There are still a few days of Hanukkah left, so if you haven't gotten your greasy fix to celebrate the miracle of the oil, try these delicious cheese blintzes from the Jewish Holiday Treats cookbook. Don't worry about the nutritional value -- it's a celebratory time during the Festival of Lights!
Makes: 12 blintzes
Ingredients
1 pound dry cottage cheese, or mixed cream cheese and farmer cheese, in any proportion
2 egg yolks
1 tablespoon sugar
Dash of salt
Several drops of vanilla extract or dash of ground cinnamon
1 egg white, beaten, or 1 tablespoon sour cream (optional)
1 tablespoon fine cracker or white bread crumbs, or mashed potatoes (optional)
For the Batter
1 cup sifted all-purpose flour
2 eggs, beaten
Pinch of salt
1 1/2 cup water, or half milk and half water
2 tablespoons butter, melted, plus additional for frying
Directions
To make the filling, in a bowl, combine the cheese, egg yolks, sugar, salt, and vanilla or cinnamon and stir with a fork until smooth and spreadable. If the cheese mixture is too thick, add the beaten egg whites and sour cream. If too thin, thicken with cracker or bread crumbs, or mashed potatoes.
To make the batter, in a bowl, stir the sifted flour into the eggs and add the salt. Add the water gradually while beating; beat until free of lumps. Stir in the butter.
Starting at the center of a heated skillet greased with butter or non-stick spray, pour in the batter in a thin stream, tilting pan to spread the batter evenly. Cook over low heat when starting, increasing heat as soon as the pancake is smooth and firm on top and he bottom is lightly browned. Turn out onto a double layer of paper towels, bottom side up, and spread evenly with 1 tablespoon of the filling. While each successive pancake is in the skillet, the preceding blintz can be filled and rolled up, tucking in the ends. When all the blintzes are done, add more butter to the skillet and brown the blintzes lightly on bot sides until firm.
Excerpted from Jewish Holiday Treats by Joan Zoloth with permission from Chronicle Books, 2000. Photographs by Lisa Hubbard.
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-- Lauren Le Vine
Dec 16, 2009
See More: Food & Recipes , Holiday