Russian Blintzes Recipes

EASY BLINI (RUSSIAN PANCAKE)

Steps:

• Combine flour, salt, and baking powder in a bowl.
• Whisk 3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons milk, egg, and 1 tablespoon melted butter together in a separate bowl. Mix into the flour mixture until batter is fully combined.
• Heat 1 tablespoon butter in a skillet over medium-low heat. Drop batter, 1 tablespoon at a time, onto the heated skillet. Cook until bubbles form, 1 1/2 to 2 minutes. Flip and continue cooking until brown, about 1 minute more. Lay on plate lined with a paper towel to help soak up excess butter. Repeat with the remaining batter.

GRANDMA REILKOFF'S AUTHENTIC RUSSIAN BLINTZE

Steps:

• Batter should be quite runny (compared to pancake batter, say). Use a HOT (but not quite smoking) non-stick pan, covering the bottom of the pan thinly with batter. Lift pan and spread batter to edges as best you can.
• When the edges start to brown, fold in half and remove from pan.
• Continue making one blintze per pan until batter is finished (use a couple of pans if needed).
• NOTE: **If blintzes don't easily remove from pan, add another tablespoon of oil to the batter. The temperature of your pan may also be at play - it needs to be quite hot.

BLINI RECIPE (Блины)

Steps:

• Using an electric mixer, beat together the eggs, milk, water, oil, sugar and salt. Add the flour and continue to mix until it's completely smooth and has no lumps. It should have the consistency of a heavy cream, not runny like milk.
• Use 2 nonstick frying pans, so you can cook the crepes twice as fast. You'll get the rhythm, trust me. Grease the pans with oil and heat over medium high heat. Pans must be hot before you start.
• Using about 2/3 of a ladle, quickly pour into a tilted pan, and quickly spread it covering the surface of the frying pan. This needs to happen quickly, or you will have a thick, oddly shaped blinchik. The first few will always look wonky, it gets better as you get your rhythm going. If you have any holes in your blinchik, then fill with more batter. The goal is to make thin blini.
• Cook the blinchik for about 2 minutes until it is lighlty golden, and the edge starts to separate from the side of the frying pan. Using your fingers, (or a spatula) pick up the edge of the blinchik and flip it over and cook for about 2 minutes until golden brown.
• Place the hot blinchik on a plate, and smear the top side with the stick of butter. This is to prevent the next blinchik from sticking to each other. You will make a blini stack.
• Repeat this process, greasing pan with oil, until all the batter is gone.
• Best served warm with light sour cream and jam or honey.

BLINI (RUSSIAN PANCAKES)

Steps:

• Beat together the milk and the eggs. Stir in the salt and the sugar and mix well. Add the baking soda and citric acid.
• Blend in the flour. Add the vegetable oil and pour in the boiling water, stirring constantly. The batter should be very thin, almost watery. Set the bowl aside and let it rest for 20 minutes.
• Melt a tablespoon of butter in a small frying pan over medium-high heat. Pick the pan up off the heat. Pour in a ladleful of batter while you rotate your wrist, tilting the pan so the batter makes a circle and coats the bottom. The blini should be very thin.
• Return the pan to the heat. Cook the blini for 90 seconds. Carefully lift up an edge of the blini to see if it's fully cooked: the edges will be golden and it should have brown spots on the surface. Flip the blini over and cook the other side for 1 minute.
• Transfer the blini to a plate lined with a clean kitchen towel. Continue cooking the blini, adding an additional tablespoon of butter to the pan after each 4 blini. Stack them on top of each other and cover with the kitchen towel to keep warm.
• Spread your favorite filling in the center of the blini, and fold three times to make a triangle shape. You can also fold up all 4 sides, like a small burrito.