From classic comfort foods to regional standouts and desserts, we’ll be sharing a new recipe with you each week. Find other dishes of the week here.
This week, we’re gearing up for Rosh Hashanah with cheese blintz.
A blintz is a thin, crepe-like pancake that is folded or rolled around a filling – usually cheese or fruit – before being baked or fried. The exact origin is unclear – with some staying it to be of Russian, Ukranian, Polish, or Hungarian origin, to name a few – but they are widely believed to have been derived from the Russian blini (a crepe). With blintz being the Yiddish name for the dish, the pancakes were popularized in the United States by Eastern European immigrants, particularly Jewish peoples who served them fried on the Jewish holidays.
The old world delights are often filled with things like farmer’s cheese, jam, blueberries, and even potatoes, chicken or beef, and mushrooms.
This recipe for cheese blintzes, from Saveur, is filled with a mix of farmer’s cheese, cream cheese, and small curd cottage cheese. Serve them topped with a dollop of sour cream and fresh fruit, blueberry, cherry or strawberry preserves, or applesauce.
CHEESE BLINTZES
Ingredients serves 4-6
1 cup flour
3 1/2 tbsp. sugar
1/2 tsp. kosher salt
1 1/4 cups milk
3 tbsp. canola oil
1 3/4 tsp. vanilla extract
4 eggs, plus 1 yolk
1 lb. farmers’ cheese, at room temperature
6 oz. small curd cottage cheese
3 tbsp. cream cheese, softened
1/2 tsp. grated lemon zest
For serving: powdered sugar, sour cream and fresh fruit, jam/preserves, applesauce
Directions
Whisk flour, 2 tbsp. sugar, and the salt in a bowl; set aside.
Whisk milk, 1 tbsp. oil, 1 tsp. vanilla, and 4 eggs in a bowl until combined. Whisk dry ingredients into wet to make a batter.
Heat an 8″ nonstick skillet over medium heat. Pour 1/4 cup batter into center of skillet. Working quickly, tilt skillet to spread batter evenly, and cook, without flipping, until top is slightly dry, 1–2 minutes. Slide crêpe onto a plate; repeat with remaining batter.
Mix remaining sugar and vanilla, plus yolk, cheeses, and lemon zest in a bowl. Working with 1 crêpe at a time, spread about 3 tbsp. filling along bottom third of crêpe; tuck sides in and roll into a loose cylinder.
Heat remaining oil in a 12″ nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Cook blintzes, flipping once, until golden brown, 2–3 minutes.
Serve with desired toppings.
This article appears in Sep 3-9, 2015.
