CHEESE BLINTZES

If you’ve enjoyed that luscious dessert - crepes Suzette, (see here), how about a less flamboyant but more “filling” crepe dish that is beloved in many eastern European cultures for its deliciousness?  I’m talking about blintzes.

Similar to the Polish nalesniki, Russian blini or German pfannkuchen, blintzes are a precious, aromatic dish that makes for a good breakfast, brunch or almost- anytime snack.   Sometimes in the wintertime when we were schoolchildren, my mom served us some blintzes when we got home from school and we devoured them gleefully in the warm kitchen.

After you make crepes once or twice, it will become second nature to you. The most important caveat is to let the batter rest in your icebox before you make the crepes.

Cheese Blintzes                                         serves six

Ingredients for the blintzes

2 eggs

2 tablespoons melted butter

1 cup of milk

¾ cup sifted flour

½ teaspoon salt

Put all in a bowl and beat until very smooth or in an electric blender and blend well.

Chill for 30-60 minutes. The batter should be like heavy cream, if too thick add water to adjust it.

• To make the blintzes, use a teaspoon of butter to fry each blintz
• Melt one teaspoon of butter in a 7 or 8 inch skillet over medium heat
• Pour in one tablespoon of the batter, turning the pan to completely cover the bottom
• Fry until slightly browned on one side only, don’t cook other side at all
• Stack the blintzes browned side up until batter is depleted, adding additional butter if necessary

Cheese filling for blintzes

4 ounces cream cheese

4 ounces small curd cottage cheese

2 egg yolks

2 tablespoons sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Beat the filling ingredients in a bowl until smooth

Prepare the filled blintzes

• Place a tablespoon of filling on each blintz
• Turn two opposites sides in and roll carefully to seal in the filling
• Melt butter in the skillet and fry blintzes, starting on seam, until browned on both sides

Various toppings go well with these blintzes. Sour cream and a little sugar is a most basic topping.  Toppings I like are cherry or blueberry sauce. They go well on many desserts, i.e. French toast, pound cake and  many others.

Blueberry sauce

½ cup sugar

1 tablespoon cornstarch

¼ cup of water

¼ cup light corn syrup OR - 1/8 cup honey plus 1/8 cup water

2 teaspoons lemon juice

2 cups of blueberries, fresh or frozen (or pitted cherries if you prefer)

• Combine sugar and cornstarch in a saucepan and mix.
• Stir in the water, corn syrup and lemon juice until smooth
• Stir in the blueberries and place on stove, Cook, stirring until the sauce comes to a boil and becomes thickened
• If not using right away, refrigerate in the icebox until needed

Have yourself some cheese blintzes, these groceries will make you happy. You will really love the taste and texture of blintzes and they are, if you follow these steps, fail-proof to make.

Enjoy.