Dear readers,
my wife is half Russian and half Bulgarian, thus I can guarantee you that my Christmas are very interesting as well as our family reunions.
It is wonderful to celebrate diversity and to be able in first person to recognise that it is through food that one actually came to know and better understand a given country, its Folks and their culture.
Today I am going to share with you my recipe of Blini. If you are not familiarized with this it is a sort of small pancakes let me tell you that they are very fluffy and are mostrly known because Russians use it to eat Caviar (and also smked salmon or Jam's).
Caviar is just wonderful and you can improve your Caviar experience with a few hints that I am going later on share with you.
Blinis are originally from Russia, and literally follow one's entire life. In Russia a Blini is given to a Woman who has just delivered a baby as it is consider good luck and then also in funeral receptions Blinis are a must.
In Pagan times, Blinis were prepared for the Maslenitsa (butter week). This festivity celebrate's the arrival of spring, thus a sun festival. In fact, Blinis are round and golden like the sun.
First and foremost, you do not have necessarily to spend loads of money and purchase to most expensive Beluga Caviar. As one tastes can vary, you can also purchase different fish eggs (similar to Caviar), try different sorts and find the ones that are more appealing to your particular taste.
Second, Caviar needs to be served with other ingredients in order to create a real experience of different flavours and textures in your mouth (Horseradish Mousse, Sour Cream, Honey, etc).
Third, we tend to drink Champagne with Caviar, yes that is wonderful but remember that in Russian they drink Vodka with it. Vodka should be kept in freezer (it will not freeze due to high alcohol content). It should be from a good brand my favourite is "Russian Standard" Vodka but I also enjoy the "Beluga" Vodka as it is drier in taste and it will blend wonderfully with Caviar. Be advised if we choose Champagne and other Sparkling wines, these should be chilled. Never go to the Sweet or half sweet ones (DEMI-SEC) go to the Dry one (SEC).
Here’s the shopping list:
2 eggs
1 pack of Cooking Cream
100ml Milk
100 gr. Flour
7 gr dry yeast
1 table spoon of Amid Flour
Q.B. Table salt
Q.B. Butter
Step 1) Separate the yolk from the white;
Step 2) Batter the white of the egg white until is fluffy (leave it in the fridge);
Step 3) Mix the yolks with the rest of the ingredients, cover it and leave it to rest for one hour;
Step 4) Mix very carefully the mix with the battered egg whites, try not to remove much air;
Step 5) In a frying pan melt some butter and with the help of a large spoon leave a spoon full of the mix in the frying pan, you can do four at the same time.
Step 6) Flip it over several times until is golden in both sides.
Advices for serving:
You should have a good quality sour cream and if you can find it, horseradish mousse.
First, a small part of horseradish mousse in the center of your Blini, then cover the all Blini with Sour cream.
Over the Sour cream place the Caviar, I also add a bit of Honey over all of this and voilà.
You can also have smoked salmon with your Blinis.
Bon Apetit,
Chef Gourmet Du Art
