Blintz

[First announcement is that I will begin to post some pictures stuff I make. My brother gave me his old camera (my old camera had broken)!]

I'm considering applying for an NYU version of top chef. The first task is to design and then cook a breakfast spread. So yesterday I tried out some of my ideas --- all of which involve blintz. For those who do not know, a blintz is an east European (Jewish) food which involves a filling wrapped in a crepe like shell, and then pan fried until golden crispy. They are often eaten on Shavuot, as their filling is usually dairy, and Shavuot is associated with dairy. In any case, I decided to experiment with different types of fillings, and to pick a few to form a breakfast platter of blintz. Unfortunately for me, most of my ideas involve ingredients (types of cheese mostly) which are not available for the contest. I made them anyway for fun.



The shell is really fun to make. The recipe I used called for
4 eggs
1 cup milk (or water)
1 cup flour
1 tsp salt
I used jumbo eggs, and so I increased all of the 1s, to 1.3 or so to adjust for the larger sized eggs. Mix this until the flour is fulling mixed and there are no pockets of dry flour. The consistency should be runny but able to coat a spoon. Refrigerate and make the fillings. After about an hour, take the batter and mix it again. Then take a small (5" diameter) cast iron pan and put it on a medium to low flame. Before pouring on the batter, take a paper towel, or a piece of bread and rub some butter on it, and then rub that on the pan. Repeat this before pouring the batter for each blintz shell (though you don't need much butter --- i used maybe a half an inch of a stick of butter for the whole process). Take a measuring spoon and pour enough batter to coat the bottom (turn the pan in the air to coat) and then pour out excess into your batter bowl. It will take maybe a minute per blintz to cook, and you'll know its done when the top is dry and the sides start to curl a little. Remove the shell (only one side is cooked) with the cooked side up, onto a plate on which all shells will be piled. Repeat until done.



The fillings: I made three different fillings.

The simplest filling is just farmers cheese. Some people mix in an egg yolk, or some honey, or some butter. I just used the farmers cheese.



Getting a little more complicated now.
2 medium red onions
1 large sweet potato
1/2 lb Gorgonzola cheese crumbled
a few splashed of port, or red sweet wine
a few sprigs of rosemary
cinnamon
brown sugar
In a heavy stainless steal pan caramelize two onions, chopped into half rings. When nicely browned, add a splash of port and deglaze. Meanwhile cook a sweet potato. The easiest way to do this is to poke some holes in it, wrap it in a wet paper towel and microwave it for 5 or 6 minutes. When done, skin it and chop into chunks. Add these to the caramelized onion and cook together for a few more minutes. Also add in some chopped rosemary and salt. Before turning off the heat, deglaze the pan again with some more port. Transfer this all to a bowl and add the crumbled cheese. Mix until uniform and add some brown sugar, a pinch of cinnamon and a little more rosemary.



The final filling was a more earthy mix of flavors. In fact, the cheese I used (which I don't know the name of since I got it at a Courant party) had a rind which almost look like it had been buried in the ground for a while. Weird.
2 cups frozen chopped spinach (or fresh if you are some sort of rich person)
1 package of mushrooms (the small white/brown type you usually see in packages -- though small field mushrooms would be good too)
6 cloves garlic
1/2 onion
garlic/onion powder, pepper, salt
a hard earthy flavored cheese (again, not sure of the name...)
Saute the onion and garlic for a little, then add in the spinach and cook until nicely wilted. Add in the mushrooms, chopped into half inch spices. Add some additional garlic/onion powder, and some pepper and salt. Cook until mushrooms are tender. Put into a bowl and add the earthy cheese, shaved and chopped. (You could probably also include pine nuts here. The whole idea is to attain a very earthy flavor.)



To fill the blintz, lay the cooked side up, and about an inch in from one edge put a large spoonful of filling down. Fold the symmetric sides over this filling leaving you with a rectangle of blintz, with the filling on one side. Roll this, starting from the filling side, to make a roll.
These can be frozen and then thawed in the fridge, or immediately cooked.

I froze mine, but here's how one would cook them.
Fill your favorite large cast iron skillet with oil to cover the bottom. Heat, then add a few of the blintz. Cook until browned and flip. Once both sides are browned, remove onto a paper bag to absorb excess oil. Eat with apple sauce or sour cream, or be more creative and thing of something good to pair with the filling. I haven't thought that far yet though.