Baby Buckwheat Popovers With Pressed Caviar Recipes

BUCKWHEAT POPOVERS

Steps:

• Heat oven to 450 degrees. Brush cups of a popover pan (or muffin tin) with butter or coat with cooking spray.
• In a large measuring pitcher with a spout (this makes pouring easier later), or in a bowl, whisk together milk, eggs, butter, sugar and salt until frothy. Add flours and whisk until mostly smooth, though a few clumps may remain in batter, which is fine. (If you prefer you can mix everything together in a blender instead of a bowl.)
• Pour batter into prepared cups. Bake 20 minutes. Turn heat down to 350 degrees and bake another 20 minutes until popovers are golden brown and puffed. (Reduce baking time by 5 minutes if using a muffin tin.) Keep tabs on their progress by looking through the window in the oven door. Do not open the oven door until the last 5 minutes of baking or they won't puff. Serve warm.

CAVIAR WITH BUCKWHEAT CREPES AND SMOKED CREME FRAICHE

Steps:

• Add the milk, all-purpose and buckwheat flours, eggs and a pinch of salt to a high-powered blender and blend until thoroughly mixed.
• Place a medium nonstick pan over medium heat and spray with nonstick spray. Pour about 1/2 cup batter into the preheated pan and swirl to thoroughly coat the pan with the batter, making a crepe. Cook until it has golden brown spots and edges, about 2 minutes. Flip onto a cutting board to let cool. Continue to cook in batches, covering the finished crepes with a towel to keep them from drying out.
• Season the creme fraiche with salt and pepper in a medium bowl and stir to combine. Cover with plastic wrap and use a smoking gun to smoke the creme fraiche for 10 minutes.
• For serving: Fold the crepes into quarters and add to a serving dish. Top with the caviar and smoked creme fraiche.

BABY BUCKWHEAT POPOVERS WITH PRESSED CAVIAR

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Brush four dozen miniature muffin cups with melted butter.
• Place the milk, cream, flour, salt, eggs and lemon rind in a blender or food processor and process until very smooth. Pour this batter into the muffin cups, filling each three-quarters full. Bake about 20 minutes, until puffed and golden brown.
• Immediately split open the popovers and fill each with a teaspoon of creme fraiche and a dab of caviar. Serve at once.

BUCKWHEAT BLINI WITH CAVIAR

Steps:

• In large mixing bowl, dissolve yeast and sugar in 1 cup milk. Stir in 1/2 cup all-purpose flour and let stand until bubbly, about 10 minutes.
• Combine remaining all-purpose flour, the buckwheat flour and salt. Add 2 cups milk to the yeast mixture and gradually whisk in flour-salt mixture until you have a smooth, thick batter. Whisk in melted butter. Cover bowl with plastic wrap. Leave at room temperature and let batter slowly double in size, about 2 to 3 hours. (The batter may remain at room temperature even longer if necessary.) You may also mix batter and refrigerate overnight. Bring to room temperature before proceeding with recipe.
• When you are ready to cook blini, stir down batter, which will have become quite frothy. Beat egg yolks and whisk into batter. In a separate bowl, beat egg whites until stiff. Gently fold egg whites into batter.
• Spoon batter onto a hot, lightly greased griddle, using a large soup spoon to make blini that are 3 inches in diameter. Cook for about 2 minutes, until bottom is well browned. Flip and cook 1 minute more. (Wait until surface is covered in bubbles before flipping.) Keep warm in a low oven. Serve with a dollop of crème fraîche, a drizzle of butter, a generous spoonful of caviar and a sprinkling of chives.