, drugs 'n' lettuce rolls, baby!


Lettuce rolls with smoky red fish

lettuce leaves
light grapes
raisins

about 200 g garlic flavoured cream cheese
1/2 dl diced tomatoes
1/2 dl pieces of smoked red fish
1 tbsp raisins

1. Mix cream cheese with diced tomatoes, smoked fish and raisins.
2. Spread the mixture onto lettuce leaves and make them into rolls. Place them into the fridge for a half an hour (I didn't do that, but it will make the filling stiffer).
3. Cut the rolls into bite-sized pieces and top with a grape and a raisin.

They actually have this fresh feeling to them, which is unusual for this kind of appetisers. There's just about enough smoky fish flavour that is complemented by the sweetness of the raisins. The grapes are good on the rolls, but I'm wondering if olives would do an even better job. Next time, right?

Spring shoots!

In april and may, whenever I walk past a fir hedge, I can't help but instinctively reach my hand for some bright green fir shoots. Ah, I don't think I'm the only one doing that (and I mean doing that after the age of ten;)). They are, after all, so pleasantly sour and packed with vitamins.

Fir shoots are actually a funny subject. Because whenever I tell someone that one can use them in actual dishes, in addition to just nibbling on them from time to time while outside, people answer 'ohhh, hmmm, yeees, I've never actally thought about it'.

But fir shoots are really healthy as well, when not polluted by a nearby street. Syrup and tea made with them should work well when trying to get rid of cough and cold, but also tiredness and nervousness. They liven blood circulation and even have a slightly antibiotic effect!
(yes, now would be the right time to stop asking the question 'are you sure it's okay to eat them?')

Here's my first experiment with fir shoots:)

Fir shoot butter

Bright green fir shoots
Butter at room temperature
(sea)salt, pepper

1. Rinse the fir shoots
   
2. If you want a soft butter, throw the shoots into boiling water, boil for about 10 minutes, then chop into little pieces. Using fresh shoots will result in a crunchier, but brighter butter.
3. Mix the chopped fir shoots with soft butter and flavour with salt and pepper.

It's great to eat the butter with a simple crunchy bread, but I can imagine it being wonderful with meat, vegetables or young potatoes..oh yes. A scrumptious sour fir-y taste, somehow homely.

Next I'd like to throw some fir shoots into casseroles and salads. I've also found recipes for flavoured oil, tea, syrup, chicken roast, marmalade and ice cream coctail using fir sprouts. If you're interested, I'm ready to translate or try them out:)
And if you've got ideas of your own...I'm one big ear!

A healthy onion tart, three ways

A bag of onions makes me happier than a bag of candy.

Like...really. As I'd managed to somehow eat all our onions, I was happy as hell to eye a bunch of them when I went to the kitchen, looking for food. I knew exactly what I'd make - and it's not just that the recipe is called 'healthy onion tart' (it wouldn't be healthy if I ate half of it anyway).

I've made it several times and been really happy with it, although I've always been annoyed with the crazy salt amount the recipe calls for. How is it that cookbook authors sometimes really mess up? How is it that they sometimes manage to leave some parts of the recipes out? Or some ingredients? Don't they like...read their work over again and again?
Whatever. But that's lame. Let's just stop whining and stuff our mouths full.

Healthy onion tart on an oat flake and carrot crust (adapted from '100 pirukat', serves 8) Crust: 1 dl oat flakes 1 dl flour 1 dl grated carrots 100 g baking margarine (or butter) at room temperature 1 tsp baking powder 1/4 tsp salt Filling: 3-4- onions 1 tbsp butter 2 dl milk 2 eggs 3/4 tsp salt Mix grated carrot, oat flakes and margarine. Mix flour with salt and baking powder, add to the mixture. Take a 24cm round baking pan and press the dough onto the bottom and sides of the pan (it's easier to do so when you've chilled the dough in the fridge for some time). Place the pan into the fridge for a half an hour. Meanwhile slice the onions and cook them with the butter until they're golden. Mix eggs with milk, add salt. Bake the crust in the middle of a preheated 200C oven for 15 minutes. Spread the onion slices onto the baked crust and pour the milk-egg mixture over them. Bake at 180C for 20 more minutes.

Feel free to add herbs to the onions (thyme, maybe? rosemary? sage? or oregano?) or cheese on top of the tart when it has been baking for some time already (I allow you to keep the name 'healthy' even when you add cheese;))
I'd definitely go for some green salad on the side for serving, be the tart warm or cold. I love to warm up the cold tart in the microwave, too. The onions are so mild, the crust is sweetly speckled from grated carrot. It's not very crisp - the crust - only the bottom and the sides are, the filling kind of melts into its upper layer.

Long long time ago - in the summer - I used the very same recipe for onion tartelettes.



I think I pre-baked the crust for some 5 minutes and added 1-2 tbsp of both onions and milk-egg mixture to each tartelette, also adding cheese in the middle of baking. They were marvellous snacks to eat with fingers! As this method used up all the crust dough, there was left-over filling and I baked it in bread slices that I placed in a muffin pan. For bread and onion tartelettes I added cheese right away.



Talking about 'marvellous'? These were perfect when eaten warm and definitely on a green salad! I don't think there's a need for a more accurate recipe. Just...look!

This post will also be taking part of the 11th WTSIM event Topless tarts, hosted by Jeanne from Cook sister. Fortunately being underage can't stop one from participating...:D

A pie for the love of cheese

Now, everybody who loves cheese, raise your hands!

Just as I had thought - these hands are impossible to count. My hands were up high as well - and although I don't eat awfully lot of cheese, I sometimes have cravings for it. Today was one of thesa days. I knew what I was going to make - a perfect cheese pie, but unfortunately I didn't know how. After reading some instructions for cheese pies I understood I couldn't go to the store. That didn't sound as desperate as you might think! After opening my fridge I came up with my own pie. 'Is it that perfect one then?' you might ask. Quite. Quite-quite.

At least it's got the perfect pile of cheese in it.

The taste of the pie is quite strong so it's important to choose cheese that is very much to your liking (choose cheese - now say that for fifty times and fast!:)). You may also reduce the amount of salt - I have, after all, caught the flu and eat saltier food that I would normally...mom was a bit whiny about the salt. Dill can be replaced with any other herb you like - this is just what I had at home and what I felt like.


Cheese pie with dill

3 eggs
250 g sour cream
150g + 100 g grated cheese
1/4 tsp salt
up to 1/2 dl dill

1. Mix the eggs with sour cream, add flour, salt, dill and 150 g grated cheese.
2. Take a springform pan (I used 24 cm) and grease it with butter or line with baking paper.
3. Pour the mixture into the pan and cover with remaining cheese.
4. Bake at 200C for about half an hour.



I ate a slice of pie warm with some simple green salad (green leaf lettuce + yoghurt + sugar). It was just the right thing to accompany it, as the pie is rich enough already. Soft on the inside, with a pleasant crust on top. Very cheesy and with a quite strong taste of dill.
It could make a perfect snack, if cooled and cut into small squares. I imagine serving them with a coctail stick and with pieces of sweet red pepper.

I think that the next time I crave for cheese, I'll try adding something else to the pie. For example little pieces of ham and basil instead of dill. Or maybe smoked sausage and oregano. Or maybe, who knows - I might just as well add carrot.

Smoked sausage mouthful with pineapple cream cheese

A what's-in-the-fridge snack. Don't you just love them sometimes? Well these mouthfuls smell and sound like dinner party and that's where they'll probably be headed sooner or later.

Thin crisps of quality smoked sausage are good on their own too. But they're just like potato chips - there's never too much dip sauce. This cream cheese topping can also be served seperately as a dip, but individual mouthfuls seemed to do the thing for me. If I'm really able to see into the future and these snacks will be served at a dinner party, they most definitely need fresh basil leaves for garnishing (did I really use dried basil? a traitor among the world of cooks! but that's how what's-in-the-fridge snacks work).


Smoked sausage mouthful with pineapple cream cheese

Thinly sliced smoked sausage (or salami)
1 dl pineapples from a compote
1 dl cream cheese
basil

1. Preheat your oven to 110C . Line a baking sheet with parchment paper (I use a silicone baking sheet instead) and arrange the sausage slices on it. Cook them in the oven for about 12 minutes.
2. Take the sausage slices out of the oven and let them drain on paper towels.
3. Now the cream cheese topping. Puree the pineapple slices or pieces together with the cream cheese and that's it.
4. Serve the cream cheese topping on cooled crisps, sprinkle with some (preferably fresh) basil.


Crunchy, creamy, salty, spicy, exotic, sweet - contradiction does its thing here. Pure tastes are like a compliment for both the mind and the body.

Mediterranean style marinated Halloumi

After having kept my eye on it for quite some time already, I finally bought my first Halloumi cheese. If only the price wasn't such a robbery, it could become a regular guest here.
Bright white, firm and with layered texture, easily falling apart at some places, rubbery, smooth, a little bit squeaky, mild, very salty - my first expressions.

Halloumi originates from Cyprus and is traditionally made of a combination of sheep's and goat's milk, but nowadays cow's milk is often added. An important fact is that Halloumi can be cooked and fried and grilled and it's still got its own shape - it won't melt because of its high melting point.
Halloumi's really salty taste is nice in salads, but not so much when eaten as a snack. To get rid of the salty taste, I soaked it in water overnight, changing the water once. My idea was to marinate the cheese for a lovely finger snack and and so it sat in the fridge for one more day. One too long day.

Mediterranean style marinated Halloumi

150 g Halloumi cheese
3 tsp pesto
3/4 dl olive oil
5 sun-dried tomatoes

1. Cut the cheese into bite-size rectangles. If you wish to reduce the salty taste, soak the pieces in water overnight.
2. Chop the tomatoes into tiny bits and combine with pesto and oil. Add the cheese and let it marinate for at least one day in the fridge.



So, a small bowlful of marinated cheese. What now? To make snacks, drain the Halloumi and dry it - tiny bits of pesto and tomatoes will make these bites colourful. The cheese can also be used in salads, the marinade will act as salad dressing (I used some with sweet potato salad and added some yoghurt). Halloumi fried in the marinade can be added to all kinds of dishes - I just served it simple on a toast with some cream cheese and chinese cabbage.



The marinated cheese has quite a lot of taste. I wonder if I could preserve it in a jar for a longer period to make it more intense. Halloumi is a cheese that stays fresh by itself for a long time too. Oh thank you, Cyprus.

Camouflage goes purple for eggs

It's funny how there's this long, this really long line of recipes waiting outside the kitchen door, but despite that fact a new one sometimes knocks off that door with no particular reason and elbow's its way straight onto dinner table. Well, yes, I admit, it has happened once again. Last week I stumbled over a picture of pickled eggs and got a bit too curious. After reading several recipes I decided to make my own the next day. Stumbling ain't bad. Not bad at all.


As it was yet a test, I only took three eggs (for what reason? for what?). I put them into marinade on Saturday and kind of felt like eating them three days later, although I had planned to do it after 5-6 days as some recipes suggested. But three days was just fine to have enough taste and a fabulous purple colour. You can adjust the quantity of eggs and marinade for your own needs. The amount of beets doesn't necessarily have to be big.


Pickled eggs with beets

3 eggs
1 boiled beet
1 small onion
2 dl beet juice
0.3 dl balsamic vinegar
0.3 dl soft brown sugar
salt
some basil leaves or dried basil

1. Prepare hard boiled eggs and shell them.
2. Cut the beet and onion into slices, place them into a bowl together with the eggs.
3. Bring the beet juice to a boil
4. Add the balsamic vinegar, sugar, basil and a pinch of salt. Reduce heat and simmer until sugar has dissolved.
5. Pour the marinade over the eggs and cover. Let the bowl stand in the refigerator for three days.

The eggs look really dark on the outside and have a dramatic effect. The inside is not gummy as you might think, it's rather soft and silky. The taste is not acidic, it's truly beety and with a nice sweet accent. I really like the beets too, the thin slices have this nice caramel taste. The marinade that's left over in the end could be used as a sauce for meat after reducing it a bit.

I ate the eggs with cottage cheese and some rye bread. It would be just perfect to serve them sliced to guests, herring as the classical companion. 10 points for camouflage.

The recipe also takes part in the event Food Fight #1, whose host is Allen from Eating Out Loud

Update 1.1007 : The photo takes part in the event Click: the photo event, which is a wonderful new food photographing event that concentrates on a different theme every month.

Spunky ham and feta rolls

Although candies and cookies may be at reach, everybody sometimes has the uncontrollable urge to have a salty snack. Well then feta rolls are the thing (I've received contrary opinions, some don't like them that salty). If you want to milden the taste a bit, you may substitute some of the feta cheese with cream cheese (i.e. garlic-flavoured). If you prefer to use diced feta in oil, smash it with a fork and add a little milk to make it spreadable. I have used a ready-made dried herb mixture (basil, marjoram, oregano, rosemary, coriander, paprika, pepper...), but I'm sure using only basil or oregano would be fine too. As for the ham, I like to use (and strongly recommend!) ultrathin slices . Ham can also be substituted with smoked sausage.


Spunky ham and feta rolls

500 g puff pastry
200 g feta cheese
2 tsp onion powder
1,5 tsp dried herbs
100 g thin ham slices
15 g raisins
sesame seeds

1. Roll the puff pastry on a floured surface until it's quite thin.
2. Spread feta cheese onto the pastry.
3. Sprinkle with herbs, raisins and onion powder, lay the ham slices onto the pastry.
4. Roll the pastry into a tight roll (you can even strech it out a little bit afterwards).
5. Cut the roll into slices (to make the process easier, dip your knife into hot water before cutting)that are not thicker than 1 cm and lay them onto a greased griddle, making sure they have a round shape.
6. Sprinkle the rolls with some sesame seeds and bake them at 175 C for 30-35 minutes.


This batch makes an enough amount of rolls to overflow my bowl:) And there's something to snack on or eat with puree soup.