Belinini Food

BELLINIS

Steps:

• Stir the sugar and water in a large saucepan over medium heat until the sugar dissolves, about 5 minutes. Cool completely.
• Puree the peaches and orange peel in a blender with 1 1/2 cups of the sugar syrup until smooth. Strain through a fine-meshed strainer and into a bowl. Transfer the puree into a pitcher or clear glass bowl.
• For each serving, pour 2 to 4 tablespoons of the peach puree into a Champagne flute. Slowly pour enough Prosecco into the flute to fill. Gently stir to blend. Garnish each with an orange peel twist, and serve.
• Do-Ahead Tip: The peach puree can be made 1 day ahead. Cover and refrigerate.

BLINI WITH SMOKED SALMON

Steps:

• Combine both flours, baking powder, and salt in a bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk together the milk, egg, and 1 tablespoon of the clarified butter, then whisk into the flour mixture. Heat 1 tablespoon of the clarified butter in a medium saute pan and drop the batter into the hot skillet, 1 tablespoon at a time. Cook over medium-low heat until bubbles form on the top side of the blini, about 2 minutes. Flip and cook for 1 more minute, or until brown. Repeat with the remaining batter. (I clean the hot pan with a dry paper towel between batches.) Set aside.
• To serve, top the blini with a piece of smoked salmon. Add a dollop of creme fraiche and a sprig of dill.

FRESH PEACH BELLINIS

Steps:

• Place the peaches, lemon juice, and sugar in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade and process until smooth. Press the mixture through a sieve and discard the peach solids in the sieve. Place 2 tablespoons of the peach puree into each Champagne glass and fill with cold prosecco. Serve immediately.

TROPICAL BELLINIS

Steps:

• Mix the pineapple juice, coconut drink and orange juice in a large pitcher and refrigerate until well chilled. Thread a cherry, pineapple spear and a second cherry on each of 12 decorative cocktail toothpicks; refrigerate until ready to serve.
• To serve: Fill a champagne flute one-third of the way with the pineapple juice mixture and top up with prosecco or sparkling water. Garnish with a pineapple cherry spear.

BELLINIS

Steps:

• Make a simple syrup by adding the sugar and 1/2 cup water to a very small saucepan and heating over low heat until all of the sugar is dissolved. Transfer to a container and allow to cool completely in the fridge.
• Grab the bag of frozen peaches and the lemon zest and add them to a blender with the cold simple syrup; blend until smooth. Place the blender pitcher in the fridge until you need it.
• To serve, pour some puree into a champagne flute and top off with very cold champagne or sparkling wine.

EASY EASY BELLINI

Steps:

• Chill glasses in freezer.
• Combine chilled nectar and seltzer in pitcher and blend well, place back in refrigerator until ready to use.
• Remove the glasses from freezer, just before serving.
• Rim the glasses with peach nectar, don't worry if it runs down into the glass.
• Dip the glass in sugar, to evenly coat rim of glass. You could use coloured sugar, yellow, orange or pink, for this garnish.
• Pour the peach and orange bellini mixture into the glasses and garnish with a small orange wedge.
• Serve immediately.

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.