Last winter I made a Layered Wild Mushroom and Blini Casserole in an attempt to recreate a gluten free version of my favourite dish from the long ago closed House of Blini on East 86th street in Manhattan. For the full story about the inspirations click here. The version last year used wild mushrooms and…
Tag: Eastern European
Sourdough Blini (Gluten-Free)
I have not posted anything about my gluten-free sourdough starter for a little while. That is misleading. The sourdough starter has continued to demand a lot of attention and produce a lot of pancakes and Estonian style dark sourdough bread in my house. I have given away quite a lot of it. In fact, if…
Creamed Parsnip and Apple Soup with Mushroom Dill Garnish
I am a lover of parsnips. They are sweet and have a lovely smooth texture when cooked. I just learned that they have similar nutritional value to potatoes but do not require very good soil. They are a humble, overlooked, industrious vegetable. This soothing, fortifying soup is simple to make and really captures the…
Gluten-Free Dark Sour Bread (Inspired by Estonian Leib)
My sister and I went to Estonia to last June to learn about the country where our grandparents grew up. Estonia has very delicious dark sourdough rye bread called Leib. Our grandmother used to make it, and although I have had other dark sourdough breads (Russian mostly) none of them ever tasted quite as…
Cold Raspberry and Beet Borscht
I make this soup every five years or so. Every time I make it, I am hit with a little bit of anxiety about half way through. I have the following little conversation with myself … Me: Is this really going to taste good? Me: I remember it tasting good last time. Me: But this flavour…
Snack Time on the Island of Cats
I am home now, but my sister and I recently spent the last two weeks of our month-long trip to Estonia on the island of Kassari (the island of cats). There will be some talk of snacking and foraging at the very end, but first some stories about our travels! Kassari is actually…
Naked and Imperfect Nettle and Wild Garlic Dumplings (Gluten-Free), Rocket and Radish Salad with Walnut Vinaigrette
I ate nettles for the first time when were traveling in Bulgaria eight years ago. There they are served sauteed with poached eggs, rolled with farmers cheese in balls studded with walnuts or made into soups and fritters. The food in Bulgaria was really excellent. This may have changed since they joined the European Union,…
Spicy Beet Salad with Horseradish
I used to go to the Anyway Cafe in the East Village. I liked to order shots of honey ginger infused vodka, wild mushroom pelmeni and their amazing beet salad. We are all familiar with the standard restaurant beet salad…roasted beets, goat cheese, some sort of toasted nut or another. I often make variations on…
A Composed Spring Salad Inspired by Estonian Rosolje and Bird’s Nests
Today I received an Easter message from my mother in law. She wrote- “Life is full of promise! God is with us – and before us! We can choose to act on that!” She also wrote about all of the beautiful early spring plants that are coming up in Tennessee. I thought about her lovely…
Vegetable Soup with Goat Milk Broth and Dumplings (gluten-free or not)
I have been overcome with a craving for this soup ever since I figured out how to make good gluten-free dumplings a couple of months ago. Our Estonian grandmother used to make a soup with vegetables from her garden, and milk from her goats. Why, you might ask, would I want to try this weird…
