Los Angeles, California, December 31, 2011-This New Year’s Eve celebrate with blinis and caviar. It’s a traditional holiday favorite. There’s nothing like the unique and salty taste of fresh caviar paired with rich crème fraiche and delicate blinis (AKA a type of mini pancake).
Recently I put my skills to work creating a new recipe for a client who wanted to offer his friends a special evening of good food and fine dining. After a brief discussion we settled on a first course of blinis and caviar.
Blinis and caviar from Chef Mary’s kitchen. Dec. 31, 2011
After trial and error, mixing and blending I created a great blini recipe for him and his guests. The trick to making perfect blinis is to cook them well with lots of butter. Otherwise they taste underdone and too much like flour.
At the party I reheated the blinis and prepared them with caviar, crème fraiche and dill. They were perfect, I sent my server out to share the appetizer with the guests. Most were excited but like any party or event there were some who were hesitant at first, but pleasantly surprised after the first bite. Over all, from start to finish it was an incredible success. Try adding blinis and caviar to your event to add a touch of elegance to your party this New Year’s Eve!
Blinis and Caviar
Ingredients
- ¾ cup AP Flour
- ¼ cup cornmeal
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- ¼ cup buttermilk
- ¾ cup milk
- 1 extra-large egg
- 1 tablespoon butter melted
- 1 stick of butter clarified to cook the pancakes with
- Black American Caviar (black caviar that runs from $20-30)
- Crème Fraiche
- Dill
Directions
In a small sauce pot or the microwave melt the butter. When the butter is melted then remove the white froth at the top also known as the milk solids with a spoon. Removing the milk solids will clarify your butter. Set aside.
In a medium sized mixing bowl add together the flour, cornmeal, baking powder and salt. Whisk the dry ingredients together add then add the wet ingredients (buttermilk, milk, egg and butter) to the dry mixture. Mix it thoroughly.
Heat a non stick skillet to medium high and use a spoon to drop the clarified butter onto the pan and then gently spread it around with a paper towel so that the entire thing is well coated (or the part where you will cook the bllnis). Next use a regular metal dinner spoon to scoop a tablespoon of blini batter, drop it into the clarified butter, use your spoon to spread out the batter slightly (the trick to blinis is to cook them well until they are slightly golden brown and then flip) and then flip them once there are bubbles coming through. Remove them from the pan and set them on paper towels until you are ready to serve them.
Reheat Directions:
Blinis can and should be made ahead of time. To reheat them put them on a cookie sheet and reheat at 300 degrees for 4-5 minutes.
Serving:
Serve the blinis with caviar with a dollop of crème fraiche (I put the crème fraiche into a plastic Ziploc bag, cut the tip off, and pipe a small amount on the blini). Then add a small spoon full of caviar next to the crème fraiche with a tiny garnish of dill.
Happy New Year!
Chef Mary
For more great cooking tips, recipes and stories from Chef Mary, visit her blog. To learn more about Chef Mary, check out her Hail Mary’s, Inc. Web site. E-mail questions for Ask Chef Mary Fridays to mary@hailmarysinc.com or click the Ask Chef Mary link above.
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