Blini
Blini
“…the perfect companiable dinner…” (Nigella p171).
I have decided to make this for Chris and I for breakfast on Saturday morning. We have a busy weekend coming up, as we have promised to visit my parents on Saturday night to cook a massive paella and Chris has prior engagements on Sunday. I was a bit worried, therefore, about when (or even if) I would find the time to cook for this blog, and so I decided to squeeze in a leisurely and delicious breakfast on Saturday morning.
Blini are part of Nigella’s perfect romantic meal, along with roast chicken and zabaione, so it may seem odd that I am downgrading them to weekend breakfast fare. Perhaps I should have waited until Valentines Day to make these, but of course, there is certainly room in everyday life for a little romance and of course, my OH and I do love one another everyday and not just on special occasions, and most importantly, I cannot think of anything more romantic than breakfast in bed, to mark the beginning of our weekend together. It is also the penultimate weekend until I begin my PGCE course, starting with two weeks spent in a primary school, and so I wanted to make something special to celebrate my free time and still enthusiastic approach to cooking (I wonder if I can sustain this after a hectic day with 100 screaming children?!)
I must admit that I have had a lot of success in the past with Nigella’s pancake-type fare. When I was first brought Nigella Bites, I made the American pancakes with wafer-bacon and maple syrup and absolutely adored them and was amazed at how easy they were to make and how delicious they were. I also make pancakes every year for Pancake Day and begin looking forward to them again the very day after Pancake Day! My OH also absolutely loves pancakes or anything pancake related, like these blini.
I must also say, now, that these blini come from my absolutely favourite chapter in How to Eat; “one and two.” There are many reasons why this chapter has been my favourite; I have loved everything I have cooked from this chapter so far (the carpaccio of beef, the scallops and bacon and the apple and walnut crumble) and also love the fact that the quantities are always perfect for the two most important people in my life; me and my OH!
I think it is also important to mention what we are eating these with. I know that Nigella’s original suggestion is for caviar, but my OH doesn’t actually like caviar and also a few things that Nigella says, dissuades me from using it; “…caviar is not obligatory with blini; I’m not sure they’re not actually better with smoked salmon…” and “really good caviar….needs nothing else but lightly toasted, heavily buttered Mother’s Pride.” Therefore, I am forgetting the caviar option and serving wafer-thin smoked salmon instead. On Nigella’s suggestion, I am also serving melted butter in a dish alongside and another dish of crème fraiche; “…if you’re going with the blini, provide some butter (unsalted of course, and either soft enough to be spread, or as the Russians do, poured in a little jug already melted) and either crème fraiche, sour cream or smetana.”
Ingredients: Most ingredients can be purchased from a supermarket; I brought most of mine from Morrisons. In terms of the easyblend yeast I used Hovis fast action bread yeast sachets (see picture). However, I couldn’t find buckwheat flour *anywhere* in Morrisons and when I asked at customer services, the woman had no clue what I meant and suggested that I buy ready made blini from the bread counter. Thanks, but that kind of defeats the purpose of this blog! Anyway, I then went to my local Tescos, where I found buckwheat flour straight away in the baking aisle. I used Dove’s farm wholegrain buckwheat flour, by the way (see picture).
For making blini you will also need a blini pan. I rang my local kitchen shop this morning and asked about one. Luckily they had one in stock which is actually marketed as a single egg pan with a cute white chicken on the handle. It is 12cm in diameter, which is 2cm bigger than the one Nigella uses, but what is 2cm amongst friends? By the way, my pan was £6.99 from Lawson’s, Tavistock. Their number is 01752 825699, they have branches all over Devon and will probably deliver elsewhere.
Price: The buckwheat flour, strong white flour, easyblend yeast, milk and crème fraiche totalled £3.45. I had no need to purchase salt, sugar, butter or an egg as we had these at home. All in all, I think this is very cheap for a romantic breakfast for two!
“…the perfect companiable dinner…” (Nigella p171).
I have decided to make this for Chris and I for breakfast on Saturday morning. We have a busy weekend coming up, as we have promised to visit my parents on Saturday night to cook a massive paella and Chris has prior engagements on Sunday. I was a bit worried, therefore, about when (or even if) I would find the time to cook for this blog, and so I decided to squeeze in a leisurely and delicious breakfast on Saturday morning.
Blini are part of Nigella’s perfect romantic meal, along with roast chicken and zabaione, so it may seem odd that I am downgrading them to weekend breakfast fare. Perhaps I should have waited until Valentines Day to make these, but of course, there is certainly room in everyday life for a little romance and of course, my OH and I do love one another everyday and not just on special occasions, and most importantly, I cannot think of anything more romantic than breakfast in bed, to mark the beginning of our weekend together. It is also the penultimate weekend until I begin my PGCE course, starting with two weeks spent in a primary school, and so I wanted to make something special to celebrate my free time and still enthusiastic approach to cooking (I wonder if I can sustain this after a hectic day with 100 screaming children?!)
I must admit that I have had a lot of success in the past with Nigella’s pancake-type fare. When I was first brought Nigella Bites, I made the American pancakes with wafer-bacon and maple syrup and absolutely adored them and was amazed at how easy they were to make and how delicious they were. I also make pancakes every year for Pancake Day and begin looking forward to them again the very day after Pancake Day! My OH also absolutely loves pancakes or anything pancake related, like these blini.
I must also say, now, that these blini come from my absolutely favourite chapter in How to Eat; “one and two.” There are many reasons why this chapter has been my favourite; I have loved everything I have cooked from this chapter so far (the carpaccio of beef, the scallops and bacon and the apple and walnut crumble) and also love the fact that the quantities are always perfect for the two most important people in my life; me and my OH!
I think it is also important to mention what we are eating these with. I know that Nigella’s original suggestion is for caviar, but my OH doesn’t actually like caviar and also a few things that Nigella says, dissuades me from using it; “…caviar is not obligatory with blini; I’m not sure they’re not actually better with smoked salmon…” and “really good caviar….needs nothing else but lightly toasted, heavily buttered Mother’s Pride.” Therefore, I am forgetting the caviar option and serving wafer-thin smoked salmon instead. On Nigella’s suggestion, I am also serving melted butter in a dish alongside and another dish of crème fraiche; “…if you’re going with the blini, provide some butter (unsalted of course, and either soft enough to be spread, or as the Russians do, poured in a little jug already melted) and either crème fraiche, sour cream or smetana.”
Ingredients: Most ingredients can be purchased from a supermarket; I brought most of mine from Morrisons. In terms of the easyblend yeast I used Hovis fast action bread yeast sachets (see picture). However, I couldn’t find buckwheat flour *anywhere* in Morrisons and when I asked at customer services, the woman had no clue what I meant and suggested that I buy ready made blini from the bread counter. Thanks, but that kind of defeats the purpose of this blog! Anyway, I then went to my local Tescos, where I found buckwheat flour straight away in the baking aisle. I used Dove’s farm wholegrain buckwheat flour, by the way (see picture).
For making blini you will also need a blini pan. I rang my local kitchen shop this morning and asked about one. Luckily they had one in stock which is actually marketed as a single egg pan with a cute white chicken on the handle. It is 12cm in diameter, which is 2cm bigger than the one Nigella uses, but what is 2cm amongst friends? By the way, my pan was £6.99 from Lawson’s, Tavistock. Their number is 01752 825699, they have branches all over Devon and will probably deliver elsewhere.
Price: The buckwheat flour, strong white flour, easyblend yeast, milk and crème fraiche totalled £3.45. I had no need to purchase salt, sugar, butter or an egg as we had these at home. All in all, I think this is very cheap for a romantic breakfast for two!
(Buckwheat flour and yeast)
(Check out my new blini pan)
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Method: The most important thing to know about this recipe before you start is that the batter needs a good 12 hours or so in the fridge before you even begin to fry the blini. I actually put my batter in the fridge overnight and I must tell you now that it rose amazingly well; nearly up and over the top of the measuring jug! Making the batter is pretty easy, and simply involves stirring a mixture of heated milk, crème fraiche, water, melted butter and egg yolk into a mixture of white flour, buckwheat flour, yeast, salt and sugar; Easy! This stage was not where I encountered problems; unfortunately, the cooking process was!
Right, the first problem was that the risen mixture was basically solid, like bread. You could even pat the yeasty top without denting the batter underneath! I had no idea how on earth I was going to fry solid lumps of yeasty batter, but did think that the addition of egg white would loosen the batter up somewhat. Well, I was partly right; after the beaten egg white, the batter looked more like batter, but it was still more solid that liquid; certainly *not* pourable in any which way. The mixture was thick, gloopy and reminded me of homemade glue paste (with flour and water). Anyway, Nigella says to fry each blini on one side for a minute or two until bubbles start arising on the uncooked surface. Well, my mixture was so thick that no bubbles ever *did* arise, and after a few minutes when I flipped it anyway out of panic, the underside was black! Ouch! Anyway, after that I had a conference with my OH and we agreed that obviously (for some unknown reason) my blini batter was thicker than Nigella’s (maybe due to the yeast) and so instead of relying on the bubbles as a cue to turn, I should judge it myself by eye. Well, after that I ruined two more blini (through overestimating the time until flipping), but after that I managed to judge the timing more accurately and eventually got into my own blini making groove. In the end, I settled into the routine of frying each one for about a minute and a half on one side, flipping and then frying for another minute on the underside. Phew!
After I had finished the blini, I sliced some smoked salmon into a bowl, melted some butter and poured that into a bowl and poured the remaining crème fraiche into a bowl also; all for eating alongside.
Right, the first problem was that the risen mixture was basically solid, like bread. You could even pat the yeasty top without denting the batter underneath! I had no idea how on earth I was going to fry solid lumps of yeasty batter, but did think that the addition of egg white would loosen the batter up somewhat. Well, I was partly right; after the beaten egg white, the batter looked more like batter, but it was still more solid that liquid; certainly *not* pourable in any which way. The mixture was thick, gloopy and reminded me of homemade glue paste (with flour and water). Anyway, Nigella says to fry each blini on one side for a minute or two until bubbles start arising on the uncooked surface. Well, my mixture was so thick that no bubbles ever *did* arise, and after a few minutes when I flipped it anyway out of panic, the underside was black! Ouch! Anyway, after that I had a conference with my OH and we agreed that obviously (for some unknown reason) my blini batter was thicker than Nigella’s (maybe due to the yeast) and so instead of relying on the bubbles as a cue to turn, I should judge it myself by eye. Well, after that I ruined two more blini (through overestimating the time until flipping), but after that I managed to judge the timing more accurately and eventually got into my own blini making groove. In the end, I settled into the routine of frying each one for about a minute and a half on one side, flipping and then frying for another minute on the underside. Phew!
After I had finished the blini, I sliced some smoked salmon into a bowl, melted some butter and poured that into a bowl and poured the remaining crème fraiche into a bowl also; all for eating alongside.
(Dry ingredients; buckwheat flour, plain flour, yeast, salt and sugar)
(Wet ingredients; milk, creme fraiche, melted butter and egg yolk)
(Batter; pre-fridge)
Result: Well, even despite my failings with the method I must say that the blini were absolutely lovely. I really did enjoy them. I actually made 8 eatable blini, and the 3 failures, which meant that I made a total of 11. Nigella said that the amount makes about 12 blini, so all in all, I think I did very well. Of course, we could have eaten more, and so I think on your first go at making them, perhaps make up double the amount of batter, as more will be sacrificed as mistakes. When I make them again, though, I am quite confident that I will throw less in the bin!
The texture of them was really lovely; they are very light, very tender, very fluffy and moussey. They are much smaller than pancakes, and fatter, too. They are also more crumpet-like in their fluffiness. They are really like little muffins, I suppose. They are also very filling, and although I say we could have eaten more than 8, I’m sure exactly *how* much more we honestly could have eaten.
In terms of taste, they were very light and were definitely wholemeal-tasting; a taste probably borne from the buckwheat flour. They reminded me of those little homemade plain and floury muffins that you can sometimes buy from good bakers. They were also very yeasty, and in a way reminded me of little wholemeal bread rolls, with a very different texture. In fact, I am blaming the yeast for all of the problems; I am not sure if Nigella and I used the same easyblend yeast (and she doesn’t say how many grams were in the sachet she uses), but I wouldn’t be surprised if my yeast was either in a larger sachet or just generally stronger.
I have to say, though, that the blini were perfect with the side dishes. I loved mine spread thickly with melted butter, lots of crème fraiche and then one or two straggly smoked salmon strips draped over; YUM! In fact, the blini worked so well with the smoked salmon; it was a lovely combination; the cool and fresh salmon with the wholemeal lightness of the blini. Actually, I only brought one massive “strip” of smoked salmon, but we could have easily eaten two, so next time I will increase quantities. It did have the right effect, though, as it was a romantic breakfast; my OH and I sitting together at the breakfast table, creating our own combinations of blini topping; Bliss!
Although, I have to say that the upshot to this meal is that it did take a long time to prepare, I was basically in tears and sweating over the bloody frying pan, and to top it all off, even though the blini were very nice little things, I am not altogether sure that I wouldn’t have preferred pancakes for breakfast doused in lemon juice and sugar. Oh well, we live and learn!
The texture of them was really lovely; they are very light, very tender, very fluffy and moussey. They are much smaller than pancakes, and fatter, too. They are also more crumpet-like in their fluffiness. They are really like little muffins, I suppose. They are also very filling, and although I say we could have eaten more than 8, I’m sure exactly *how* much more we honestly could have eaten.
In terms of taste, they were very light and were definitely wholemeal-tasting; a taste probably borne from the buckwheat flour. They reminded me of those little homemade plain and floury muffins that you can sometimes buy from good bakers. They were also very yeasty, and in a way reminded me of little wholemeal bread rolls, with a very different texture. In fact, I am blaming the yeast for all of the problems; I am not sure if Nigella and I used the same easyblend yeast (and she doesn’t say how many grams were in the sachet she uses), but I wouldn’t be surprised if my yeast was either in a larger sachet or just generally stronger.
I have to say, though, that the blini were perfect with the side dishes. I loved mine spread thickly with melted butter, lots of crème fraiche and then one or two straggly smoked salmon strips draped over; YUM! In fact, the blini worked so well with the smoked salmon; it was a lovely combination; the cool and fresh salmon with the wholemeal lightness of the blini. Actually, I only brought one massive “strip” of smoked salmon, but we could have easily eaten two, so next time I will increase quantities. It did have the right effect, though, as it was a romantic breakfast; my OH and I sitting together at the breakfast table, creating our own combinations of blini topping; Bliss!
Although, I have to say that the upshot to this meal is that it did take a long time to prepare, I was basically in tears and sweating over the bloody frying pan, and to top it all off, even though the blini were very nice little things, I am not altogether sure that I wouldn’t have preferred pancakes for breakfast doused in lemon juice and sugar. Oh well, we live and learn!
(Look how much it has risen!)
(Frying the blini)
Other person’s perspective: My OH said that you *must* eat this with smoked salmon and crème fraiche. He also said that you should eat them very slowly, savouring every bite, as he ate his too fast and was gutted when there were none left. He also said that up to now, his favourite breakfast was a recipe by Anthony Worrall Thompson for special bacon butties, but he said that this has taken over 100%. He said that this would be the perfect recipe to impress your OH for a special occasion, or just a treat. He said that it had a texture like bread or muffins and the taste was yeasty; like wholemeal muffins.
He also said that he preferred them slightly cooler; it allowed us to handle them better and put things on them.
I’m not sure why he liked them so much more than me; maybe it was simply a matter of personal taste, or maybe it had something to do with the fact that he didn’t actually cook them – who knows?!
He also said that he preferred them slightly cooler; it allowed us to handle them better and put things on them.
I’m not sure why he liked them so much more than me; maybe it was simply a matter of personal taste, or maybe it had something to do with the fact that he didn’t actually cook them – who knows?!
(Side dishes; clockwise - melted butter, smoked salmon and creme fraiche)
Future changes: I’d be temped to try this again, with half a sachet of yeast….just to see. Also, don’t buy smoked salmon sparingly; buy loads, more than you think you’ll need; you can always put the excess in a bagel, with maybe some cream cheese and chives; YUM!
( The last one!)
Rating: My OH says 5/5, I say 4/5; so we award the blini 4 ½ /5.
