Sourdough blinis
>> Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Blinis ... how they're yummy. These pancakes typical of the Russian cuisine, similar to American pancakes or, in flatter versions, to crepes (just similar), served as accompaniment to savory dishes, have several features that distinguish them. The main one is that they rely on bakers' yeast and beaten egg whites to raise, and another characteristic is that they often include buckwheat flour in their composition, which gives them an intriguing herbaceous smell. Well, here I use blinis to use up a fraction of the massive amounts of sourdough that sourdough geeks need to throw away when they don't make bread every day (my case).
Sourdough is just a mixture of flour and water, so if we do have leftovers at some point, they can be added to any preparation that carries flour and water in its composition and that can't be disturbed by its special flavor. "Recycling" extra sourdough instead of throwing it away is a perfect excuse to make blinis, don't you agree? To raise the intellectual level of the blog, here's a quote on blinis from Tatiana Maslenikoff's book La cocina rusa:As in most European civilizations, Russia gathered and assimilated the beliefs and pagan traditions with its Christian equivalents, which were imported from the Byzantine Empire in the 10th century.
After the long winter, when the first signs of thawing were felt, the northern tribes coming out of their lethargy prepared a feast in honor of the Blazing Sun. Pancakes as round and golden as suns, made with mixed flours, were cooked and offered to Sun God for him not to forget to warm Mother Earth. This would in turn make the next harvest sprout. These pancakes (blini) were then eaten with butter, dried fish and meat. According to historians and archaeologists, the tribes celebrated a sort of costume party where the burning of an effigy of the Prince of Winter took place.
In the Christianized Russia, this feast was moved to the beginning of Lent (...) Blinis are served with smoked herring or caviar, but never meat.
The idea of using sourdough on blinis is not originally mine, but found in the book Breads from La Brea Bakery, by Nancy Silverton. I've adapted the recipe, because she adds baking soda and baking powder to avoid a long time rising and speed up the process. She also adds far too much sugar to my taste, that I consider unnecessary, apart from not being very faithful to traditional recipes. I usually have that problem with American recipes, they're too sweet for me. I've also halved the amounts, because the original recipe produces eight dozen small blinis ... yes, you read that right. I only made around 40 small blinis. Here's the recipe:
Sourdough blinis
You know that the amount of liquid depends on the absorption capacity of the flours, so maybe you'll need to adjust the final thickness. The batter must be almost as thick as pancake batter.
They're delicious when warm, very light and airy, thanks to the egg whites. They have a rich bread-like flavor, with the sour note from the sourdough, and a very tender consistency. A surprising and addictive combination with savory accompaniments. With a good smoked salmon they are simply superb. We did make a lot of tiny sandwiches of salmon, even without the typical addition of sour cream ... We apologize to any Russian in the room for our heresy. We only missed the vodka ... ¡na zdorovje!
15 comentarios:
Ooooo - they look so fluffy and happy. Makes me smile.
Yet another home run by you! This looks delicious
Que ricos se ven los belinis tanto como el el salmon ahumado. Se me esta haciendo agua la boca, riquísimo!
What a simple yet versitile recipe!!
The texture looks so soft & light! I'm sure it tastes fantastic with curry too! Enjoy!
Cheers, Kristy
These would be fantastic right now.
These look so light and fluffy - I need to try this sourdough version, sounds excellent!
Those look extremely tasty, and I could see myself snacking on them throughout the day.
Only 40? My goodness. I totally agree with you about things being too sweet in the US - I give away just about everything we make in my pastry class, there's enough sugar in that stuff to ruin your palate ... These sourdough blini, on the other hand, look perfect.
My aunt Claire used to make great blinis with smoked salmon and crème fraîche; I haven't had them in ages! Yours looks beautiful! You are right I find American recipes to be too too sweet, especially cookies. Did you know Godiva has a different set of chocolate products for the American market, sweeter?
Miriam I see you're becoming an expert on Russian cuisine:)) your blinis look sooo fluffy and they must smell divine! It's interesting you used buckwheat flour here, do you make it yourself or do you buy it in the supermarket?
Oh by the way I tried to comment on two of your other posts but the comments are never displayed, strange :-(
Those look beautiful, Miriam! The perfect breakfast!!!Love the pictures.
Belinda: :-)
Emily: thanks!
Josie: estaban muy ricos, sí.
Ruth: thanks!
MLS: thanks!
Val: thank you!
5 SF: it's really got character...
Skylar: thank you!
Trix: especially cookies...
TOB: I didn't know that about Godiva, but I can understand it. I once was in the States for one and a half months on business and I hardly could eat any sweet thing, especially cakes. They were just too much for me.
Alina: that's flattering coming from you! About the comments, I have to review them if they're more than 15 days old, otherwise they don't show, that's why.
Erica: thanks!
you do not need to throw away sourdough starter, you can keep it in the fridge, with a lid on it that is not screwed tight, but loose. It keeps well for a week that way, needs to be fed once a week. So if you bake sourdough products once a week, than you don't need to throw it away. And if you still have any surplus, your compost heap is happy with it!
Nevertheless, thanks for this post!
Iris, from the Netherlands
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