Blintzes and Sour Cream

From the book The Basic Gourmet Entertains by Diane Morgan, Dan Taggart, and Kathleen Taggart

Introduction

Cheese blintzes are simply thin pancakes (crepes), filled with a slightly sweet cottage cheese mixture, folded, then either lightly browned in a skillet or baked in an oven. This is real comfort food–children adore them, and adults love them. A dollop of sour cream and/or a dollop of berry jam makes blintzes divine.

Ingredients

Crepe

Filling

Steps

1. To make crepe batter, sift flour with salt and baking powder into a large mixing bowl. In a medium mixing bowl, beat eggs, then add milk and 1 cup of water. Use a mixing spoon or whisk to make a well in dry ingredients, pour in liquid ingredients, and combine with a few swift strokes. Ignore lumps; they will dissolve when batter is stirred. Let batter rest for 30 minutes at room temperature.
2. To make filling, in a food processor fitted with the metal blade or in a blender, combine cheeses, egg yolks, sugar, salt, and vanilla. Process to purée, about 1 minute. Remove to a medium bowl, cover, and refrigerate.
3. To make crepes, heat an 8-inch, nonstick (highly recommended) frying pan ( see Cook’s Notes) over medium-high heat. Place a drop of water in pan. If it sizzles, pan is ready. Fold a paper towel into quarters, spoon 1 tablespoon of the vegetable oil onto towel, and use to lightly oil pan each time you make a crepe. Allow about 3 tablespoons batter per crepe (use a ¼ cup measuring cup filled three-quarters full). Pour batter into pan. Working quickly, tilt pan so batter evenly coats bottom and part way up sides. Cook each crepe on one side until lightly browned. Loosen with a spatula, turn, and cook just a few seconds on other side. Remove to a wire rack to cool. Continue making crepes. As crepes cool, stack between sheets of waxed paper.
4. To assemble blintzes, place ¼ cup filling in center of each crepe. Fold envelope style to form a rectangle. First fold bottom of crepe over filling. Fold over 2 sides, then top. Turn blintz so seam is on bottom.
5. To cook blintzes, preheat oven to 200°F. Heat a 12-inch frying pan over medium heat. Add the remaining 1 tablespoon oil and butter. Tilt pan to coat bottom, then add as many blintzes as will comfortably fit without crowding pan. Sauté until nicely browned on one side.
6. Turn blintzes with a spatula, and brown on other side. Use additional oil and butter as needed for cooking remaining blintzes. Place blintzes on a baking sheet in oven to keep warm. To serve, place blintzes on a platter, and accompany with sour cream and jam in small bowls.

Notes

• Dry-curd cottage cheese, also called farmer’s cheese, can usually be found along with cottage cheese in the dairy case of a supermarket. If you can’t find it, a reasonable substitute would be to use 32 ounces ricotta instead of the two types of cottage cheese.
• Making crepes takes patience and some skill. If you ruin your first crepe throw it out and try again. A good-quality, nonstick frying pan will be your savior here. If you have only a 10-inch frying pan, spread crepe batter only on bottom of pan, not on sides.
• You can bake blintzes instead of sautéing them. Place 1 inch apart on baking sheets and bake in a preheated 425°F oven until browned, about 20 minutes.
• The blintzes can be assembled, but not sautéed or baked, and refrigerated for up to 2 days or frozen for up to 1 month. Place blintzes in a freezer container, layered between sheets of plastic wrap or waxed paper. Frozen blintzes should be thawed in the refrigerator before sauteing or baking. This keeps the filling from breaking the sides of the crepe.

This content is from the book The Basic Gourmet Entertains by Diane Morgan, Dan Taggart, and Kathleen Taggart.