Blintzes from Russia

 

Today on in the Mega Marathon which has been christened as “Around the World in 30 Days” let us visit Russia!

If you are about my age you will remember the Span and the “Adventures of Misha.” How I used to wait to see what she came up with next.

Apeksha, my elder daughter has been always after me for pancakes. And as I was researching Russia for some reason she borrowed the laptop, the rest is history this was the page that I was on. If that was not enough after that she was trying to convince me to do crêpes as a Sub-category in street food….

On the day I made these Blintzes it was pouring and we had a lot of guests. The idea was to remake the dish for better pics. Never got down to it. Hope to remake these delicious Blintzes again soon!

According to Wikipedia, “A blin (pl. blini), blintchik (pl. blintchiki) or blintz is a type of thin pancake.  Blintzes are thin pancakes that typically lack a leavening agent and are similar to crêpes, whereas blini are typically thicker and include a leavening agent.^”

Traditionally Russian blini are made with yeasted batter, which is left to rise and then diluted with cold or boiling water/ milk. When diluted with boiling water, they are referred to as zavarniye blini and were baked in a Russian oven. Though the blini are pan fried they are cooking of blini is still referred to as baking in Russian.

 French crêpes made from unyeasted batter (usually made of flour, milk, and eggs) are also common in Russia.  Flours used for making blini range from wheat and buckwheat to oatmeal and millet, although wheat is currently the most popular.

Blintzes are made in Jewish cuisine too; blintzes that are stuffed with a cheese filling and then fried in oil are served on holidays such as Chanukah (as oil played a pivotal role in the miracle of the Chanukah story) and Shavuot (when dairy dishes are traditionally served within the Ashkenazi minhag). Blintzes are called "blinchiki" in Russian, and are ordinarily stuffed before frying a second time. Fillings include chocolate, mushrooms, meat, rice, mashed potatoes, and cheese.

Blintzes are the traditional meal in Lithuania during Fat Tuesday.

Buckwheat blini are part of traditional Russian cuisine. They are also widespread in Ukraine, where they are sometimes known as hrechanyky (Ukrainian: гречаники), and Lithuania’s Dzūkija   region, the only region in the country where buckwheat is grown, where they are called Grikių blynai.”

Blintz

Recipe Source: Tony Avey

Ingredients:

  For The Blintzes:

• 2 cup Maida or APF
• 2 cup milk
• 2 tblspn sugar
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 tblspn oil
• 2 tblspn baking powder

Ingredients for the Filling:

• 1 cup fresh paneer, crumbled
• ¼ cup cream
• 1/8 cup sugar
• 1 egg yolk (optional)
• 2 tsp fresh lemon juice
• 1 tsp vanilla
• Pinch of salt

Method:

• Blend all of the blintz ingredients together using a blender or electric hand mixer. You can blend with a fork too but remember that the batter should not have any lumps.
• Warm up a non-stick tava/skillet until hot.
• The tava/skillet is ready check the heat . Sprinkle a drop of water and if it sizzles on the surface of the of the tava , your tava is ready. If the water pops or jumps out of the pan, the skillet it too hot—let it cool slightly before starting.  
• Grease the tava/skillet generously with cooking oil.
• Pour the pancake batter using a 1/3 cup into the pan.
• Tilt the pan in a circular motion till the batter coats the entire bottom of the pan in a large, thin circular shape.
• Cook for 60-75 seconds until the edges of the blintz brown and the bottom of the blintz is lightly golden. The pancake is done when the centre of the pancake's surface is dry and slightly tacky to the touch.
• Remove the pancake with a spatula and place it on a plate.
• Keep the blintzes separated by pieces of butter paper or paper towels to prevent the blintzes from sticking together.
• Similarly cook all the blintzes.

Now make the filling:

• Put all of the filling ingredients into a chutney bowl of the blender and pulse it. The filling should not be smooth. But should be well blended.
• Now let’s assemble the blintzes
•  Put about 3 tblspn of filling on the lower part of the blintz, about an inch from the edge.
• Now fold the lower edge of the blintz covering up the filling, say about till the centre.
• Now fold the sides of the blintz inward, as though you’re folding an envelope.
• Roll the blintz up and over the filling like a burrito, tucking the edges in as you roll.
• Finish them all. Then let’s fry them…
• Heat about ¼ cup of oil in a non-stick pan over medium until hot.
•  Cook the blintzes in batches see that you have enough space to turn them easily in the pan. Gently lay the flapside down in the oil (take care the oil is hot).
• The oil will sizzle after 1 ½ to 2 minutes flip carefully the blintzes. They will be brown and crispy.
• Fry the flipped side again for a 1 ½ - 2 minutes till they are browned evenly.
• Serve blintzes warm as they are or topped with fruit topping, sour cream, applesauce, whipped cream or maple syrup.

Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM# 44

An InLinkz Link-up

Hi! First time here? Well then you are Most Welcome! I hope you keep coming back for more here. If you are my regular visitor then Thanks, for you encourage me to experiment more!! I would like you to please click on my link below and like my Facebook Page. I will be happy if you can follow me on on Twitter too!

Simiti or Simit or Turkish Sesame Rings

Simiti  or Simit

For the month Swati of Baking Partners has challenged us to make  Simiti  or Simit from here. I was relieved for i had already made this delicious bread. With the month long marathon at my space and all of sick I did not have too much tension.

Then I began thinking where is the post? Cannot see it at my wordpress site or here on blogspot!! I could locate it on my facebook page. The FB page led me to the domain I had and which crashed without any way of recovering it. I lost so many delicious posts. Boy was I upset?

Luckily for me I had the draft and pics. So for me it’s a repost. I hope you don’t mind Swati.

This is my repost....

"For the month of February Aparna had given us a freehand and we could bake anything we choose. Now there are many that I wanted to bake some are from the challenges that I had missed in the past. But I had made the petimezi/ grape juice thickened in the fridge.  So I made Simitia/Koulouria these were to be made for Eggless Baking, Gayatri’s brainchild.

So enjoy these for we We Knead to Bake

Simiti  or Simit

Recipe Source: My Little Expat Kitchen

Makes 10 Simiti or Simit

Ingredients:

For the bread:

• 3 tsp active Yeast
• 5 cups Flour/ Maida
• 2 tblspn  Sugar
• 1 cup Lukewarm Milk
• 1 cup Lukewarm Water
• 2 tblspn Olive Oil + extra for oiling the mould
• 1 tsp salt

For the coating:

• 1 ½ cups Til/Sesame Seeds
• 1/3 cup petimezi /grape juice thickened
• ¼ cup water

Method:

• First make the Petimezi. I have just done nothing but followed the instructions here. As usual I did not follow any measures just crushed and strained the grapes and boiled it stirring constantly. I have done the job in a thick bottomed kadhai/wok on a low flame. 
• In a medium bowl mix the milk, water and sugar. Add the yeast and mix well. Set aside in a warm corner to proof.
• Meanwhile in a large bowl mix together flour, salt, and oil.
• Add yeast mixture to make soft and slightly sticky dough.
• Transfer the dough to the counter and knead for 10 minutes until soft and elastic.
• Place the dough in an oiled bowl, cover with cling wrap and allow it to double for 1 hour.
• While the dough is resting roast the sesame seeds till slightly brown and aromatic. Remove and cool.
• In a bowl mix together the petimezi thickened grape juice and water. Set aside.
• Preheat oven to 180°C. (The original recipe says 200°C but I baked at 180°C).
• Now deflate the dough and divide into 10 equal portions. 
• Divide each portion into two and roll each portion into a 30 cm long rope.
• Attach at one end both the rolls and twist both together to form a braid.
• Make a ring by sealing both the ends to form a braided ring. Repeat with all the portions.
• Dip the ring in petimezi /grape juice and place it on the sesame seeds.
• Coat the ring completely with the seeds.
• Place the coated ring on a baking tray.
• Complete all the rings.  
• Transfer to the oven directly they do not need second proofing.
• Bake for 20-25 minutes until nicely browned.
• Remove from oven and serve it hot or warm.
• Serve slathered with butter, jam or chocolate spread and enjoy!!
• Mine disappeared without any spreads. 

Hi! First time here? Well then you are Most Welcome! I hope you keep coming back for more here. If you are my regular visitor then Thanks, for you encourage me to experiment more!! I would like you to please click on my link below and like my Facebook Page. I will be happy if you can follow me on on Twitter too!

Nasi Goreng (Indonesian Fried Rice with Vegetables)

Nasi Goreng

Today we in our “Trip around the World in 30 Days” we stop at Indonesia for the alphabet I.

What can represent Indonesia better than Nasi Goreng?

Nasi Goreng is often described as Indonesia's twist on fried rice.

According to Wikipedia   Nasi Goreng has been called the national dish of Indonesia though there are many other contenders for the title.

The beginnings of Nasi Goreng are simple---- avoid wasting rice, just like fried rice.  The name suggests Nasi Goreng is literally meaning "fried rice" in Indonesian and Malay. In the pre refrigeration times frying the rice could prevent the propagation of dangerous microbes.

Chotpoti/A tangy Chaat from Bangladesh

Chotpoti

Hi! So you are joining me again today again for “Around the World in 30 Days’? Welcome! I will love the company… so today let explore B the second alphabet…

Actually the options for B are so many Bahrain, Barbados, Belgium to name a few  but since I was keen on choosing my neighbours I have chosen Bangladesh as my entry here.

It’s obvious the food in Bangladesh is similar to West Bengal. The street food here constitutes of delicious pitha, Chotpoti, puchka, jhalmuri, badam, and fried items.

Puchka is Gol Gappe or Pani puri, pitha, jhaal muri I have made so I decided to make Chotpoti which I suppose will mean” chat pati” alias tangy.

Did it live up to its name?

Of course!!

It took me to the time when I as a child had travelled to Bhuneshwar and we had chaat one night on the streets of Bhuneshwar.

So come and join me for Chotpoti.

Pita bread on the Stove Top

Pita Bread

This is a simple pita bread that can be made on the stove top or baked in the oven. But in case you are baking this bread then please prick the bread all around.

Pita bread

Recipe source: Greek food and  the kitchn.com

Ingredients:

• 1 tblspn active yeast
• 1 tblspn sugar
• ½ cup warm water
• 4 cups bread flour
• 1 cup warm water
• 1 tblspn olive oil
• 2 tsp salt

Method:

• In ½ cup warm water dissolve sugar and yeast.
• Let it stand covered for about 10 minutes. When the yeast becomes bubbly it’s ready for use.
• In the wide bowl mix salt in the bread flour mix the slat well.
• Make a well in the center and add the yeast mixture.
• Mix the dough using as much as warm water needed to make a smooth elastic dough.
• Knead well. Make a smooth ball of the dough.
• Apply oil to the bowl and place the dough in the bowl.
• Turn the dough so that the top of the ball is also oiled.
• Cover the bowl with a cling film and set aside in a warm corner for the dough to rise. The dough has to be double the size, approximately 1 ½   to 2 hours.
• Punch down the dough and knead for 5 minutes more.
• Heat any tava/ skillet   over medium-high heat and roll your pita bread.
• Take pieces of dough about the size of a lemon and on a floured board roll out to a thickness of ¼ inch.
• Coat the bottom of the hot pan with a little butter or olive oil and add your pita.
• Cook the pita for about 30 seconds or till you get small bubbles and then flip it over.
• Cook for a minute and a half, flip it again, and cook for another minute.
• Transfer the pita to the direct flame and cook.
•  During this time, the pita will puff up like a pita and get some nice toasted spots on the underside.
• Flip over again on the direct flame again you get lovely spots. You are done.
•  Wrap the pita breads in a clean dishcloth while your make the others.

Linking this to Valli's 'Cooking from Cookbook Challenge: August -- Week 5'.

Hi! First time here? Well then you are Most Welcome! I hope you keep coming back for more here. If you are my regular visitor then Thanks, for you encourage me to experiment more!! I would like you to please click on my link below and like my Facebook Page. I will be happy if you can follow me on on Twitter too!

Komaj~ A Persian Date Bread With Turmeric & Cumin

Koma j~ A Persian Date Bread With Turmeric & Cumin

For this month in We Knead to  Bake we are baking  Komaj which is a Persian turmeric and cumin bread that’s filled with chopped dates.

I was skeptical about its acceptance at home and was right. Hubby refused to eat it! Since I suspected as much I made just 5 Komaj the rest I filled with cheese, chilli flakes and oregano. Sorry this I took  just one picture of the big roll I made and managed to delete that too.

Tthis dough has three rises instead of the usual two.

Lemon Bars

Lemon Bars

May 2014 Baking Partners challenge Swathi raised the bar by choosing bar recipes. So this time around we are baking  Lemon bars. 

This month challenge is suggested by Suja of Kitchen corner try it.  You can use any fruit, and any topping since this was my first time I decided to stick to the recipe. Is it possible? Well I changed my pan. Instead of the 9’ square pan I used the loaf pan which is 9 x 4 inches. That will account for my thick bars. Also my bars fell in love with my tin so much they refused to come out for  a pic. So you see my lemon muffins here. Guess I should have greased the tin a bit more.

Mini Ghevar Topped with Rabdi ~~SNC Challenge

What is left of Rabdi and Ghevar

As a part of the North and South challenge, Divya’s  brainchild we try out new recipes. This time the north group has challenged the South group to make Ghevar. This challenge was suggested by Manjula Bharath of Desi Fiesta from Northern team, while Southern team challenged them with Vada Curry by Ramya Krishnamurthy of LemonKurry.

The first time I heard about Ghevar was in Jodha Akbar! Where Jodha cooks a delicious vegetarian meal for Akbar. The ladies come singing about what all is cooked. One of the dishes was Ghevar. I wanted to try it when I saw Priya recipe here.

Shaped Bread Rolls

My bread basket

In her introduction for Baking Partners #4 Swati said that as Thanksgiving is approaching, we were to make some dinner rolls. 

Our challenge is Shaped Dinner Rolls as baking bread is what most of us have tried. but this time we were to make them  going to add some technique not only make them taste great, but also look beautiful.

As a part of the challenge we were given two different recipes, one with egg and other without egg. We were to choose either one of it.  We were also to make changes top suit our taste and needs. The one mandatory thing was that we to try at least three shapes, from 7 different shapes given for challenge. The different shapes we were given were

1)         Clover leaf  2) Rose Shape 3) small braid 4) knot 5) crescent shape 6) Rosette or Kaiser 7) Lion house rolls.

Chocolate Pudding

 I love the fact that my family is waiting for me to unveil the desserts these days!

 Normally I do not make desserts.  I live with a family of picky eaters (who does not) but my elder one, Apeksha   does not eat sweets, younger one, Akanksha is not predictable, dairy milk and she is happy, hubby avoids them and FIL is diabetic. It’s too much trouble for the one person left ...me!

I would rather rack my brains for something that we will all eat. This rarely happens!

In preparation of BM #20  I make this pudding and un-moulded.  Was I in for a surprise? I had absolutely no expectations from it. In fact I was not expecting it to come out so beautifully ... no sticky mould, And so very smooth....

Even as I was admiring it I was wondering what the topping should be when disaster struck! Akanksha tasted it and gave me a lot of “bad press.”

Chocolate Lamingtons

“Chocolate Lamingtons” I had made it as a part of Egg less baking group’s challenge for July. Since the reception at home was not too great when I discussed this recipe I had made only 4 lamingtons pieces. Two of which I shared with my colleagues. 

They loved this cake! In fact I had been requested for the recipe but then the request turned to an order.

Yes I was asked to deliver 1 kilogram of Lamingtons, chocolate lamingtons by my colleague. Knowing my reluctance to commit myself as I was too busy/not to keen he told me “get it when you can”!

 Now here is something that you cannot ignore or forget my reminder is meeting me every day! So finally I bit the bullet and discussed it with my husband who supported me.

Lemon Coconut Bread

If you guys are wondering where I have disappeared it’s just that I am sooooooo overworked that I do not want to sit on the computer in the evening.

So I have been tardy in acknowledging your post and   those that have been posted at the event I am guest hosting. Please bear with me. It’s just this month (hopefully) then I am free.............. J

  Now coming to today’s post...

When I saw this month’s Egg-less baking challenge as Dimah’s Lemon Coconut Bread I was surprised at the combination. Never in my wildest dreams considered lemon and coconut as a combination in bread.

I also had a sinking feeling, as I know for sure this is something my girls will not like. I did consider sitting it out this bake but then that will never open my daughters to newer options, if not today, tomorrow, someday they will be interested in this combo! Live in hope!

Anyway now when I am posting this I was thinking that a dash of chilli in the mixture that is used as filling maybe they would have enjoyed it more.

Next time maybe, right now all my cakes are being looked at with a little bit of suspicion!! Don’t blame them……!

Reine de Saba avec Glaçage au Chocolat: Chocolate Almond Cake

We love chocolate, coffee and cakes so this amazing recipe by Julia Child is a treat for us all. Today is the first day when we Baking Partners are posting our first venture and being Julia Child's birthday  Swati has chosen this beautiful recipe. Thanks Swati!

If truth be told before I started blogging my world revolved around Sanjeev Kapoor and Tarla Dalal’s recipes. Then I discovered new amazing chefs like Anjum Anand, Nigella Lawson to name a few.

 But there is no end to learning. When I first heard the name Julia Child I was not too curious but about the same time Swati sent this amazing recipe for baking partners I googled for Julia Child.

 The write-up on her is totally impressive and the video that I saw and I was sold.

Chocolate Lamingtons

Lamingtons like I said yesterday was our July Challenge for the Eggless Baking Group. A group started by Gayatri where we try and convert bakes with eggs to egg less.

  I posted the Lemon Curd Lamingtons.   check these Chocolate Lamingtons out.

Quiche Base

I am a part of the egg less baking group. Though I have nothing against eating eggs or baking with eggs I decided to join it.  As it has the rusty gear in my head to start creaking into action. It takes some time but then it’s too good a challenge baking without the eggs. Once I start the adrenaline starts flowing and I enjoy it. 

Just when by kids told me no more sweet cakes Gayatri the founder of the group announced baking a Quiche. 

Now this was one word of the many words I do not know how to pronounce. When I was discussing it with my daughter Apeksha I said I have to bake a “QUEEch” like a queen and she corrected me with a shocked look on her face and told me to call it Keesh rhyming with Kissh.

Apparently she has already eaten it at Nescafe’s. She has told me that I should eat it there to see how it tastes. Now since that is not immediately possible I went ahead and made it.

So let’s start with the basics the first thing that you will need is the base so here it is though Gayatri choose Martha Stewart recipe and someday I will make it Martha Stewart way with eggs but  today for the base however I went to Stephanie Jaworski of Joy of Baking here.

According to Stephanie Quiche base is also known as Pate Brisee pronounced as Path bree-ZAY. The key to making a good pastry base is cold water and butter and also less handling. Joy used the food processor to make her dough. I used my good old hands. 

The next major buy may be a food processor but then to keep it we will have to buy a new flat. What an idea sirji? Sure way to press for a new flat so you know for sure where my processor will remain. :D 

Ingredients for Quiche base

350 grams Maida

1/8 tsp salt

14 grams granulated white sugar

225 g Amul butter, chilled and cut to 1 inch pieces

60 ml-120 ml ice water

Method:

1.     Place the flour, salt and sugar in a big bowl and mix well. Here I used the electric mixer.

2.     Add the butter and continue mixing with your hand breaking the butter with your fingers till the whole thing resembles a coarse meal.

3.     Pour the 60 ml (1/4 cup) cup of water and mix slowly till the mix till the dough holds together when pinched. Add more water if needed 1 tsp at a time. Do not over mix.

4.     Turn the dough on the work surface and gather it in a ball. Divide it in 2 pieces and flatten each to a disk. Cover in plastic and refrigerate for minimum 30 minutes to 1 hour before using. This allows the butter to chill and the gluten to relax. My dough was the overnight guest of my fridge.

5.     In theory for each disk of pastry on a lightly floured surface roll the dough to fit an 8 or 9 inch tart pan. Turn the pan upside down on the rolled out pastry it should be 1 inch larger than the pan. The roll has to be of even thickness take care that it does not stick to the workplace. You have to roll the pastry on the rolling pin and then unroll it on the pan after dusting the excess flour. Never pull the pastry to avoid shrinkage. With a floured bit of pastry press to the base and sides.

6.     In the best of time I cannot roll out a chapatti so this was a real real test or a nightmare. I could not manage to roll out the dough for the first two bases. So I tried pressing the flour in the tin for the first two and smoothening it to the minimum.

7.     The third one I did manage to roll out but it was not too good. It kept cracking up at the edges and you know once a crack it keeps getting bigger and bigger. But by   this time when  I reached the third base the bulb that is in my head started flickering to life and  I realized that I had not made the dough in the processor so I did need to knead the flour a bit and maybe add more water when I was making the dough. Am I correct in my analysis? Please help me here to understand where I went wrong.

8.     In whatever way get it in the pan and since I have a pie pan I fluted the edges. Your pastry is ready.

 To pre bake:

1.     Poke the base with a fork this will prevent the pastry from puffing up.

2.     Cover and rest for 20 minutes to chill the butter and rest the gluten.

3.     Preheat the oven to 200ºC. Line the shell with a foil. Fill the foil with rice or beans.

4.      Place the pan in the centre of the oven and bake for 20 minutes or till the crust is dry and light brown.

5.     I let them cool in the pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes then unmolded the base. Let it cool completely.

Stephanie said you get 2 bases but I got 3 smaller ones.

Now since I was not too good in rolling out the dough and I had pressed it in the pan there were a few cracks. But the liquids in the filling did not seep out for which I was thankful.

Most important handle the bases with care they are extremely delicate. my first one cracked when I poked it by accident. 

I am terribly sorry I did not think of taking pictures of the base will do so next time around.