Buckwheat Blini Recipes

BUCKWHEAT BLINIS

Steps:

• Pour warm milk into a large bowl, then sprinkle yeast onto the milk, and allow to soften for 5 minutes. Stir in sugar and buckwheat flour; cover, and let rise for 1 hour.
• Stir in the eggs, sour cream, heavy cream, salt, and flour until a batter forms. Cover again, and let rise for 2 hours.
• Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Spray with cooking spray, then pour in small amounts of batter to form 1 1/2-inch blinis. Cook until the blinis begin to set and dry, and the bubbles begin to burst, about 2 minutes. Flip over, and continue cooking until browned on the other side, about 1 minute.

BUCKWHEAT BLINI

Steps:

• Dissolve the yeast and sugar in the water in a large bowl. Stir in the lukewarm milk, and let stand for five minutes until creamy.
• Sift together the flours and salt into a medium bowl. Whisk into the yeast mixture. Whisk in the buttermilk or yogurt, the oil or melted butter, and the egg yolks. Cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap, and set aside to rise in a warm spot for one hour or longer until bubbly.
• Beat the egg whites to soft peaks. Fold them into the batter. Cover again, and allow to rise for another 30 minutes until bubbly.
• Lightly grease a heavy nonstick or cast iron griddle, and heat over medium heat until hot. For bite-size blini that you can pass as hors d'oeuvres, ladle on 1 to 2 tablespoons of batter for each silver-dollar-size blini. For larger, pancake-sized blini, ladle on about 1/4 scant cup per blini. Cook until holes break through the upper side, about a minute. Turn and brown on the other side for about 30 seconds. Remove to a rack or a plate. If serving right away, wrap them in a towel or place them in a low oven to keep warm. If not serving right away, wrap them in foil and reheat them for about 20 minutes in a 325-degree oven. To freeze, stack them between pieces of parchment or wax paper, and wrap them airtight in plastic, then foil. To thaw, remove them from the plastic, rewrap them in foil, and place them in a 350-degree oven for 30 minutes. Alternately, remove the foil and thaw them in a microwave oven.

BUCKWHEAT BLINI

Steps:

• Sprinkle yeast over warm water in a small bowl; let stand until foamy, about 7 minutes. Sift together flours and salt. Stir together yogurt, butter, sugar, and yolks in a large bowl; whisk in yeast mixture and flour mixture. Let batter stand, covered, in a warm place, 30 minutes.
• Beat whites until stiff peaks form; fold whites into batter. Let stand 10 minutes.
• Heat a 12-inch nonstick skillet or crepe pan over medium heat. Add 1 tablespoon batter; cook blini 3 or 4 at a time, flipping once, until golden, 2 minutes per side. Serve with caviar and creme fraiche.

BUCKWHEAT BLINI

Steps:

• Over medium-high heat, bring the milk and butter to just below a boil. Cool until lukewarm.
• Combine the buckwheat flour, sugar, and salt. Set aside.
• In a separate small bowl, combine the yeast and lukewarm water. Allow the yeast to activate for 5 minutes in a warm place (see Cook's Note*).
• In a large bowl, beat the egg yolk until light yellow. Drizzle the milk and butter mixture slowly into the yolk while whisking. Add the dry ingredients and stir to combine. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and put in a warm place until doubled in size.
• Whisk the egg white until soft peaks form. Fold the egg white into the batter. Cover the batter again and allow it to regain its original volume, about 10 to 15 minutes.
• Preheat a skillet and lightly brush it with the clarified butter. Spoon 1 tablespoon portions of the batter into the skillet (see Cook's Note**). Lightly brown on both sides.
• Spoon 1 teaspoon of the smoked salmon cream cheese mixture over a blini. Garnish with fresh dill and serve.
• In a medium bowl cream together the cream cheese, dill, lemon juice, and lemon zest. Gently fold in the smoked salmon.

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.

BUCKWHEAT BLINI

Steps:

• Heat the milk and 4 tablespoons of butter over low heat until butter is melted, and let cool slightly. Meanwhile, combine the sugar and 2 tablespoons of warm water and stir to dissolve the sugar. Sprinkle the yeast over the sugar water and let stand in a warm place until yeast is frothy, about 5 minutes. Pour in the milk mixture, add egg yolks and whisk to blend.
• Combine the flours and salt and gradually whisk into the yeast mixture until smooth. Cover bowl tightly with plastic wrap and let batter rise in a warm place until doubled in bulk, about 1 hour.
• Stir to deflate the batter. (Batter can be covered and refrigerated for 24 hours before proceeding.) Beat egg whites until soft peaks form. Gently fold whites into batter just until blended.
• Preheat oven to 200 degrees. Melt enough butter to coat a large griddle or skillet over medium to medium-high heat. When butter sizzles, drop tablespoons of batter onto surface to make blini roughly 2 inches in diameter. Cook until bubbles appear on top and the bottom is golden brown. Turn and cook until bottom is lightly browned. Place blini, overlapping but not stacked (they will get soggy), on a baking sheet and keep warm in the oven while cooking the remaining batter. Stop using the batter when bubbles no longer appear on the top (there may be about 1 cup left), or the blini will be thin and tough.
• To serve, brush blini lightly with melted butter and top each with a dab of créme fraîche or sour cream and a small dollop of caviar.