Cheese Blintzes

Golden brown and delicate, the blintzes from JBF America's Classics Award–winning restaurant Barney Greengrass are filled with lightly sweetened farmer cheese, a pot cheese with a soft but crumbly consistency that’s often used in eastern European cooking. If you can’t find farmer cheese in a store, you can make your own by pressing cottage cheese in cheesecloth overnight to remove the moisture. Ricotta or fromage blanc can also be substituted. Both the crêpes and the filled blintzes can be made ahead of time; just cover and chill overnight or freeze for up to one month. If frying the blintzes from frozen, do not thaw before cooking.

Ingredients

Crêpes:
4 large eggs
1 cup all-purpose flour
½ cup milk
½ teaspoon kosher salt
¼ cup (½ stick) unsalted butter, melted, for frying

Filling:
1 pound farmer cheese
½ cup sugar
1 extra-large egg
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Sour cream, for serving (optional)
Fruit preserves, for serving (optional)

Directions:

To make the crêpes: Combine the eggs, flour, ½ cup water, the milk, and the salt in a medium bowl and whisk until foamy. Cover and transfer to the refrigerator and let rest for 6 hours or overnight. Remove from the fridge 30 minutes before using to bring to room temperature.

Heat an 8-inch crêpe pan or nonstick skillet over medium-high heat and lightly brush with some of the melted butter. (Reserve the remaining melted butter for frying the blintzes.) Pour ¼ cup of the egg mixture into the pan, swirling it around to coat the bottom evenly and pouring off any excess to leave a thin layer.

Cook for 30 to 45 seconds to let the crêpe batter set and begin to brown. Use a spatula to loosen the crêpe from the pan and flip it (you may need to use your fingers to flip the crêpe; take care when doing so to avoid burning yourself). Allow the crêpe to cook on the other side for 15 seconds more. Remove immediately and transfer to a plate. The crêpes should be lightly browned but still soft and pliable.

Repeat until all the batter is used, stacking the crêpes as you go and covering the stack of crêpes with a towel to prevent them from drying out. There should be about a dozen crêpes. If not using the crêpes right away, keep wrapped in the refrigerator for up to 2 days.

To make the filling: In a large bowl, stir together the cheese, sugar, egg, and vanilla.

To assemble the blintzes: Place a crêpe on a work surface. Place a heaping tablespoon of the cheese filling in the center and fold the bottom edge up to cover the filling. Fold each of the sides in toward the center, enclosing the filling, then roll the crêpe up and over, tucking the edges in, to form a blintz, leaving the seam side down. Repeat with the remaining crêpes and filling.

Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Working in batches, brush the skillet liberally with the remaining melted butter and cook the blintzes until brown on both sides, about 2 minutes per side. Serve with sour cream or fruit preserves.

Yield

Makes 1 dozen blintzes

Blueberry Blintzes

Blueberry Blintzes

Ingredients: 

Batter:
1 1/2 cups milk
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup cold water
1/4 tablespoons butter, melted
3 large eggs
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 tablespoon sugar

Blueberry Filling:
1 1/4 pounds blueberries, washed and stemmed
1/2 cup sugar
1 tablespoon lemon juice
2 teaspoons diced lemon zest
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
Other:
Butter, for greasing pan
Confectioners sugar, garnish

Directions:
In a large bowl or mixer, begin making your batter by combining milk, water, butter, eggs, flour, salt and sugar. Mix until the batter is smooth and there are no lumps. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour (or up to 12).

In a saucepan, for your filling, mix blueberries, sugar, lemon zest, lemon juice and cinnamon together, and place over medium heat. Bring mixture to a boil, then quickly reduce heat and let simmer for 2-3 minutes. Remove from heat.

Take an 8-inch crepe pan (important to have a small pan to insure size and thickness of blintzes) and add a small amount of butter. Place over medium heat.

When the pan is hot, pour in a 1/4 cup of batter and slowly tilt the pan to evenly spread the batter in a circle, until the bottom is completely covered.

Cook for 45-60 seconds, or until the batter is just set and the bottom is browned; flip to brown the other side. Remove to a plate and cover to keep warm. Repeat with the rest of batter.

Assembly
Use a slotted spoon to put 1-2 tablespoons of berry mixture (leaving sauce to drizzle over the top) on the lower third of the blintz. Fold the bottom up and over the filling, tuck in both sides (like a burrito) as you go and roll towards the top of the blintzes. You should end with the seam side down. Repeat with rest of blintzes.

Optional: Add some more butter to your pan and lightly fry each blintz for a golden crisp outer edge OR place in a 375º F oven until warmed through.
Remove to a serving platter and garnish with leftover berry sauce and powdered sugar.