Month: January 2018

Millet Fritters. Hirsikotletid

hirsikotlett1 (5)My husband eats almost everything. And my husband eats everything as long as it’s drowning in mayonnaise or sour cream.
 The only two dishes that still give him traumatizing flashbacks from the past are milk soup and millet.

The latter mainly because he used to serve in a Soviet army somewhere in the Middle East many years ago where one of the main dinners he got to eat a lot was millet porridge which he found terrible.

So, now I did attempt to turn his mind over. And I succeed.

I have been able to successfully change his mind about this dish though. Millet however is not a grain that can be found growing in Estonia which is unfortunate as this interesting yellowish sweet cereal is also very healthy.

In children stories we used to dream about the country, that had “porridge mountains and milk rivers”, and all these mountains have drawn yellow. Like millet.

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Things to See and Do in Tallinn, Estonia

Welcome to Tallinn 🙂
Keani writing about most beautiful and interesting places to see 🙂

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I had no idea what to expect from Estonia. At first it was just a stop on the way to St. Petersburg, Russia, but it turned out to be one of my favorite experiences! As I stepped foot on the cobblestone walkways and through the city wall, I felt transported to the middle ages. Tallinn allowed my imagination to stir and dream up a what a lifetime many years before ours would be like.

Tallinn is the capital of Estonia that sits on the Baltic sea. A beautiful tucked away gem in Europe, Old Town Tallinn is fortified, stony, and enchanting in every sense of the word. It’s a relatively small town that is good for exploring on a day trip, but you could just as easily spend more time here and still enjoy it! I was only here on a cruise ship stop, but the city won my heart. Here…

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Moscow Buns. Moskva saiakesed

Moscow Buns are retro. I used to buy these delicious treats as a child from our local bakery where they were served fresh and warm straight from the oven.
I’m not quite familiar with the origin of this bun’s name or why it has ‘Moscow’ in it. I assume that the background of these pies is similar to many other classic Soviet-era pastry recipes. Due to the lack of products, bakers used to replace the ingredients in the original recipe with whatever was available and got a new recipe.

Unlike Danish buttery pastries, the dough you need doesn’t need to be as complicated  buttery yeast dough, but yeast dough just combined with butter
The filling used in these buns is not some fancy expensive cream but a simple mix that contains semolina and whole eggs. Please note that Moscow buns don’t contain any fruit.

Good old Google says that Moscow buns were invented in Estonia…who knows, it’s possible. 🙂 🙂

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Weekdays Rassolnik. Argipäeva Rassolnik

This January, I would like to introduce you to a foreign dish that throughout the years has become more and more popular in Estonia to the point where me and my fellow estonians consider it being part of our national cuisine.

Rassolnik is light vegetable soup. As name says “rassolnik “-“rassol” means in Russian cucumber brine.  So, this soup contains and has specific salted cucumbers taste.

If you follow my blog, You know, that I prefer dishes that do not take much time to prepare. Yes, you can cook proper broth. But in weekdays I have not time for this.

I make this soup using meat leftovers and/or season this soup with stock fond.

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Oven Baked Syrniki. Ahjus küpsetatud Sõrnikud

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Syrniki. Sõrnikud http://www.estoniancuisine.com

Sõrnikud made its way to Estonian cuisine from Russia.

As these fluffy quark fritters are very delicious Sõrnikud were quickly adapted by Estonian sweet teeth.

Sõr /сыр means in Russian cheese and/or quark. So, these are small cheesecakes 🙂 🙂


I’m not a big fan of frying these cakes as I barely have time, plus I get my sufficient amount of fat from other sources anyway. 🙂


Therefore, I’ve adapted from the original recipe to make Sõrnikud suitable for baking in the oven.

 

 

This January, I would like to introduce you to a foreign dish that throughout the years has become more and more popular in Estonia to the point where I and my fellow Estonians consider it being part of our national cuisine.

 

 

Continue reading “Oven Baked Syrniki. Ahjus küpsetatud Sõrnikud” →

Rice with Pork. Plov

This January, I would like to introduce you to a foreign dish that throughout the years has become more and more popular in Estonia to the point where me and my fellow Estonians consider it being part of our national cuisine.

Plov. Originally, it’s a dish from the Middle East/Central Asia that has gone through a long journey from south to north to our dinner tables. With some touches of local seasoning and ingredients Plov has become one of the most common ”everyday meals” in Estonia. As Estonians love pork so much, one of the main ingredients of the Estonian Plov is definitely pork.

Rice with Pork. Plov

  • Servings: 4-6
  • Difficulty: easy
  • Print

A East dish with Estonian twist and touch. Plov

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Rice with Pork. Plov

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10 Most Popular Posts of 2017 on EstonianCuisine

Happy New Year !  Thank you all my readers! 🙂  2017 was amazing year and I hope you enjoyed all recipes I shared and most important: found something new and lot of inspiration 🙂
Happy New Year!

These are the most popular posts on  www. estoniancuisine.com

  1. How To Do Estonian Black Rye Bread.
    Estonian Black Bread is fermented Rye Bread. For this bread we have even the own word: LEIB.
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2. How To Do Homemade Quark
Impossible to write Estonian food blog without quark. If you have children, call them to join. To make quark is fun process and lesson about chemistry, cooking, health and fermentation 🙂
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3. Cake Anthill, simple eggfree cake
This is Retro cake. This is easy cake. But the best part is the bottom dough. This is egg free. Easy to do. With neutral taste so you can use this for different cakes and pies.
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4. Minced Meat Sauce. Hakklihakaste.
This is easy and very quick Sauce, which probably do not need any recipe. But, because this is very traditional in Estonian food-table, let it be:)
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5.  Estonian Style Sauerkraut with Pork and Barley. Mulgikapsad.

Mulgikapsad can be served as a meal unto itself, usually with boiled potato and certainly with some fermented milk for drink. You may cook this as vegan, without meat.
Mulgikapsad takes and need lot of time. And Mulgikapsad are the best in the second day, as all Sauerkraut dishes.

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6. Estonian Bread Pudding. Saiavorm.
This is a dessert from my childhood. It was often served as a dessert at school to reuse leftovers from bread.

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7. After Party Soup. Seljanka.
next morning you just need a sour and sweet soup. I do not call this Selyanka, because real Selyanka is little bit different. But very similar:) This is Selyanka-type soup.
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8. Soft and Delicious Grandmothers Apple or Rhubarb Pie. Pehme ja õhuline Õunakook
My grandmother did this using barley flour. But this is same delicious with wheat or whatever flour.
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9. Estonian Quark and Rhubarb Pie. Pidusai by Terhi
In Estonia we call this type cakes and pies “Pidusai”- means “party bread”. This is festive and beautiful and everyone get one own piece.
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10. Estonian Secret: Kohuke. Chocolate Glazed Quark Snack

Kohuke- chocolate glazed quark snack is very popular dessert for children breakfast. Estonians can buy from store tens of sorts Kohuke: with different flavours and fillings.
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