Valentine's Day sets the more romantic among us thinking about how to celebrate the day with our beloved. I, of course, think about what luxurious or favorite food to prepare. One of our shared food loves is caviar. We stick to the domestic, sustainable variety. We would like our children and the generations after them to be able to enjoy this beautiful gift from the sea.
Three varieties of caviar with Creme Fraiche
Served on blini with a dollop of creme fraiche and a glass of cold Champagne... Earth has such heavenly pleasures.
Blini are small buckwheat pancakes which are traditionally served during Maslenitsa, Russian pre-Lent festivities. They are very easy to make and once you have made them you will probably think of other ways to use them. The Canal House cooks, Mellissa Hamilton and Christopher Hirsheimer, offer this recipe in Volume 5 of Canal House Cooking.
BUCKWHEAT BLINI
- 1 cup milk
- 3 tablespoons butter, diced
- 1 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast
- 1/2 cup buckwheat flour
- 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 tablespoons sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 eggs, lightly beaten
Heat milk and butter together in a small saucepan over medium-low heat until butter melts. Remove from heat. If the milk is quite hot let it cool to between 110 and 115 degrees F. Dissolve the yeast in the warm milk.
Whisk together the flours, sugar and salt in a medium bowl. Add the warm milk, gently whisking until the batter is just combined. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and let the batter rise in a warm spot until it has doubled in size about 1 hour. Once the batter has risen, you can finish making the blini or transfer the bowl to the refrigerator. The batter will keep for up to 24 hours. Deflate the batter with a whisk, then whisk in the eggs.
Rub a large skillet with a little butter then heat over medium heat. Drop tablespoonfuls of batter into the hot skillet a couple inches apart. Cook until little bubbles form on the surface and begin to pop, 1-2 minutes. Carefully turn blini over and cook the other side until golden brown, 1 -1 1/2 minutes, Repeat with the remaining batter. Keep blini warm, wrapped in a clean dish towel, in a 200 degree F. oven.
However you observe the day, I hope it is filled with the love of friends and family and great food.
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