Finnish Blueberry Pie

I returned from a holiday in Finland last week and all I can think of is a blueberry pie. It's been about five years since we were last in Finland but it felt like a year ago. That's what happens when you meet great friends again. It all comes back to you instantly, so many memories of all the great times we shared. Those are the best holidays. I came back relaxed and well rested.

I'm a big fan of simple and delicious recipes. Many Finnish recipes are just like that. All you need to make a perfect meal are a few fresh, seasonal ingredients. Blueberry season has only started when we arrived at out friend's summer cottage but the forest floor was already covered in a beautiful blue carpet. It's hard to get wild forrest blueberries when you live in London so I usually go a bit nuts when I can pick these sweet blue jewels. Wild blueberries are the real deal unlike the commercially grown ones. They taste so much better!
I usually prefer all fruit raw, but when life gives you liters of blueberries you have to make a pie. I obviously had to ask my friend to share her recipe. It's the simplest and most delicious blueberry pie I've ever had.




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Finnish Blueberry Pie
Serves about 8

Ingredients

For the dough
100g unsalted butter, melted
1 eggs
75g sugar
180g plain flour
1tsp baking powder

For the filling
1 egg
200ml soured cream
75g sugar
blueberries


Method
Preheat oven to 200 degrees C. Grease a 20-23cm/8-9inch pie tin or pan. In a medium bowl, mix together sugar and egg, add the melted butter and stir well until combined. In another bowl, mix flour and baking powder and add it to the butter mixture. Stir together to form a soft dough. Pat the dough evenly over the bottom and sides of the pan. Add a lot of blueberries on top to fill the pan.
In a mixing bowl, combine sour cream, egg and sugar and pour over the blueberries. Bake for about 30 minutes. Let the pie cool down before slicing.

Gooseberry Galette

I wish summer could last forever or at least 6 months. There are so many reasons to love this season but fresh produce is one the most important ones; strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, gooseberries, red currants, cherries, green peas, tomatoes, radishes to name just a few of my favourites. This summer is especially amazing because I can enjoy fresh fruit and vegetables everyday. Morning yogurt with granola and freshly picked berries, lunch salads made from crunchy lettuce and greens, handfuls of fresh picked berries going straight in my mouth, snacking on radishes that were just washed off the dirt, that's my everyday reality and I can't even imagine it's going to end in a few weeks. I've been also baking a lot. Gooseberry galette was my latest experiment and I'm definitely going to make it again. My gooseberries were more on the sweet side, so I was surprised that they turned out to be quite tart and acidic after baking. However, I really like the contrast of sweetness of the crust and acidity of the gooseberries in this galette. It's a perfect hot summer day dessert.








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Gooseberry Galette

Serves about 8

Ingredients

125g plain flour

125g spelt flour
2 tbsp golden cane sugar
1/4 tsp salt
115 g cold unsalted butter, diced
3 tbsp cold milk
500g fresh gooseberries, topped and tailed
35g golden cane sugar
1 egg for egg wash

Method
Combine flours, sugar and salt in a medium bowl, then add diced butter and using your hands rub the butter in to the flour until you have pea sized crumbles. Add the cold milk and blend everything together with a fork. Do not knead the dough, just gather the clumps into a ball.
Wrap it tightly in plastic wrap and flatten it a bit. Refrigerate for at least an hour. (I left the dough in the refrigerator for two days, because I didn't have time to bake the galette the same day.)

Preheat oven to 180℃. Unwrap the dough and press the edges so that there are no cracks. Dust a sheet of parchment paper with flour and roll out the dough into a 25cm circle about 0.3 - 0.5cm thick. Transfer the dough on the parchment paper to a baking sheet. Sprinkle over the gooseberries, leaving a 5cm border. Sprinkle with most of the sugar, reserving 1 tbsp of sugar to sprinkle over the edges. Fold the edges over the gooseberries, brush the edges with egg wash and sprinkle with the remaining sugar.

Bake on the lower half of the oven for about 35-40 minutes until the crust is golden brown.

Leek and Feta Filo Tartlets

I've been absent on this blog for what seems like ages. I was hoping to get back to blogging after the busy summer. I'm not even trying to talk about things like regular blogging, because let's be honest, my blogging frequency is not very high and it's certainly rather irregular. However my work schedule didn't allow me to spend time working on my personal projects. Or maybe it's just an excuse.

Anyway, I have a very good reason to be back today. I'm very excited to participate in a little surprise baby shower for Emiko who is expecting a baby girl soon!

I met Emiko in person last year at FBC, shortly before she moved from Italy to Australia. She is such a sweet person and I wish we could be with her celebrating this exciting time of her life. Although the distance makes is quite complicated to get together, no distance can stop food blogger friends from sharing their love through food and blogs. Since we all live in different places, we decided to organise a virtual baby shower. Together we have created a baby shower menu to celebrate Emiko's soon-to-arrive bundle of joy.

These mini tartlets are for you Emiko, I hope you would like them. I wish you and your husband joy and happiness in your life with your precious baby girl!



Here is the final menu for the virtual baby shower:

Giulia: Birthday sponge cake
Regula: Cobnut brandy
Jasmine: Cookies
Zita: Vegan pumpkin chocolate cookies
Karin: Flourless chocolate cake with pears - La Belle Helene
Rosella: Soft cheesecake
Valeria: Gingerbread banana muffins

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Leek and feta filo tartlets
Makes 12 tartlets

Filling:
30g butter
2 leeks, trimmed and sliced
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
2 tbsp, chopped parsley leaves
1/4 tsp grated nutmeg
2 large eggs
300ml creme fraiche
salt and freshly ground pepper

Filo cases:
40g butter
4 filo pastry sheets 30x35cm
85g feta cheese, crumbled
2tbsp toasted pine nuts

Melt the butter in pan add the leeks and garlic and sweat gently, stirring often, for 5 minutes until soft. Remove from the heat, stir in the parsley and nutmeg. Set aside.

Preheat oven to 180℃.

Melt the butter in a small saucepan. Lay one sheet of filo pastry on a flat surface, brush lightly with the melted butter and cut into 9 squares (10x10cm). Lay three squares of pastry on top of each other, turning each square so they don't line up and create a star shape.  Press into a buttered muffin tin. Repeat with another sheet of filo pastry to make 12 cases.

In a bowl, beat the eggs with creme fraiche, season with salt and pepper. Divide the egg mixture among the cases. Spoon the leeks on top and scatter with crumbled feta cheese and pine nuts. Bake for 15 - 20 minutes until the filling is set and the filo pastry is lightly golden.

Let cool slightly, remove from the muffin tin and serve.

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Healthy Dried Fruit and Seeds Snack

I've recently discovered a perfect healthy snack. A simple mixture of dried fruit and seeds quickly became such a hit in our house.
There are days when I have a strong desire to nibble on something here and there. It helps to have a healthy snack on hand to help reduce craving for naughty food. Chocolate is my guilty pleasure. I must admit I love to enjoy a piece or two of a good quality dark chocolate. Having this delicious seeds and fruit mixture ready to nibble on makes me feel less guilty when I want to satisfy my sugar cravings.

This snack is so simple to make that you actually don't need a recipe. You can easily create your own mixture using any of your favourite nuts, seeds or dried fruit. Here is my favourite combo. Enjoy!







Dried fruit and seeds snack

150g pumpkin seeds
100g sunflower seeds
100g golden raisins
50g cranberries

Mix seeds and dried fruit together in a bowl. Store in airtight container.

Salmon, Spinach and Quark Quiche with Phyllo Crust

I made this quiche a few weeks ago and it was a big hit in this house. It's so easy and taste great hot or at room temperature. I made the quiche for dinner and we enjoyed leftovers the next day for lunch. Served with fresh greens and a glass of wine, it's the perfect picnic or garden party food.

I decided to use phyllo pastry instead of a traditional pie crust. Was it my laziness or curiosity? I can't quite remember. However, P. welcomed the experiment with great pleasure as he's not a big fan of pie crust. The purpose of phyllo pastry in this recipe is to hold the filling, rather than to be a part of the dish. Although I really liked the crisp edges. Using quark was another experiment which worked great. I love quark desserts, but I don't remember ever using quark to make a savoury dish.

I used a lot of fresh herbs because I just love the flavour combination of salmon and dill. You can reduce the amount of dill or completely omit it if you don't like its taste. Also you can substitute spinach for kale or swiss chard.

Update: If you can't find quark you can be substitute it for ricotta. Quark is a European type of fresh cheese made from soured milk. It has a very soft and smooth texture with a lovely tangy taste. In the UK, quark can be found in almost any Polish shop/deli or in the international section of major supermarkets.

Salmon, spinach and quark quiche with phyllo crust
Serves 6-8

225g fresh spinach
1tbsp butter
2 garlic cloves, chopped
1 bunch spring onions, sliced
3 eggs
300ml single cream
250g quark cheese
1/2 cup grated parmesan
3 tbsp chopped fresh dill
3 tbsp finely chopped fresh parsley
230g cooked salmon, torn into small pieces
pinch of grated nutmeg
salt and freshly ground pepper
60g butter
6 sheets of phyllo

Preheat the oven to 180℃.

Put the spinach in a pan and cook for 1-2 minutes, until wilted. Take the pan off the heat and squeeze out all the liquid. Finally chop the spinach and set aside.

Melt the butter in a pan, add the onions and garlic and sauté for 2 minutes on medium heat, stirring often, until slightly softened but not browned. Set aside.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs and cream. Add the quark, parmesan, spinach, sautéed onions and garlic, herbs, salmon, nutmeg and gently stir to combine. Season with salt a pepper.

Melt the butter in a saucepan. Lay one sheet of phyllo on a working surface and brush with the melted butter. Place another sheet of phyllo on top of the first sheet, brush with the melted butter. Repeat process until all phyllo sheets are used. Transfer the phyllo into a buttered pie dish and trim the edges to fit the pie dish.

Pour in the filling and bake until the filling is set and the pastry is golden brown, about 35-40 minutes. Cool 10 minutes before slicing.

Green is The Colour - Kiwi Fruit Muffins with Coconut

What is the colour of spring? Of course it's green! I need lots of this colour in my life. Generally, I need colours (and light) in my life, but green has a special place and meaning. Green to me represents freshness and vitality. It's a positive colour.

Last week I bought a basket of kiwi fruits. I blended a few of them with banana, grapes and apples for our morning smoothies or mixed them with yogurt. I still had so many kiwi fruits left and didn't know what to do with them. Then I suddenly came up with the idea of "green muffins". I loved the idea and started playing around. Sadly, the first batch was a complete disaster and ended up in the bin. I learned that you should never mash kiwi fruits and mix them with other ingredients, unless you want soggy inside and burnt outside muffins. Not my idea of light green soft and fluffy muffins at all. Second try was perfect!






This recipe inspired me to experiment with kiwi fruit even more. I already drafted another two recipes I would like to try, so stay tuned!

In the meantime, I hope you enjoy my green muffins.



Kiwi fruit muffins
Makes 8 muffins

75g self raising flour
40g plain flour

45g ground almonds

20g desiccated coconut

80g sugar
pinch of salt
60g melted unsalted butter, cooled
1 egg
65ml buttermilk
3 kiwi fruits, peeled and cubed
1tbsp desiccated coconut
1 kiwi fruit, peeled and sliced (optional)

Preheat the oven to 180℃.
Mix all dry ingredients in a bowl. In another bowl, lightly whisk the egg, stir in buttermilk and melted butter. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry mixture and stir until well combined. Gently stir in most of  the kiwi (reserve one tablespoon) and spoon the mixture into a lined muffin pan. Top the muffins with remaining kiwi pieces and sprinkle coconut on top.
Baked for 25-23 minutes until lightly golden and a skewer inserted comes out clean.
Let them cool down a bit before serving. You can serve them with fresh kiwi slices.

Homemade Butter

I think it's time to finally say hi and break my radio silence. Also, I would like to wish you all a very late happy New Year. I hope your new year has started out fantastic!

I can't believe January is almost over!

I've been struggling with lack of inspiration and motivation, and that's the reason why I haven't been updating my blog lately. I have to say, though, that I've been missing you and my little blog.
Luckily, my very dear friend Giulia came to London on a working holiday. I always enjoy the time we spend together working on new ideas, brainstorming, cooking and laughing. Isn't that exactly all you need when you are looking for inspiration everywhere, but can't seem to find any?

New motivation didn't come easy to me though. I must admit that Juls and P. basically blackmailed me into working on a new projects and posts. I want to thank them for that!

Back to basics! 

Complicated projects are not ideal for times when you get stuck. Just get back to basics. Start adding more, little by little. I'm not an expert on "getting stuck situations", but this worked for me. 

I decided to get back to basics. I've been planning on making homemade butter for sooooo long.

What ingredients do you always have in your fridge? I usually have eggs, cheese, fresh vegetables and butter in my fridge. As Julia Child said, "Butter makes everything taste better". 

Homemade butter is, however, completely different experience. It's so creamy and silky with a hint of Maldon sea salt. Add freshly baked bread and I'm sold! If that's not enough for you, head over to Juls' blog to add just one more ingredient to create an easy sandwich bursting with flavours. 

You can very easily prepare butter using your food processor or blender.  Using a shaking technique is much more fun and it's a perfect arms workout. I felt like I spent an hour in the gym the next day after making the butter. Somebody could say it's a bit too much of a hassle for butter,  but believe me, it is well worth it.




Butter
yields about 90g butter

250ml double cream
Maldon sea salt to taste

Pour the double cream into a jar. The jar should be at least one third larger than the amount of double cream. Put a lid on, and start shaking the jar. After 2-3 minutes, the cream should be quite thick and nicely whipped. Continue shaking, until the cream starts to pull away from the sides of the glass. At this point it's quite hard to shake the jar, so it's easier and more effective to tap the jar firmly on a table covered with a thick layer of tea towels. Be careful not to brake the jar. Continue to tap the jar, turning it upside down and back as you go, until the buttermilk starts separating from the butter.  Pour the buttermilk into another container (you can use the buttermilk later) and shake the jar a few more times to separate as much of buttermilk as possible.
Pour cold water into the jar to wash the butter. Pour off the water. Use a spoon or spatula to squeeze out as much buttermilk out of the butter as possible. Wash again until the water is clear. When the butter is clean, mix in salt to taste and refrigerate.
You can also add herbs or garlic if you like.

Smoked Salmon and Potato Salad with Dill

On Tuesday I arrived back home from a short holiday to Budapest. We had such a wonderful time enjoying delicious Hungarian food, the charming city of Budapest and gorgeous Indian Summer sunshine. I couldn't have wished for more. Once I finish editing 500+ photos, I will post about our trip. There will be many foodie places tips, so stay tuned. To make the waiting easier, here's a quick recipe for my favourite smoked salmon salad. I made this recipe a few times already, and it's always a hit.

I usually use soured cream for the dressing. This time I didn't have any soured cream, so I replaced that with greek yogurt. It's a bit lighter but still very tasty.

Smoked salmon and potato salad with dill

Serves 2

400g baby potatoes

125ml (1/2 cup) greek yogurt (soured cream)

1 small garlic clove, crushed

1tsp lemon juice

salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 handful fresh dill, chopped

1 spring onion, chopped

170g smoked salmon, torn into small pieces

Wash the potatoes, put them in a small pot and cover with water. Bring to the boil, reduce the heat, and simmer until the potatoes are soft, about 10 minutes or so. Meanwhile, prepare the yogurt dressing. In a small bowl, combine the yogurt, garlic, lemon juice and season with salt a pepper. Stir in about half of the dill.

Strain the potatoes and let them sit for a while to cool down. Arrange potatoes and salmon on plates, sprinkle with the remaining dill and spring onion. Finally, spoon over the yogurt dressing and serve.

Mixed Green, Tomato and Feta Salad

Today I made myself the most simple basic salad for late lunch. Um, very late lunch to be honest. At least I think eating at 3.50pm is quite late to call it lunch. But I don't really care about time when I eat. I just eat when I'm hungry. I'm currently home alone, so simple fast dishes are on my menu again. As I've probably mentioned many times before, I'm too lazy to cook just for myself. Luckily it's still summer, even thought it doesn't look like that for most of the time it London, and many vegetables are in season. It's therefore easy to make a quick salad full of nutritions and vitamins.

Also our cherry tomatoes are finally ripe and red. They, however have very little chance to make it into a salad as they are most often eaten immediately after being picked. They are so sweet and juicy that I just can't resist. Although P. prefers his tomatoes less ripe with a hint of sourness and chilled from the fridge. So I always keep some tomatoes in the fridge for a quick snack.

Today's salad doesn't even need any recipe. It's seriously no-fuss salad you can throw together in a couple of minutes. Simply combine your favourite greens with one chopped tomato in a bowl, toss together with some cubed feta and your favourite dressing. Enjoy as it is, or serve with grilled meat.

Mixed green tomato and feta salad

Serves 1

50-70g mixed greens (lettuce, baby spinach, watercress, cilantro)

1 beef tomato, chopped

50g feta cheese, cubed

2tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1tsp balsamic vinegar

salt and freshly ground pepper

In a medium bowl, combine the greens, tomato and feta. To make the dressing mix together the olive oil, vinegar, salt and pepper. Pour over vegetables and lightly toss.

Naked Beet Green Quiche

It's almost unbelievable, but summer has finally arrived in the UK! I can't describe how happy and thankful I am. After a couple of weeks of constant rain even P. had started to feel depressed. Our kitchen garden and lawn have been watered deeply and heavily, however I could see they were longing for the sunshine same we were.

When I saw the weather forecast for the past weekend, I knew instantly we wouldn't be staying at home for a moment longer than necessary. On Saturday we decided to take a photo walk to test my new zoom lens. So far I've been exclusively using prime lenses for food shots, however I started to feel the need for a zoom lens for taking pictures outside. I haven't yet fully explored the possibilities of the new lens, but I can already say I like it.

On Sunday, we went to a pick your own farm to get some fruits and vegetables which we don't grown in our mini kitchen garden. We picked lots of beets, some spring onions, baby courgettes, baby broccoli and gooseberries. I'm actually eating the gooseberries as I sit here and write this post. They are so sweet and delicious, and bring back so many memories of my childhood.

There was a reason for the huge amount of beets we picked. I'm planning to make beet chutney. I love beets in any form, but I've never tried to make beet chutney yet. If I like it, I will definitely share the recipe here. I also started using beet greens recently. I used to just discard them without realising how delicious they are! To be honest, I didn't know they are edible! Beet greens are very similar to chard leaves or fresh spinach leaves, and can be substituted for each other in many recipes. P. goes crazy for beet greens sauteed with garlic and chilli, seasoned with salt and freshly ground pepper. He doesn't really care too much for spinach though. Beet greens are particularly flavourful and rich in vitamins and minerals. They are wonderful in salads and soups, but they also make a great base for savoury tarts. We love savoury tarts in this house. However, I decided to make a crustless version to save time as we were too hungry. But you can use the recipe together with your favourite tart crust.

Before I leave you with the recipe, there's someone who wants to say hi! :) Have a wonderful week.

Naked (crustless) beet green quiche

2tbsp mild olive oil

4 shallots, finely chopped

4 garlic cloves, finely chopped

1 red chili pepper, seeded and finely chopped

500g beet greens, stems removed, coarsely chopped

3 slices smoked bacon, cut into small pieces

6 spring onions, finely sliced

4 eggs

150ml sour cream

150ml milk

65g cheddar, grated

pinch of grated nutmeg

salt and freshly ground pepper

grated parmesan

Lightly butter a tart pan and preheat oven to 175°C.

Heat oil in a frying pan, add the shallots and sauté until soft, but not brown, about 5 minutes. Add garlic and chili pepper and cook for another minute. Stir in beet greens and cook until they are wilted and soft, for about 8 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Remove from heat, transfer to a bowl and let cool slightly. Squeeze out any excess liquid. In the same pan, fry the bacon over medium heat until slightly crispy. Add the bacon and spring onions to beet greens and toss well.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs, sour cream, milk, cheddar and nut meg. Add the beet green mixture and stir to blend. Transfer to prepared pan. Sprinkle with grated parmesan and bake until eggs are set, for about 30-40 minutes.