Better Homes and Gardens - Fast Ed's Amazing Beetroot Dumplings

This recipe has been on my mind for a while now, there's something so appealing in this simple dish. Beets and cheese? Yes, please! Here's a video recipe for beetroot dumplings, inspired by gnocchi, from Better Homes and Gardens on YouTube (a guilty pleasure channel for me lately hehe).

Until next time!

Apple Cheesecake with Caramel Sauce

I saw this recipe on Facebook, on Kaire Köök's page (post here; in Estonian), she herself got the recipe from Roy Fares' (choosing Swedish will let you see some recipes, choosing English will allow you to read more about him) book United States of Cake. He's a Lebanese-Swede and has a cooking show on Swedish television. But no more babble, here's the recipe.

Photo from Kaire Köök's Facebook page

What you'll need:

Base:
110 g butter (room temperature)
0,5 dl sugar
2,5 dl all purpose flour

Filling:
1 tbsp sugar
1,5 tsp cinnamon
4 big apples
600 g classic cream cheese (room temperature)
2 dl sugar
2 tbsp flour
0,5 dl whipping cream (25-35% fat)
3 eggs
2 tsp vanilla sugar

Crumb coat:
0,5 dl sugar
1,5 dl flour
0,5 dl old fashioned oats
80 g butter
1 tsp ground cardamom

Home made or store bought caramel sauce

Method:
1. For the base, mix all the ingredients together into a dough and press it into a 24 cm round spring form pan. Bake at 180 °C for 10-12 minutes and let cool completely. Turn the oven to 160 °C.
2. For the filling, peel and cut up the apples, toss in a cinnamon and sugar mixture. Whip up cream cheese, sugar, vanilla sugar, and flour, add the cream, and one by one the eggs. Oil the sides of the cake pan, pour the cheese mixture onto the cooked base, top off with apples.
3. For the crumble, massage all the ingredients together with your fingertips, and cover the apples with it.
4. Bake at 160 °C for an hour, then turn the oven off and open the door slightly. Let sit for 20 minutes, chill, then refrigerate overnight.
5. Drizzle with caramel sauce and enjoy!

Photo from Kaire Köök's Facebook page

Until next time!

Snapchat Food Network's Tip of the Day - How to Make Your Own Almond Milk

Almond milk has been the hype for a while now but buying cartons of it often might get very expensive. Plus, making your own almond milk ensures that there are only the best and necessary ingredients in the mix.

What you'll need:

1 cup of almonds per 2 cups of water

Flavouring of your choosing

Container

Blender

Cheesecloth

Method:

1. Soak the almonds for 24 hours.

 2. Give them a good rinse.

3. Add the almonds and 2 cups of water into a blender and blend for 2 minutes (less with a powerful blender).

4. Strain the mixture through a cheesecloth, squeeze well to extract every last drop.

5. Sweeten to taste if you wish, serve chilled or over ice. The drink will keep in the refrigerator for up to 3 days, shake well before drinking as the mixture can separate.

Until next time!

Restoran Elevant // Restaurant Elephant

Restaurant Elevant, located in Tallinn old town, on Vene street, offers dishes, which "combine elements from India's long history and noisy streets of today's Calcutta, five star restaurant chefs and Northern India's homemade food, other national cuisines and Ayurveda medicine". The atmosphere is cosy, with warm tones, dimmed lighting, artwork, and plants. Daily specials available.

I found myself at the restaurant unexpectedly during a private party (therefore not paying for anything). That also meant not being able to choose any food myself, and trying many different dishes. I shall begin. I arrived for the fourth course. There was basmati rice with coriander (3,50€), bhatura bread (2€), salad (1,50€) (all previous sides come with every main dish), thin crunchy bread (õhuke krõbe leib; 2,80€), mint sauce (mündi kaste; 1,50€), raita yoghurt sauce (3,50€), saffron lamb (lambaliha safroni-karrikastmes; 15,50€), wild boar curry (metssealiha traditsioonilises vürtsikas kastmes; 15,50€), chicken curry (kanafilee traditsioonilises vürtsikas kastmes; 11,50€), baby octopus curry (väikesed kaheksajalad vürtsikas kastmes; 13,50€), spinach and cottage cheese curry (pehme India juust tihedas spinatikastmes; 10€), and vegetable curry (erinevad köögiviljad vürtsikas kastmes; 9€). Is that it? Quite a plateful, I must say. Didn't really enjoy either of the breads, maybe because they'd already cooled down by the time I got there. Bhatura was just too tough-chewy and didn't impress me. The fresh salad was okay, consisting of raw onions, tomato, and some other things (apologies for the bad memory, I went to the restaurant a few nights ago). Mint sauce was perfectly cooling with the curries, raita, however, was a disappointment, so opt for the cheaper mint sauce. The lamb was nice, it was also my first time tasting saffron, which wasn't as mind blowing as I'd hoped, but still good. All the meats were perfectly cooked and tender. The wild boar curry was the spiciest of all the dishes I tasted that night. Baby octopus curry actually had the whole octopus, not just the tentacles, which was kind of interesting. The cottage cheese curry has a misleading name, as it consisted of soft Indian cheese cubes, not cottage cheese, and the spinach part tasted more like coriander. I found myself craving more, but it was all out by that time. The vegetable curry was alright too.

But that is not all. There was a fifth course too, and that was marinated chicken in traditional sauce, or tikka masala (marineeritud kanafilee traditsioonilises kastmes; 14,50€). I would have expected it to be something to end the night in a bang, but it was just as good as the sauces in the previous course. The chicken was tender and lovely, of course. 

I would've hoped for dessert as well, but I understand the torture the people who were at the party for the whole night must have gone through with all that delicious food.

Final verdict: 9 out of 10. I liked neither bhatura nor thin crispy bread, raita and the vegetable curry were average. If I had to choose three favourites, they would be chicken tikka masala, wild boar curry, and the cheese curry. I discovered the restaurant offers crocodile meat too, so that's what I want to try next. Also, the desserts sound very appetising. Definitely a very nice place altogether, even if it's a bit pricier.

Info at www.elevant.ee or Facebook www.facebook.com/restoran.elevant.

Sorry for no photos!

Until next time!

Apelsini Raudtee // Orange Railway (Vol 2)

I ended up going back to Apelsini Raudtee earlier than expected. Oops. If you missed my first review and introduction to the restaurant, click here. 

This time I visited the place for breakfast. I ordered scrambled eggs with salted salmon, mushrooms, and fresh green salad (munapuder soolalõhe, seente ja värske rohelise salatiga). I believe the eggs were prepared using the bain-marie (water bath) method, resulting in very smooth texture. Personally, I'm not a huge fan of that. It was seasoned moderately, mushrooms (champignons) and salmon were, however, quite salty. Cherry tomatoes were very well seasoned, and warm, I would even say the best part of the dish. Garnishing greens gave a peppery-bitter twist. The salad disappointed me. On closer inspection it turned out to consist of brown-spotted salad leaves. There was no dressing, either. All in all, an edible dish but nothing special. It cost 4€.

I was feeling a bit naughty so I also ordered crepes with summery fresh berries and ice cream (krepid suviselt värskete marjade ja jäätisega) to share with my brother. After being forgotten by the waitress, we finally got the platter. Disappointment again, though. The pancakes were  slightly underdone and as tasteless as the strawberries, berry sauce was watery-bland. What helped sweeten it  all up was the vanilla ice cream. I think my mother makes better pancakes. It cost 4€.

Final verdict: 5 out of 10. My question is, what happened? I was so satisfied the last time that I can't help but be sad. This time parts of the simple dishes were either under or over seasoned, and poorly executed (crepes). I was also surprised by the old lettuce in the salad. Still, I will keep my hopes high and return in the fall to order regular menu items. PS, I was surprised to see they have started charging for flavoured tap water, one jug cost 1€. Reasonable, but surprising.

Info at www.apelsiniraudtee.ee or Facebook www.facebook.com/apelsiniraudtee.

Until next time!

Snapchat's Tastemade - Cast Iron Brownies by Katie Quinn

Katie Quinn from Tastemade showed how to make brownies. In a cast iron skillet! It may be more wet than you're used to but it might get firmer by cooking longer, doubt the taste suffers, though. Best served warm with ice cream.

Don't forget to stir in the egg and flour mixture very well!

"Translation" to metric system:

• 170 g chocolate chips
• 85 g unsweetened chocolate
• 115 g butter
• 2 tsp (~10 ml) vanilla extract
• 2 eggs
• 115 g sugar
• 30 g flour
• 1 tsp (~5 g) baking powder
• 1/4 tsp (~1 g) salt
• 2 tsp (~4 g) instant coffee granules

Hope you give it a try and

Until next time!

Little India

Little India is an Indian restaurant with two locations in Tallinn. They have Indian chefs, and a cozy atmosphere, use an authentic tandoori clay oven, and have daily specials.

From the left, clockwise - butter naan, dessert, lamb curry, lentils, vegetables, yoghurt sauce, salad, basmati rice in the centre

I visited the location in Ülemiste shopping centre. The place wasn't as busy as I'd expect from it being lunchtime. I ordered a North-Indian lamb thali (Põhja-India lamba thali) to share with my mother. I don't know how to describe much of it, other than it was very very good. The naan, Indian bread, seemed as it had been sitting out for a while and could have been better, however, the lamb was very tender and flavourful, the sauce slightly spicy, lentils were a bit spicier, vegetables (cabbage, peas, carrots) well cooked and well-seasoned, yoghurt sauce (raita) a cooling contrast to the heat, as it should be, the salad (red cabbage, carrots) giving an interesting pickled twist to this whole combo. Rice worked with everything. The dessert was a carrot rice pudding (gajar halwa), made with coconut (milk?), and added raisins. It was quite sweet, but a nice finish to the meal (might have found a similar recipe at www.saveur.com). This whole plate cost 9,50€.

Final verdict: 9 out of 10. The naan kind of ruined it for me and the meal didn't absolutely blow me away. Perhaps I've just gotten used to Indian food always being absolutely amazing, but this doesn't get a solid 10. Definitely a place I would return to.

Info at www.littleindia.ee.

Until next time!

Da Vinci Pasta ja Pizza // Da Vinci Pasta and Pizza

"Da Vinci Pasta and Pizza is an Italian restaurant in a fast casual style." They offer 100% Italian style dishes, made almost in full of Italian ingredients, and homemade gelato. They have locations in Pärnu and Tallinn.

I visited their restaurant in the Rocca Al Mare shopping centre. As it was lunch time, it was almost at full capacity. I chose to have whole grain pasta with freshly made Da Vinci pesto sauce (täistera pasta värske Da Vinci pestoga) (you can choose between whole grain and white pasta with every pasta dish). I was served spaghetti with green pesto, cherry tomatoes, pine nuts, and a few arugula leaves. You could also add some grated Parmesan cheese yourself. I find the last little fact very pleasing, as I am not the biggest fan of Parmesan. In addition, they bring ciabatta and soft butter to the table. The meal was very nice, simple, but had all the right flavours. In my opinion, whole grain pasta makes every pasta dish several times better, and this was the case this time, too. Toasted pine nuts gave great crunch, tomato extra freshness. It cost 5,50€.

Final verdict: 9 out of 10. I could say I was very hungry, but the food was truly very good. I could have payed even more for it. Definitely something I could crave and go back for more.

Info at www.davincifood.ee.

Until next time!

Snapchat's Food Network - You're Eating It Wrong - Nachos

How to make the best of a plate of nachos? Dan Pashman from the show You're Eating It Wrong on the Cooking Channel has answered the question with an etiquette expert - Thomas Farley.

The most useful tips I found:
1. Use a plate;
2. Use a spoon for every condiment (guacamole, sour cream, salsa);
3. There's a nacho hierarchy - on the bottom the dry chips, in the middle the soggy ones and at the top the most desirable cheesy ones. When you go in for the cheesy one, top it off with a soggy and a dry one to keep the play fair.

Here's the video:

Until next time!

Brothers Green Eats - Ooey Gooey Grilled Cheese

Love grilled cheese but have run out of inspiration to improve it? Here's a video just for that occasion as it teaches how to make bacon-onion jam and herb butter. 

Brothers Green Eats' YouTube channel is packed with amazing ideas and crazy creations, you just have to open your mind and take it all in!

Until next time!

DINER

DINER is an American style restaurant, offering burgers, salads, and desserts. Having heard rave reviews, my family and I decided to see what this eatery on Vabaduse avenue had to offer.

Firstly, you are greeted by an American style "DINER" sign and an American flag on the building. There's an option to sit outside or inside. On a chilly day like it was, sitting inside wasn't much better of a choice, because air conditioning was turned way up, to the point it got slightly uncomfortable. Blankets were available, though. The white walls were decorated with signs and posters, but that didn't make it seem less empty. The seats were obviously covered in red leather.

We started off with chips with cheese (kartulichipsid juustuga). When they came, they weren't that drained of oil, and the cheese hadn't melted. I understand it was so the chips would still be warm when they got to the table, and the cheese eventually did melt, by the time it was all gone. They tasted like homemade chips. And I didn't expect more of them. They cost 3€.

As I wanted something lighter to have for lunch/dinner, I chose the "naked" burger ("paljas" burger). You have to order at the counter. Having looked at the menu on a lit-up billboard, the food will be brought to you after calling out your name. That made my decision rushed, however, so I didn't notice what I actually ordered. I thought I would get a burger, but just without the buns. Instead, they brought a salad with a beef patty with cheese, on the side. The salad wasn't too bad. The usual bland taste of lettuce and cucumber wasn't there because of pickled onions and cucumbers. The tomato gave sweetness, bell peppers bitterness. It was covered with an oil based (pesto?) dressing. The burger had a grill taste, the cheese gave saltiness. However, the burger seemed to be a bit dry. There was an option to choose the level of doneness for the meat, but I didn't think it would be necessary. All in all, a satisfying meal with a few let-downs. Mustard, which was provided at the table, was the perfect addition to the burger. I believe it cost 6,50€.

My brother decided to have waffles (vahvlid) for dessert. I haven't had real American waffles, but I, again, expected something different. They were too crispy and bland, though I tasted a part that didn't have maple syrup on it. The waffles were served with thin pieces of mango, inca berries, chocolate sauce, and powdered sugar. They cost 3€.

Final verdict: 8 out of 10. The food was good, probably would have been better in a burger form, though. I still would like to try an actual burger, preferably one of their stuffed patty one.

Info on their Facebook: www.facebook.com/dinerfoods .

Until next time!

Restoran SEVAN // Restaurant SEVAN

SEVAN is an Armenian restaurant that after 7 years in Jõelähtme (25 km from Tallinn) moved to Tallinn city centre, near the harbour, in early 2015. It also offers flexible catering services.

My visit this time was for yet another casual lunch. I wanted to have something "healthier" after eating sweets in the cinema, so I ordered a warm grill salad (soe grillsalat), believing it would be just some grilled vegetables thrown together. I was wrong. Instead, I got a "salad", or more of a stew you would find served with shashlyk. It reminded me of a jarred salad that was just warmed up. The baby food like consistency, though, was perfect to devour with free lavash, which unfortunately was cold, and a piece of fine rye bread that I didn't find very Armenian. The salad cost 4,50€.

Final verdict: 5 out of 10. Not too shabby, but nothing special either. Maybe it'd be a good idea to ask what the dishes consist of if you're set on something specific.

Info at www.sevan.ee.

Until next time!

Kohvik Moon // Café Poppy

Moon is a cafe, crowned as one of the top 50 restaurants in Estonia for several years. Opened in the harbour area in 2009, it offers a variety of homey dishes, many inspired by the Russian cuisine, and some what you may call fancier foods.

I went there for another casual and quick lunch. However, it should be kept in mind they won't open before 12, and as I didn't know it, I had to wait. Not having much time, I ordered the daily special, chicken patties with almond potatoes and chanterelle-cream sauce (kanakotletid mandlikartulite ja kukeseene-kreemikastmega). Having heard rave reviews about the "granny style" hand pies they offer there, I started off with those, the fillings were carrot-duck and salmon-cabbage. I was also given complimentary poppy seed white ciabatta, rye bread baked in a mini muffin tin, and butter. I couldn't decide which was best.

The yeast dough pastry of the hand pies was soft and beautifully golden brown. The salmon-cabbage one was greasy, but I'm blaming it on the fatty fish. The combination was rather odd, as both ingredients are quite strong-flavoured on their own, together they overpowered each other a little bit. Nevertheless, it was a joy to eat. With the carrot-duck pie I didn't notice the meat before I bit into what I could only describe as a dry, something you've left out on the counter overnight, piece. The filling also had some heat from pepper. However, it wasn't too bad and I would probably have both of them again as they were very soft and juicy (if you could describe a pie like that). Each pie costs 2€.

The daily special was different from what I expected. "Almond potatoes" sounded like almond crusted potatoes or something similar, but they were instead shaped like the seed and had the peel on too. The chicken patties were dense and lacked seasoning, so did the cream sauce. That made me find myself cracking some salt on. Chanterelles had their lovely mushroom flavour and made things good for a while. There were also sugar snap peas and a pea shoot on the plate to give crunch and colour to the dish. Overall, filling and satisfying food, but not that awe worthy. The price of their daily specials is 6€.

Final verdict: 7 out of 10, again. My expectations were very high going in, but then again, daily specials aren't as polished as regular menu items. I will definitely go back and try something from their interesting menu.

Info at www.kohvikmoon.ee, Facebook www.facebook.com/kohvikmoon.

Until next time!

Restoran Margarita // Modern Tex-Mex Margarita

Located in Pärnu city centre, this "modern tex-mex" restaurant offers Mexican-American dishes, seafood, and it also offers the biggest selection of tequilas in Estonia. I visited the place for an early dinner/late lunch. 

I started off with a non-alcoholic cocktail, the "icy mango (jäine mango)". That's literally all it was, blitzed up ice and mango. There was a wedge of lime on the side, and drowning it at the bottom of the glass and letting it sit for a while seemed to help the flavour a lot. Not really impressed with that. It cost 2,50€.

Accidentally ate the ceviché before taking the picture

For starters, I chose the perfect platter of seafood and fish (täiuslik kala ja mereandide valik). It was meant to have pike-perch ceviché (koha ceviché), salmon sashimi (lõhe sashimi), soot-salmon (tahma-lõhe), tijuana deep-fried Baltic herring (friteeritud räimed), shrimp cocktail (krevetikokteil), and a grilled scallop with guacamole mousse (grillitud kammkarp guacamolevahuga) which I couldn't find from the plate. The pieces of seafood and fish were nice individually, the taste of them shone through the seasoning and they were well- cooked. However, together they didn't make much sense. I was also sad for the fact there was no guacamole with the scallop, as it didn't have much taste to it. Overall, a good way to start off a meal and quench my initial hunger. Also, it only cost 10€.

I continued with a beef fillet burger (veisefileeburger), and before you think anything like, "how can you order a burger at a Mexican place??!!", hear me out. Or read this description from the menu: "Grilled boeuf à la tartar (pick your own cooking level) rubbed with dijon mustard. Great bread, obviously. Served with cumin-seasoned beets, honey-glazed goat cheese, guacamole mousse, tomato-basil marmalade, horseradish Caesar dressing, lettuce, pickled red onions". I was sold. When I got the plate, the visuals weren't as impressive. There was a choice of ordering fries on the side, so maybe that's why it looked this mismatched, but I decided to enjoy it nevertheless. Thinking it would be smart, I ate the top bun with half the beet, marmalade, onions, and goat cheese, and the rest of the burger as it was, with the remaining sides. The cheese had occasional hits of sweet honey and I couldn't figure out whether the whole flavour combination of the burger was the stupidest or the most brilliant thing ever, even though goat cheese, beetroot, and honey together are a classic. The beetroot didn't taste much of cumin. The bottom bun was practically soaked. The beef patty was on the edge of underseasoned and displaying authentic beef flavour. Together it all worked out miraculously. This burger came in at 9€.

Final verdict: 7 out of 10. My expectations seem to be getting higher, but there could be some improvements to an overall tasty and satisfying selection of dishes. Burger was nice, seafood okay, smoothie way below my expectations. I would love to go back to try some of their Mexican dishes.

Info at www.margarita.ee.

Until next time!

FoodTube 1 Minute Tips - How To Prepare Fennel

Want to know how to prepare this anise-flavoured vegetable (including making a salad, braising it, and making a stock)? Then this video is just what you need:

Until next time!

Al Mare Grill

Al Mare Grill is a grill restaurant in the Rocca Al Mare area in Tallinn. What stood out to me in the menu were Asian inspired dishes and twists on rather regular menu items.

Salmon, wokked vegetables with shrimp, and butterfish, dressing on the side

Croquets and side salad, unsqueezable slice of lemon

I chose to share a Fish grill mix for two (Kala grill-mix kahele) that had a grilled salmon skewer, butterfish, wokked vegetables with shrimp, and a dressing on the side. I also ordered croquets (kroketid) as a side dish. That came with a fresh salad.

The fish was very well seasoned and had a lovely smoky flavour, the dressing had pickles, and worked very well with both the fish and the croquets, which were nice and crispy. The salad on the side had an interesting herb dressing, but the salad itself wasn't that intriguing with a few leaves, half a cherry tomato, and three olives. The wokked vegetables, however, were a disappointment. The vegetables used didn't seem wok-worthy and looked like a cold salad, the shrimp were probably frozen and didn't give much to the vegetables. The fish platter cost 17,50€, which in my opinion was overpriced, the croquets were 1,90€.

Final verdict: 7 out of 10. They seem to know their grilling and dressings, but it seems to be better to steer clear from vegetables and salads. At first it took a while to be handed menus (it was not that busy, but I was also hungry and impatient), overall service was good and quick. Prices may be too high for some dishes.

Info at www.almarefood.ee/grill/

(My photographing still sucks)

Until next time!

Snapchat's Food Network - Jeff Fries Up A Classic Patty Melt

"If a beef burger is king, the turkey patty melt is its queen." Another mouth-watering summertime recipe from the Food Network (I'm not sponsored by them either!). 

What you'll need:

8 medium sized slices of bread

8 slices of Swiss cheese

caramelised onions, enough for 4 slices

butter for spreading

Burger:

½ cup (125 g) of ricotta cheese 

a little bit of mustard

2 tsp soy sauce

2 tsp Worcestershire Sauce

2 tbsp fresh chopped sage

salt and pepper

1 1⁄4 lbs (560 g) fresh ground turkey

Method:

1. Prepare your burger mixture. For that, mix together the ricotta, mustard, soy and Worcestershire sauce, sage, salt and pepper. Add the turkey. Do not overwork the meat to keep the burger juicy. 

Cook the patties

2. To cook the burger, give it one press-down on a hot grill or pan and cook 4-5 minutes on both sides, or until the internal temperature has reached 165 °F (74 °C). You will get 4 burgers.

3. To assemble, put cheese on each slice of bread, on top of that caramelised onions (only half the slices). Put the cooked burger patty on the slice with only cheese. 

Butter the outside of the bread slice

Cover the sandwiches while they cook

4. Butter the outside of a bread slice and place it on the grill or pan, butter side down. Cover the sandwiches up with an upside-down bowl or a pan cover so the cheese can melt, for a minute or two. Then flip, cover, and cook for a few more minutes.

It's that simple! Enjoy!

Until next time

9 Simple Ways To Keep Your Food Fresh

A great video with a few tips to help keep your coffee, celery, avocado, bananas, bread, onions, tomatoes and cucumber at their best, and how not to store raw meat.

Hope this helps and

Until next time!

Alpro SOYA Biscuit Dessert

First of all, let me say that I'm not sure what exactly the dessert is called. Google suggests gingerbread, but the picture on the package and the Estonian translation say otherwise. So does my "taste palette". So I'm going with a biscuit/cookie soy dessert.

Formalities aside, what did it taste like? Well, I'm definitely not an expert in vegan desserts, but I have tried a few soy bean products. This dessert/pudding, however, didn't taste like plants. The best way I could think to describe it would be watery (not creamy and rich tasting like milk or cream based desserts), buttery biscuit flavoured pudding. It's very smooth, and I would say it does satisfy a craving for pudding. Of course it's not comparable to a real one, but if you're lactose intolerant, it would be a great substitute. The dessert comes in a 125 gram package, and they're grouped into 4. The product is gluten, nut, and GMO free.

From the top: energy, fat, of which saturated fat, carbs, of which sugars,
fiber, protein, sodium; calcium, vitamin D, B2, B12
(and percentages of daily recommended intake)

Verdict: It's a good choice if you're looking for a lactose free substitute for a thick dessert, but a poor one if you want something amazing tasting. It does have that lovely biscuit taste, but the depth of flavour is missing. It's sold at room temperature, but I would definitely refrigerate it to make it more familiar tasting (as I'm used to eating milk based pudding).

I need a better ending line than

Until next time!

Cinnamon & Apple Cannoli Recipe

I know, I know, another sweet recipe, but can you blame a girl! As soon as I saw this in my subscription box on YouTube, I was sold. So here is SORTED Food's cinnamon and apple cannoli video recipe. Written recipe here: https://sortedfood.com/cannoli

I hope to get to writing actual posts on here soon so please bear with me.

Until next time!

What The Fruit Blueberry Smart Snack

Looking for a healthy (and delicious) snack? Look no further. Well, you might have to, because what I'll be talking about is a "smart snack from blueberries and chocolate" What The Fruit, which is made in Estonia, by a company called Maris Gilden. It produces different sweets and biscuits, but the latest addition to their repertoire is the previously mentioned snack. The flavours available are blueberry, raspberry, cranberry, strawberry, and cherry, the first two I have also tried.

The concept is simple, 50% fruit, 50% chocolate, but the result is amazing. The chocolate part is slightly bitter, the fruit gives sweetness, sourness,  and depth. There are pieces of berries in the small bar, giving texture and occasional crunch. With the blueberry it's not as "annoying", but knowing raspberries, their seeds are a bit tougher to get through. (In the blueberry one) there are 11 ingredients, which may not sound that impressive, but there's not really much bad for you, split between 4 small finger-size bars.

I don't have much more to say, other than if you can get your hands on this, try it out, if not, I'm sorry, but maybe you can find something similar. Also, I may or may have not eaten all of it during writing this post. Also also, this post was not sponsored, however, I wouldn't mind receiving a box or two of this to taste test *hint hint*

Until next time!

Peanut Butter Ice Cream Pie

Craving something sweet, rich, but at the same time refreshing? Check out this 5 ingredient peanut butter ice cream pie recipe from the OnePotChefShow.

Snapchat's Food Network - How to Grow a Garden Using Leftovers

Another great story from Food Network on Snapchat, July 20th. This time it's about growing your own garlic, onion, and celery from leftovers. Try these out!

  

Place sprouted garlic cloves into a pot filled with soil. Don't crowd them. Water each week and keep them in the sun. After a couple of weeks you will have grown garlic leaves and after 8-9 months a full bulb of garlic.

Scrape off the dried part of the onion root and place the onion into just enough water to cover the bottom. When the roots have grown to be about 2 inches, plant the onion, covering the vegetable with soil. Water it from time to time and you'll get green onion in no time.

Put the bottom part of a celery bunch into a little bit of water, changing it every few days. Keep the container in a sunny place. When it's sprouted, plant it into a pot, cover it up with soil and you will have eaves in only a few weeks.

Kochi Ait Trahter // Tavern "Kochi Ait"

Kochi Aidad is a collective name for a cafe and a tavern, located in the Tallinn port area, on Lootsi street. Opened in 2012, they have catered many home and away visitors. Both the cafe and tavern have daily offers for busy and on a budget customers. The tavern also offers fresh beer, made on location. Foods are mostly traditional-Estonian, but some are more modern.

I headed to the tavern to have lunch. I chose a fresh almond chicken salad (värske mandlikana salat). The waiting time was very short, might have been under 10 minutes. They usually bring black bread to the table as well, but I wasn't offered any this time. Free tap water is also available.

The salad looked simple. Lots of lettuce, some cucumber, halved cherry tomatoes, sliced strawberries, and chicken breast pieces with sliced almonds. It was all dressed with what I believe was Felix Special Mango Chili Sauce (picture below). There wasn't any more seasoning on the salad, and the chicken was bland as well, didn't seem freshly made, and was overcooked. Almonds only provided some crunch, when I expected them to give some flavour too. There were, however, condiments and seasonings in a basket on the table - soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, ketchup, mustard, salt and pepper. The meal came in at 6.50€, which is rather expensive for the quality, the quantity was sufficient.

Felix Special Mango Chili Sauce,
source www.felix.ee

Final verdict: 5 out of 10. Not too bad for a casual lunch, but I definitely wouldn't reorder the salad. I will probably revisit though, because of the convenient location, daily offers, and a lovely  historic atmosphere.

Info at www.kochiaidad.ee and their Facebook page www.facebook.com/KochiAidad

My YouTube Subscriptions

There are so many different possibilities to get your food-geek on off- and on-line. My favourite way to learn new tricks and tips is through videos, and where else would you find more of them than on YouTube. Here are the people and channels I am subscribed to at the moment, I even tried to put them in some kind of order inside their categories. Some are not active anymore, but the videos are still available. I hope someone finds new people to follow and learn from, and I also, don't be afraid to give me some suggestions too! (Pages open in new tabs)

Eat Your Kimchi's Simon and Martina,

source newmediarockstars.com

By categories:

Just interesting food channels:

Eat Your Kimchi - website
emmymadeinjapan
Regular Ordinary Swedish Meal Time - website

The Domestic Geek's Sara Lynn,
source youtube.com

Making your life easier:

The Domestic Geek - website
Brothers Green Eats - website
BuzzFeedFood (not active) - website

Healthy Food:

LoveHealthOK's Olivia,
source ink361.com

LoveHealthOK
Paleo Star

Laura in the Kitchen's Laura,
source lauravitalesblog.blogspot.com

Home-style, easy cooking:

Laura in the Kitchen - website
Food Wishes - website
Jenny Can Cook - website

ByronTalbott's Byron,
source twitter.com

More modern style cooking:

ByronTalbott - website
TheOfficialHungry (not active)

Dulce Delight's Raiza,
source nbclatino.com

Sweet treats:

Dulce Delight - website
How to Cook That - website
kawaiisweetworld

SORTED Food's Ben, Barry, Jamie, Mike
source today.com

All of the above:

SORTED Food - website
Donal Skehan - website
Everyday Food - Everyday Food - Eat Clean - Kitchen Conundrums - From the Test Kitchen
Jamie Oliver - website
Tastemade - website

Until next time!

Apelsini Raudtee // Orange Railway (Vol 1)

Apelsini Raudtee is, as it calls itself, a modern European restaurant and cafe, located in Tallinn, Kopli district and street. It was opened early June 2015 but has already proven itself to visitors from home and abroad.

I found myself there during a family lunch on a Saturday afternoon. Surprisingly, we were the only ones there. We chose a table on the outdoor terrace, which has not yet been finished, and there was construction work just a few metres from us. The occasional rumbles aside, the area is very relaxing and interesting, with historical buildings right in the back yard. In case you felt cold, there were blankets available. 

Before food came, we were brought fresh ciabatta and herb (wild garlic) butter. Flavoured water in a jug is also free of charge, if you ask for it.

I was reminded to take a photo just before it was too late

I ordered a salted salmon salad (soolalõhe salat), which had roasted potatoes and beetroot, green salad, capers, blanched carrots and asparagus, cherry tomatoes, radish, salted salmon of course, horseradish dressing on the side, and a Dijon mustard dressing on the potatoes and leafy greens. The salad was very nice. The whole spectrum of food enjoyment was there: sweetness from the carrot and beetroot, saltiness from salmon, bitterness from radish and the dressings, heat from mustard and horseradish, sourness from tomato, and crunch and warmth to contrast the fresh salad from potatoes. Overall a complete dish. It cost 7.50€, but I would pay it again.

We didn't stop there. My mother had hyped up a white chocolate cheesecake (valge šokolaadi juustukook) she had tried there earlier, so that's what I got, alongside some green tea (which wasn't bad either!). The cake was presented with blueberries, strawberries, a cherry, and a few leaves of mint, dusted with powdered sugar. The sauce was made of sea buckthorn. There's only one thing I hate about restaurant cheesecakes. They're usually cold from the fridge. But not this one! It even had a crunchy burnt sugar topping, like crème brûlée. Again, all the elements were there. The tart sauce is what made the flat-sweet taste of the cake more interesting and the berries gave even more freshness and a different texture. This one cost 4€. What's with the super affordable eateries lately?

Final verdict: 9 out of 10. I would definitely return in a few months to check out their fall menu. By that time they will have hopefully finished with renovations in the area and made some changes to the small details, like real potted grass instead of faux, and something else instead of the plastic tables and perhaps chairs, but they were not that distracting from the good food and service. There are also breakfast and lunch menus available, and also daily offers.

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