Reverse Lasagna

The other day, my mother had an idea. What if instead of our regular putting the meat into the tomato sauce (we usually make a bolognese with minced meat), we'd put it into the white cheese sauce? I liked the thought and made it a reality. As cooking is art, not science, I have not included quantities. It all depends on your own taste, what you have on hand, and how many people you are feeding. Besides, I didn't make enough sauce anyways.

What you will need:

Lasagna sheets (I used ones that didn't have to be pre-cooked)

Parmesan or shredded mild cheese

Tomato sauce:

tomato puree (I used garlic flavoured chopped tomatoes)

cherry tomatoes

fresh garlic (I used a bit of dried/roasted garlic pepper)

onion or shallots (I didn't use the garlic or onion and regretted it)

fresh basil

a few bay leaves

a dash of sweet paprika powder

a dash of dried basil

a dash of dried oregano

a dash of cocoa powder

a dash of sugar

salt and pepper

Cheese sauce:

a few shallots

sliced mushrooms

chicken thighs, boneless, skinless

butter

flour

milk

sharp cheese

parmesan

a dash of hot paprika powder

white pepper

nutmeg (fresh is best)

salt

Method:

1. Start with the tomato sauce. Put the sliced cherry tomatoes into a medium-hot pot with onion and garlic (if using). Don't use oil, or it will splatter everywhere. Cook until the tomatoes are softened, but don't let anything burn.

2. Add the tomato puree. Swish some water in the puree container to clean it up, and add the water to the pot.

3. Add the seasoning and bay leaves, let it simmer, covered, until it has taken in all the flavours, uncover and let it reduce.

4. Fry up the chicken, you can do it while the tomato sauce is simmering. Put diced shallots into a lightly oiled pan. Cook them for a minute, then add the mushrooms and diced up chicken. Fry it on medium-high to develop some colour. The chicken doesn't have to be cooked all the way through. Season with salt and hot paprika. Turn off the heat and set aside.

4. The white sauce has a bechamel base. Put some butter into a clean pot. When it has melted, add the flour. Fry it for a little while, stir continuously. Start adding milk, little by little. Stir in-between  every adding, and don't add extra unless all the previous milk has evaporated. The base is done when the sauce is not too thick or too runny. Season with white pepper, nutmeg and salt. Add the cheeses according to taste. Combine the sauce with the chicken-mushroom mixture.

5. To assemble the lasagna: Put some tomato sauce at the bottom of a baking dish. Lay lasagna sheets on top. Add more tomato sauce, followed by the cheese sauce and grated parmesan, and lasagna sheets. Press it down lightly, careful not to break the sheets. Repeat the process, until you have enough sauce for only one more layer. Reserve the sauces for the top of the lasagna. Add parmesan, or if you like a cheesier dish, some shredded mild cheese.

6. Put the lasagna into a pre-heated oven for 40 minutes to an hour, until you can stick a knife into the dish without resistance. I also put a baking sheet with water in the oven, below the lasagna.

I hope this "reverse lasagna" finds a place in your regular food repertoire. Apologies for very general instructions, but if you feel comfortable in the kitchen, you wouldn't follow them anyways. Also, blame the lack of photos on my newbie-status, I'll try to be better in the future.

Kohvik Inspiratsioon // Café Inspiration

To follow up my disappointment by yet another "there's no vacancy" at the Vegan Restaurant (Restoran) V a day after the last visit (I even tried to book this time, but they wouldn't let me!), on July 15th, my foreign friend and I decided to go to another vegan place, Café Inspiration (Kohvik Inspiratsioon) on the corner of Pagari and Lai street, Tallinn old town.

We were greeted by a nice outdoor terrace and a few empty tables inside. Choosing something from the menu took some time, but I finally opted for a mushroom risotto. That, however, would have taken 30 minutes, and we were in a rush. So instead, I chose a spinach wholegrain pasta with roasted almonds and a spunky tomato-onion salad (spinati täisterapasta röstitud mandlite ja särtsaka tomati-sibula salatiga) which had a waiting time of 20 minutes. I also wished to have a sea buckthorn smoothie with ginger, but they were out of the fruit. I quickly chose a strawberry-rhubarb-pear smoothie, but were out of strawberries. I was offered a replacement of cherries instead of the strawberries, and they asked if they could use banana in case they were out of pear. I accepted. The order came in at 9.10€, pasta being 6.40€ and the 300 ml smoothie 2.70€. Again, rather inexpensive for an eatery in old town.

My dish is seen in the background

We sat down and soon I realised something. I didn't have my smoothie. I waited a bit, a little bit more, and when I saw the waiter dancing behind the counter, I reminded him. He was nothing but nice, and to be honest, his optimistic and friendly attitude was the only reason I tipped him. But about that later. We then got our food, and my smoothie arrived shortly after that. To get to my pasta, I had to dig through a mountain of the spunky salad (I also don't like mixing cold food with warm) which made my nose hurt from the really strong onion. When I finally reached the main portion of the meal, I was disappointed again. It was very under-seasoned, fortunately there was a salt and a pepper shaker on the table. My friend's unwanted sun-dried tomatoes worked wonders in my dish. The almonds gave the pasta a needed crunch as the pasta might have been a tad too soft. The smoothie was a nice mix of fruit, however, I have no idea what it ended up consisting of. 

Final verdict: 4 out of 10. The food was edible but nothing too exciting. The portion size was good, there was even more than enough for a hungry girl. The service was a bit sloppy, but enthusiastic. I would go back to try the interesting sounding mushroom risotto I couldn't have and also their desserts, but I will not have as high expectations as I had before. I (and you, if you wish) should hurry, as their menu changes with seasons.

Info at www.kohvikinspiratsioon.ee or their Facebook page at www.facebook.com/KohvikInspiratsioon

Snapchat's Food Network - Bobby Makes Pizza...For Dessert!

Snapchat's Food Network story is the only one I consistently watch. You can learn so many new recipes and techniques, and also find out what the current trends in the food world are. On July 17th, their story was all about pizzas. The one that stood out to me the most was a grilled dessert pizza. It's not too late to make it yourself this summer.

What you will need:

Pizza dough (quantity not specified, but enough for a medium pizza)

canola oil for brushing

1 ½ cups Mascarpone cheese

2 plums, cut into wedges, grilled

1 cup blackberries

1 cup raspberries
2 tbsp honey
powdered sugar to finish it off

Method:
1. Brush the dough with a little bit of canola oil. The grill should be pretty hot. You should turn the dough once only so make sure it is crispy before you flip it. No matter how thin you roll the dough, it's still going  to rise so you'll get a chewy pizza base. Remove from heat.
2. Slather the Mascarpone right on the base. Add plums, blackberries and raspberries. Top it off with honey.
3. Let the pizza heat up just a tiny bit more in a baking pan, on the grill, for 3 minutes.
4. Top the warm pizza off with a sprinkling of powdered sugar. Enjoy!

Von Krahli Baar // Von Krahl's Bar

Located in Tallinn old town on Rataskaevu street, Von Krahl is a collective name for a theatre and four eateries: Von Krahl's Garden (Aed), Von Krahl's Bar (Baar), Vegan Restaurant (Restoran) V and At Granny's (Vanaema Juures). In the afternoon of July 14th I stepped into the vegan restaurant with my friend visiting Estonia for the first time, only to be told there was no vacancy. As we were starving and exhausted from sightseeing, we sat down at a place just beside it, Von Krahl's Bar.

After a long look at the menu, I chose the Von Krahl’s fried roll with a minced meat filling and fresh salad (Von Krahli toru hakklihatäidisega ja värske salatiga) at a cost of 4€ which is very inexpensive for an eatery in old town. My friend ordered a fresh salad with chicken (värske salat kanaga), which came in at 5€. Tap water and fresh bread (by the looks of it) were free of charge. The bar was almost empty, with my friend and I being the third visitors.

After a short wait of maximum 15 minutes, our food arrived. Turned out what I had imagined the roll to be was not the case. It was a pancake. A crepe roll with the meat filling diagonally across the plate, in a corner above it the fresh salad with cucumber, lettuce, radish and tomato (hope I didn't leave anything out), seasoned with salt and pepper, and in a corner below two dollops of a greenish sauce. The roll was topped off with two slices of radish. My friend's salad was identical to mine, just bigger and had chicken.

The crepe was on the thicker side but quite light nevertheless. The minced meat was very fine, almost baby-food-like, but very well seasoned. The sauce (most likely with a mayonnaise base) on the side was a great accompaniment, toning the seasoning of the filling down a tad bit, and also making it feel fresher. In the menu there was also the choice of having an XXL version of the meal, but I was very glad I only had one of those rolls. I also tasted the chicken on my friend's salad but was very disappointed after my delicious food. It was rather bland, cold (according to the friend, it was warm at first) and tasted like warmed up meat. If I were to evaluate the bar based on only my food and the atmosphere, I would give it a score of 8 out of 10, but my friend's chicken brought the score down.

My final verdict: 7 out of 10. I would go back to taste the desserts and some other items.

Info at www.vonkrahl.ee/baar1