BLINI
In Russia pancakes are called "Blini" but how do they differ from American ones?
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The fact is that ‘blin’ just means "pancake" and they come in an astonishing assortment. Small, large, thin, thick, sour, sweet, made with wheat, buckwheat, even oats, with yeast or without, they’re all blini, folks. Each and every one of them is round, warm and made of batter. And they’re delicious.
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Blini had a somewhat ritual significance for early Slavic peoples in pre-Christian times since they were a symbol of the sun, taken from their round form.
They were traditionally prepared at the end of the winter to honor the rebirth of the new sun (Pancake week, or Maslenitsa).
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By Russian tradition the first blin is always destroyed while frying. Blini may be prepared and served in three basic ways:
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A filling such as jam, fruit, potato, cottage cheese or farmer cheese, eggs, chopped mushrooms, cooked ground meat or cooked chicken is rolled or enveloped into a pre-fried blini and which then are lightly re-fried, sautéed or baked. |
They may be served with butter, sour cream, jam, honey, salted fish or caviar and possibly folded or rolled into a tube. The caviar filling is popular during cocktail parties. |
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In this picture you can see the variety of Russian pancakes: Blini - big pancakes and crepes, folded, rolled and served as they are, Oladushki - small dense pancakes & Sirniki - small puffy cottage cheese based pancakes.
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Caviar Cakes
Ingridients:
For pancakes
- 2 tablespoons buckwheat flour
- 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 1/8 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 cup whole milk
- 1 large egg, separated
- 1/2 stick unsalted butter, melted and cooled, divided
For egg salad
- 1 hard-boiled large egg, finely chopped
- 2 tablespoons sour cream
- 1 tablespoon finely chopped chives
For filling
- 1/4 lb thinly sliced smoked salmon at room temperature
- 2 ounces red caviar (salmon roe)
- Garnish: sour cream; chopped chives
Make pancakes:
Whisk together dry ingredients in a bowl. Add milk and yolk and whisk until smooth. Beat egg white with a clean whisk in another bowl until it just holds soft peaks. Fold into batter along with 2 tablespoons melted butter.
Brush a 12-inch nonstick skillet with some of remaining melted butter, then heat over medium heat until hot. Working in batches of 6 or 7, drop 1 level tablespoon batter per pancake into skillet and cook until bubbles appear on surface and undersides are golden, 45 seconds to 1 minute. Flip over and cook 1 minute more. Brush pancakes on both sides with some of remaining melted butter, then transfer to a plate and keep warm, covered with foil. Brush skillet with butter between batches.
Make egg salad:
Stir together all ingredients and a pinch of salt.
Fill the cakes:
Drape smoked salmon on 6 pancakes and top with egg salad. Spoon caviar onto 6 more pancakes, then stack on egg-salad-topped pancakes.
Note: Egg salad can be made 1 day ahead and chilled, covered. Bring to cool room temperature before using.
OLADUSHKI
Oladushki (Оладушки) are small pancakes, somewhat similar to American pancakes but denser and thicker. They can be plain or contain fresh or canned fruit. Various recipes call for either Kefir (see Foods and Drinks) or sour creme as the main ingredient.
Recipe #1 (Basic)
Oladushki made according to this recipe cook up with the cutest little rolled edge, perfect for keeping in place a soft dollop or sour cream and a spoonful of raspberry jam.
Ingredients: 1 cup kefir (or 2/3 cup plain yogurt with 1/3 cup buttermilk) 1 cup all purpose flour ½ teaspoon baking soda |
1 ½ tablespoons sugar 1 teaspoon vanilla 1 egg ripe peaches, plums or apple, sliced |
Mix everything together. Start with 1 cup of flour and add enough to give the batter the consistency of yogurt. Smooth and creamy but not too thick. It should be thicker than pancake batter. Set aside for 15-30 minutes.
Heat a not stick or well seasoned cast iron skillet. Brush with melted butter.
Stir the batter well and drop two tablespoons full per pancake onto the skillet.
Top with a piece or fruit, then cook until the edges are browned. Flip and brown the other side. Remove to a warm plate. Serve with sour cream and fresh mint.
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In winter a little cinnamon sugar tossed apple brings the warm scents of the holidays to breakfast. |
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Resipe # 2 (Saturday Morning Pancakes)
Ingredients: 500 g sour cream 1 - 1 1\2 cup flour 2 eggs 1 1\2 Tbs sugar |
1 teaspoon vanilla 1 Tbs baking powder grated apple, bluberries, chopped fruit & raisins coconut flakes |
Beat eggs with sugar and salt until sugar and salt are dissolved and the mixture is fluffy. Add sour cream and vanilla and mix well. In a separate bowl mix flour and baking powder, add gradually to egg & sour cream mixture.
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Heat an iron skillet. Brush with melted butter or vegetable oil. Drop two tablespoons full per pancake onto the skillet. Top with chosen fruit or berry (I like to add only one kind of fruit per pancake) and 1\2 tsp of coconut flakes. |
Cook until the down side is done. Flip and brown the other side. Remove to a warm plate and dust with confectioner's sugar. Serve with sour cream and jam. |
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DRANIKI
Draniki (Драники), or potato flapjacks, are thick pancakes made from potatoes that are served hot with cold sour cream, garlic sauce or berries. The name “draniki” meen "grated" as the potatoes are grated rather than cut or mashed in order to prepare these pancakes. An authentic Belorussian dish, Draniki came to Russia some 200 years ago. The first mention of the dish dates back to 1830, though it is also said the dish was a kind of imitation of a German course. Similar dishes can be found in Poland, Ukraine and Israel.
Not every sort of potatoes suits for Draniki. From my personal experience Golden Yukon & Russet give the best result.There are numerous recipes for the dish that vary from family to family and from region to region. Some add onions; others add minced meat and still others mix grated potatoes with grated carrots. But traditional Draniki are prepared in accordance to several fixed rules, the main one being: never use flour when making Draniki.
Ingredients:
5-6 big potatoes, peeled 1 medium onion, peeled 1 egg | 1 Tbs sour cream 1 Tbs starch salt |
Method:
First grate the onion then the potatoes. Mind that the latter should be grated very finely. It is highly recommended to stick to this order because if you grate the potatoes first your draniki will aquire an omnious bluish tint. If there is too much juice in the potato-onion mixture, drain it. Add starch, mix well. Add salt, egg and sour cream. Don't let the mixture stand, start frying immediately. Fry on medium-high for about 2 minutes on both sides, until golden brown.
Serve with sour cream.
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