Blini With Caviar Recipes

EASY BLINI (RUSSIAN PANCAKE)

Steps:

• Combine flour, salt, and baking powder in a bowl.
• Whisk 3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons milk, egg, and 1 tablespoon melted butter together in a separate bowl. Mix into the flour mixture until batter is fully combined.
• Heat 1 tablespoon butter in a skillet over medium-low heat. Drop batter, 1 tablespoon at a time, onto the heated skillet. Cook until bubbles form, 1 1/2 to 2 minutes. Flip and continue cooking until brown, about 1 minute more. Lay on plate lined with a paper towel to help soak up excess butter. Repeat with the remaining batter.

CHIVE BLINI WITH CAVIAR AND CREME FRAICHE

Steps:

• In a medium sized mixing bowl, combine flour, egg, milk, 1 tablespoon butter, chives, and salt. Whisk just until ingredients come together. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and set aside for 1 hour. Set a medium nonstick pan over low heat and brush with melted butter. Pour approximately 1 teaspoon of the batter into the pan, and repeat leaving some space between pancakes. When bubbles appear on the surface of the pancakes (about 1 to 2 minutes), flip them over with a spatula. Continue cooking for 1 minute more or until the pancakes are golden brown on both sides.
• Serve with a tiny dollop of creme fraiche and an even tinier dollop of the caviar of your choice (paddle fish, hackleback, golden whitefish and tobiko all work well.)

BLINI WITH THREE CAVIARS

Steps:

• In a large bowl proof the yeast with 1/2 tablespoon of the sugar in 1/3 cup lukewarm water for 10 minutes, or until it is foamy. Stir in 1 cup of the milk, heated to lukewarm, the remaining 2 tablespoons sugar, 2 tablespoons of the butter, and the buckwheat flour, beat the batter for 1 minute, and let it rise, covered with plastic wrap, in a warm place for 2 hours or chill it, covered tightly, overnight. (Chilling overnight produces a tangier flavor. Let the batter come to room temperature before continuing with the recipe.) Stir in the remaining 1 cup milk, heated to lukewarm, the all-purpose flour, the salt, and the yolks, beat the mixture for 1 minute, and let it rise, covered with the plastic wrap, in a warm place for 1 hour, or until it is double in bulk and bubbly. In a bowl beat the cream until it holds soft peaks and fold it into the batter. In a metal bowl beat the egg whites until they just hold stiff peaks and fold them into the batter gently but thoroughly.
• Heat a griddle or large skillet over moderate heat until it is hot, brush it lightly with the additional melted butter, and spoon tablespoons of the batter onto the griddle, spreading them to form 3-inch rounds. Cook the blini for 1 minute on each side, or until the undersides are golden. Transfer the blini as they are cooked to a platter and keep them warm, covered with a kitchen towel. Make blini with the remaining batter in the same manner, brushing the griddle lightly with the butter as necessary. The blini may be made 2 days in advance and kept covered and chilled. Reheat the blini, covered with foil, in a 350°F. oven for 10 to 15 minutes, or until they are warm, or microwave them on a microwave-safe plastic wrap, at high power (100%) for 2 minutes, or until they are warm.
• Arrange 3 or 4 blini on each of 18 small plates, top them with some of the sour cream, and arrange some of the caviar decoratively on the sour cream.

POTATO BLINI WITH CAVIAR

Steps:

• Heat oven to 200 degrees F.
• Stir together mashed potatoes, 1 teaspoon horseradish and flour; set aside.
• Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Make blini by dropping 1 tablespoonful of potato mixture into pan. Cook 2 to 4 minutes per side or until golden brown. Remove to a paper towel lined plate to drain. Keep warm in the oven. Repeat with remaining potato mixture.
• In a small bowl, stir together sour cream, remaining horseradish, and dill.
• Serve blini by topping each with 1 1/2 teaspoons sour cream mixture. Garnish with caviar.

BLINI WITH SOUR CREAM AND CAVIAR

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 250°F.
• Stir together warm water, yeast, and sugar in a bowl and let stand until foamy, about 5 minutes. (If mixture doesn't foam, discard and start over with new yeast.)
• Add all-purpose flour, buckwheat flour, and salt, then stir in milk, 3 tablespoons butter, and eggs. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and set in a roasting pan filled with 1 inch of warm water. Let rise in a warm place until dough is increased in volume, has bubbles breaking the surface, and is stringy when scooped, 1 1/2 to 2 hours. Stir batter before using.
• Heat a 12-inch nonstick skillet over moderately high heat until hot and brush with some of remaining melted butter (if butter browns immediately, lower heat). Working in batches of 4, spoon 1 tablespoon batter into skillet for each blin, then cook, turning over once, until golden on both sides, about 2 minutes. Transfer to an ovenproof platter and keep blini warm in oven.
• Serve blini topped with sour cream and caviar.