Blitzers Food

BLINTZES

Steps:

• With a whisk, beat eggs and milk together and add the salt. Gradually, a tablespoonful at a time, whisk in flour and beat until smooth. Heat a 6inch skillet and butter it lightly. Pour in enough batter to make a thin pancake. (If batter is too thick, add water to thin) Pour out excess back into the batter and don't worry if a "tab" forms on the side of the pan.
• Cook the blintz on one side only until the top blisters and it looks dry around the edges. Turn the blintz upside down onto a clean towel. Rebutter the skillet if need be, every 2 or 3 blintzes, and proceed until all the batter has been used up.
• Make assorted fillings, roll up and fry, or bake or freeze for another day.

BLUEBERRY BLINTZES

Steps:

• For the topping: Add 1/2 cup of the blueberries to a medium bowl with the sugar, honey, lemon juice and cardamom and let sit, stirring every 10 minutes or so and mashing slightly, until the juices are a vibrant pink color, about 1 hour. Fold in the remaining blueberries, coating them in the sauce until shiny.
• For the blintzes: Meanwhile, in a blender or food processor, combine the milk, flour, salt and eggs and blend until smooth. Let the mixture sit at room temperature for 30 minutes.
• Coat a 9- or 10-inch nonstick skillet with a thin layer of oil and heat over medium heat. Add 1/3 cup batter to the skillet and tilt it so that it distributes evenly into a round. Cook until the top is set and the bottom is slightly browned and pulls away easily from the skillet, 60 to 90 seconds. Use an offset spatula to transfer it to a plate or work surface (correct, you will not be flipping these). Repeat this process, stacking the cooked blintzes and separating them by sheets of parchment paper.
• For the filling: In a bowl, mix together the cream cheese, ricotta, honey, lemon zest and juice, almond extract, cardamom, salt and egg until combined.
• To assemble: Place a blintz browned-side up on a work surface. Spoon 1/4 cup filling slightly below the center line of the blintz. Fold the bottom third of the blintz up over the filling and then fold in the sides. Bring the top third of the blintz down over the filling to seal. Set aside and repeat with the remaining blintzes.
• In a large skillet, heat a thin layer of oil over medium-high heat until shimmering. Fry the blintzes a few at a time until golden brown, 2 to 3 minutes on each side, adding additional oil if the needed. Transfer to a serving plate, top with the blueberry sauce and enjoy.

APPLE & BLUEBERRY BLINTZES

Steps:

• Prepare pancakes following the classic recipe (see 'Goes well with').
• Beat together the mascarpone, vanilla extract, 1 tbsp of the sugar and the egg yolk until smooth and thoroughly combined, set aside. Melt half the butter in a large frying pan and add half the apples and half the remaining sugar. Cook until the apples are tender and starting to caramelise. Remove from the pan and cook remaining apples in the same way. Set aside. Add the blueberries to the pan, cook for 1-2 mins until they start to soften, remove from the pan and add half to the apples.
• Place all the ingredients for the sauce in a saucepan with 75ml of water and cook over a low heat until the blueberries start to break down. Push the mixture through a fine nylon sieve, taste and add sugar or lemon juice if needed. Add the reserved softened blueberries and pour into a jug for serving.
• Heat the oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Lay the pancakes out on a work surface and divide the mascarpone mixture into the middle of each pancake in a neat dollop. Top the mascarpone with the apple and blueberry mixture and fold over the sides of the pancakes to completely encase the filling in a neat square parcel. Arrange the blintzes in an ovenproof dish seam side down and scatter with a little caster sugar plus a pinch of ground cinnamon.
• Bake on the middle shelf for about 10-15 mins or until warmed through. Serve 2 blintzes per person with the blueberry sauce alongside in a jug.