Easy(?) Blini Recipes for Cheesefare Sunday

[尼古拉前执事]

Quick & Easy Blini
Source: "Memoirs & Menus" by Georges Spunt

1 pckg compressed or dry yeast
1/2 cup lukewarm water
2 cups buckwheat pancake mix
1 cup hot water
1 cup milk
2 eggs
3 Tbsp melted butter

Dissolve yeast in water. Beat together buckwheat pancake mix, hot water, milk and melted butter. Add yeast and let batter rrise in a warm place for 1-1/2 hours.

Heat a small skillet and melt 1/2-1 tsp butter in it. Pour a scant Tbsp of batter into the pan. Brown one side. Then brush the top wiith melted butter. Flip it over and brown the other side.

Blinis should be just a little larger than the dollar pancakes served at pancake houses; about 3 inches in diameter is right.

This recipe will make enough small blinis to serve 8 as a hot "zakuska" and 4 as a first course. I have successfully fried 3 or 4 blinis at a time on an electric skillet set at 380 F. Use the temperature suggested for pancakes on your own skilleet, but be sure to space the spoonfuls of batter far eenough apart so that they don't come together.

He goes on to note: "They must be piping hot and should be served straight from the griddle. Have a stack of heated plates close at hand and pass out the blinis as you fry them."

[尼古拉前执事]

BLINI WITH SOUR CREAM AND CAVIAR
You can also serve blini topped with salmon roe.

Active time: 30 min Start to finish: 2 1/2 hr

1/4 cup warm water (105–115°F)
1 (1/4-oz) package active dry yeast (1 1/4 teaspoons)
1 1/2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 cup sifted all-purpose flour (sift before measuring)
1/2 cup sifted buckwheat flour (sift before measuring)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup whole milk, heated to warm (105–115°F)
1/2 stick (1/4 cup) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
2 large eggs, lightly beaten

Accompaniments: sour cream and caviar

Preheat oven to 250°F.

Stir together warm water, yeast, and sugar in a bowl and let stand until foamy, about 5 minutes. (If mixture doesn't foam, discard and start over with new yeast.)

Add all-purpose flour, buckwheat flour, and salt, then stir in milk, 3 tablespoons butter, and eggs. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and set in a roasting pan filled with 1 inch of warm water. Let rise in a warm place until dough is increased in volume, has bubbles breaking the surface, and is stringy when scooped, 1 1/2 to 2 hours. Stir batter before using.

Heat a 12-inch nonstick skillet over moderately high heat until hot and brush with some of remaining melted butter (if butter browns immediately, lower heat). Working in batches of 4, spoon 1 tablespoon batter into skillet for each blin, then cook, turning over once, until golden on both sides, about 2 minutes. Transfer to an ovenproof platter and keep blini warm in oven.

Serve blini topped with sour cream and caviar.

Cooks' note:
• Batter can be made 3 days ahead and chilled, covered (after letting it rise in a warm place). If necessary, thin batter with a few teaspoons of milk before using.

Makes 36 hors d'oeuvres.

Gourmet

December 2002

You Asked For It
Adapted from the Russian Tea Room

[尼古拉前执事]

Bliny

Source: Olga, RussianFoods.com Editor   Mail to: cuisine@russianfoods.com

 Description

Bliny is a Russian traditional dish. They are baked in a great quantity at Shrove
(carnival) - last week before Lent. Bliny making was a real sacred mystery. People told fortunes on the dough, kept their recipes of Bliny in secret. The first Bliny were put on the window-sills for poor people and pilgrims. The foreigners were very surprised at how many Bliny Russians could eat. At Shrove mother-in-law must bake a lot Bliny for her son-in-law.
The most popular Bliny were made from buckwheat flour. Good Bliny must be very very thin. The thinner Bliny are the perfect your skill is.

 Method

Mix eggs with 3 cups of milk . Add salt and flour and mix thoroughly. The dough can be drained so that there are no flour lumps in it. Pour vegetable oil into a saucer. Peel an onion and cut it into 2 parts; take one part with a fork and dip it in oil. Use it every time for greasing the pan with vegetable oil. Heat the pan. Grease it. Pour thin layer of batter evenly. Add more flour if you are not successful with thin bliny. Cook until light brown, about 2 minutes on each side. Servings: 2-3.
Bliny can be served with butter, sour cream, black or red caviar, fillet
of sturgeon, lox, and salmon.

 Ingredients

1 c flour.
3 c milk.
1/2 ts soda.
2 tb vegetable oil.
salt and sugar to taste.
2-3 eggs.