Potato 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.

POTATO BLINIS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 425°F. Prick potatoes all over with a fork and bake on a rimmed baking sheet until very tender and a knife slides easily through flesh, 60-70 minutes. Let cool slightly. Reduce oven temperature to 200°F.
• Meanwhile, whisk egg yolks, egg, and sour cream in a medium bowl to combine; set sour cream mixture aside.
• Cut potatoes in half lengthwise and scoop flesh from skins; discard skins. Pass flesh through food mill or ricer fitted with the small-hole disk into a large bowl. Working quickly, sprinkle flour, salt, pepper, baking soda, and nutmeg over potatoes; toss lightly with a fork to distribute ingredients, fluff potatoes, and break up any clumps. Make a well in the center and pour in reserved sour cream mixture. Whisk in a circular motion, working from the center out to incorporate, just until smooth (it should look like a thick pancake batter). Cover; let sit 10 minutes.
• Heat a large skillet, preferably nonstick or cast iron, over medium-low. Brush skillet with a thin layer of butter. Spoon scant tablespoonfuls of batter into skillet, spacing about 1" apart. Cook blinis until undersides are golden brown and surfaces look matte and bubbles form on top, about 90 seconds. Gently flip and cook until other sides are golden brown, about 1 minute. Transfer to a wire rack set inside a rimmed baking sheet and keep warm until ready to serve (up to 1 hour before). Repeat with remaining batter, wiping out skillet between batches and brushing with more butter.

RUSSIAN BLINIS WITH CAVIAR

Steps:

• Scald the milk and set aside.
• Dissolve the yeast in one-fourth cup warm water.
• Sift the white flour into a bowl, add the buckwheat flour, salt and sugar.
• Beat the egg yolks until thick. When the milk has cooled to lukewarm, add the yolks and three tablespoons of the melted butter. Add the yeast. Mix well and pour into the flour. Mix thoroughly, removing any lumps. Set aside in a warm place lightly covered with a towel for about two hours, or until doubled in bulk.
• Whip the egg whites until they stand in stiff peaks and fold them into the batter.
• Lightly butter a small frying pan. Pour in just enough of the pancake mixture to coat the bottom of the pan. When the mixture begins to bubble, turn the pancake over and cook lightly on the other side. Wrap the pancakes in a napkin and keep them warm in the oven while you cook the others. Serve in a pile, wrapped in a napkin.
• Serve the caviar, the sour cream and the remaining melted butter in small bowls on the table. Each person puts a pancake on a plate, butters it, adds sour cream and caviar, and rolls it like a crepe.

BLINI WITH CAVIAR AND YOGURT TOPPING

Steps:

• Place the onion in a bowl and cover with cold water. Let sit for five minutes, then drain and rinse with cold water. Drain on paper towels.
• Place the yogurt in a bowl, and stir in the onion, chopped eggs, chives and caviar. Season with salt and pepper. Refrigerate until ready to use.
• Warm the blini in a low oven or in a microwave. Top each with a spoonful of the yogurt mixture and serve.

SWEET POTATO BLINIS WITH CURED SALMON, CREME FRAICHE, AND CAVIAR

Steps:

• Place prepared sweet potatoes in a medium saucepan and cover with water. Add 1/2 teaspoon salt. Bring to a boil, and cook until the potatoes are tender and can be mashed easily with a fork. Drain well and return to the saucepan. Add the honey and 4 tablespoons of the butter and mash until smooth. If possible, puree this mixture in food mill. In a small bowl, combine the milk and eggs and stir in the sweet potato puree. In another bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder, salt and cayenne. Add the dry ingredients to the sweet potatoes and stir until just blended.
• Melt the remaining butter and reserve. Heat non-stick skillets over medium-heat and coat with some of melted butter. Drop sweet potato mixture into skillets in 1 1/2-tablespoon amounts. Turn once, cooking until golden and crisp, about 1 minute per side. Transfer to a large baking sheet. Repeat the process with the remaining butter and batter. The pancakes can stand at room temperature for 2 hours. Reheat in a 325 degree F. oven for 5 minutes before serving.
• To serve, arrange 3 blinis on a plate and garnish each with a slice of cured salmon, a dollop of creme fraiche and a small spoonful of 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.

POTATO PANCAKES WITH CAVIAR

Steps:

• Peel the potatoes and grate them lengthwise. Place them in a colander or kitchen towel and squeeze out as much liquid as possible. Combine the potatoes in a bowl with the egg, flour, salt, and pepper. Mix well.
• Melt 2 tablespoons of clarified butter in a skillet. Drop a heaping tablespoon of the potato mixture into the sizzling butter. Flatten with a spatula and cook for 2 minutes. Turn, flatten again, and cook for another 2 minutes, until crisp on the outside and golden brown. Serve the pancakes hot from the skillet with a dollop of creme fraiche and a teaspoon of caviar.
• Note: To make 6 tablespoons of clarified butter, slowly melt 8 tablespoons of butter in a small saucepan. Set it aside until the milk solids settle. Spoon off any solids that rise to the top and then carefully pour off the golden liquid, leaving the milky part in the bottom of the pan. Clarified butter has a higher burning temperature than melted butter.