Russian cuisine
Russian Pancakes
Overview
If anything, this is the true Russian food – dozens of varieties of pancakes (‘blin’ in Russian) are known across the country, yet the basic recipe is the same – milk, eggs, wheat flour. They are served with sour cream, honey, jam, fish, caviar, egg and rice filling, or any other stuffing. Here are a few of the most popular recipes that can be enjoyed as a separate dish or with the filling for your blin.
Simple pancakes
- 1 litre milk
- 2 eggs
- 1 teaspoonful of sugar
- A pinch of salt
- 2 cups flour
Cooking
Mix all the ingredients into a homogeneous mass (egg-whisk is a good tool to use). Heat a flat-bottom frying pan with some vegetable oil, pour a ladle of the dough and spread it evenly. Bake on one side until the dough bubbles, then flip it over and bake the other side. Pile the ready pancakes on a flat plate, and add a tiny bit of butter on top of every newly baked hot cake. If you plan to use meat or fish stuffing, do not add sugar.
Pancakes on beer
Try doing the pancakes the same way described above, but add an ounce of dark beer (for some, no doubt unscientific, reason only Czech and Russian dark beers work) and an ounce of melted butter. Bake the same way. These pancakes are great with fish, especially salted salmon. Also try wrapping a bit of salted trout with a teaspoonful of sour cream together – a new, great taste.
Tzar’s blins
- 5 cups flour
- 4 cups milk
- 1.5 cup cream
- 0.5 pound butter
- 6 eggs
- 1 ounce yeast
- 2 tbs sugar
- A pinch of salt
Cooking
Mix 3 cups of slightly warm milk with 3 cups of flour and yeast. When the dough rises, mix, add the rest of the milk and flour, mix again and set aside in a warm place. When it rises again, add egg yolks beaten with melted butter, cream, sugar and salt. Mix again, set aside for 15 minutes. Then bake the pancakes the usual way.
