Russia, Europe · Blini (Russian Thin Pancakes)

Yeasted Buckwheat Blini with Smoked Salmon

Name: Yeasted Buckwheat Blini with Smoked Salmon
Cook time: 45 min
Total time: 2 h 15 min
Yield: Serves 2
Cuisine: Russia
Ingredients: Milk 200 ml; Instant dried yeast ¾ tsp; Sugar 1 tsp; Buckwheat flour 50 g; Plain (all-purpose) flour 50 g; Eggs, separated 1; Salt 1 pinch; Butter 25 g; Smoked salmon slices 100 g; Sour cream 100 g; Dill, chopped 1½ tbsp; Lemon, cut into wedges ½

Restaurant-style blini: a twice-risen buckwheat and yeast batter cooked into fluffy, nutty rounds, topped with smoked salmon, sour cream and dill.

ServingsServes 2

Total cooking time45 min

Rising+ 1 h 30 min

DifficultyHard

About servingsCold-smoked salmon is not cooked. For pregnant women, older people or anyone with a weakened immune system, use hot-smoked (cooked) salmon or another topping.

Method

Warm the milk in a saucepan on low heat for until it feels just lukewarm on the back of your hand (about 37 °C); hotter milk kills the yeast. Pour it into a large bowl and stir in the yeast, sugar, buckwheat flour and half the plain flour to make a smooth starter batter (opara).
Add in this stepMilk 200 mlInstant dried yeast ¾ tspSugar 1 tspBuckwheat flour 50 gPlain (all-purpose) flour 25 g
low heat
Cover and leave in a warm spot (25–30 °C) for , until roughly doubled and covered in bubbles.
Melt the butter and separate the eggs, keeping the whites in a clean bowl. Beat the yolks, salt, part of the melted butter and the rest of the plain flour into the batter until smooth. Cover again and leave to rise for .
Add in this stepEggs, separated 1Salt 1 pinchButter 10 gPlain (all-purpose) flour 25 g
Whisk the egg whites to soft peaks whose tips just curl over, then fold them into the batter in two additions with a spatula, lifting from the bottom. Keeping the air in is what makes them fluffy.
Heat a 24 cm frying pan on medium heat and brush it thinly with the remaining melted butter. Drop 2 tbsp of batter per blin to make 8–9 cm rounds and cook for , until bubbles burst on top and the edges look dry, then flip and cook more. Cook in batches without crowding the pan, re-buttering each time, and keep the cooked blini wrapped in a clean tea towel.
Add in this stepButter 15 g
medium heat
Top each warm blin with a little sour cream and a fold of smoked salmon, scatter with dill and serve straight away with lemon wedges.
Add in this stepSour cream 100 gSmoked salmon slices 100 gDill, chopped 1½ tbspLemon, cut into wedges ½

Cook's tip

All-buckwheat batter crumbles easily, so the wheat flour holds it together. If the outside browns too fast, lower the heat slightly. Leftover blini freeze well; reheat them in a dry pan.

Cooking it at camp

Let the batter rise at home and carry it in the cooler just before the egg whites go in; fold in the whites and cook at the campsite. Keep the smoked salmon cold and bring it out only to serve.