Blinis with cream cheese and quail eggs

Today we welcome Raquel Carmona, whom you will not only know for her gastronomic blog Los Tragaldabas , but also for being co-author of the book La Mesa del Pecado, which has recently been awarded the "Best Innovative Cookbook" (Spain) award. Awarded by the Gourmand World Cookbook Awards 2014.

In her first entry on our blog, Raquel presents us with a very versatile and homey recipe: some blinis that you can present both with elaborate accessories in a special meal, or with some sweet treat for the little ones' snack.

Welcome, Rachel! And everyone, take advantage of these delicious blinis!

Blinis are pancakes of Russian origin made from wheat flour, milk and yeast, they can be eaten either fried or baked. It is one of the most typical recipes of Russian cuisine, also known in different countries although with different names, it is the equivalent of pancakes or crepes in our kitchen.

This type of preparation is very old, its round shape and golden color represents the Sun, for this reason it was one of the main dishes of pagan festivals. They were also given to women who had just given birth and served at weddings and funerals.

The blinis were present in their lives from the beginning to the end. The blinis serve as the basis for different preparations, both savory and sweet. The best-known recipe is to accompany them with crème fraîche, smoked salmon and caviar. Although it admits an infinite number of combinations, with different smoked fish such as herring, trout, sturgeon with jams, compotes, and even fruit fillings. As you can see, it is a recipe that we can use to present any appetizer or a delicious snack.

To make my blinis I have used the Mineral De Buyer pan that they have for this type of preparation, with a 12 cm diameter it is perfect so that they all come out exactly the same. It is the best option for cooking in a healthy way, made by hand with natural iron and without chemical products or coatings. De Buyer pans have a layer of natural beeswax that protects and helps the pan to have a non-stick surface naturally.

There are many recipes for blinis but I have opted for one that I knew could not fail and it is that of the great baker Richard Bertinet, known worldwide for his technique of kneading bread and for his numerous books. The accompaniment something different but delicious and if not you will tell me. Let's go with the recipe.

Ingredients:

150g of flour

150 ml of milk

2 eggs

15g of fresh yeast (half the yeast if it is dry)

100 g fresh cream or sour cream

1 teaspoon salt

Butter (for greasing)

150g of creamy type cheese

fresh dill

12 quail eggs

Sturgeon roe or spherifications

In the photo, olive wood chopping board from Bérard .

preparation of the recipe

Separate the whites from the yolks and reserve.

Heat the milk a little without letting it boil, once hot add the yeast and stir well until it is dissolved. Next we incorporate the fresh cream, the yolks, and beat.

In a bowl we put the flour and salt.

Slowly add the milk mixture to the flour, beat until all the ingredients are well integrated and a thick dough remains. Cover with a cloth and let stand at room temperature for about an hour so that it increases in volume. It is ready when we see that the surface is full of bubbles.

Whip the egg whites until stiff and incorporate them into our dough, mix with enveloping movements, let stand again for two hours.

Meanwhile, we prepare our filling for this we finely chop the fresh dill that we mix with the cream cheese (if we want to lighten the cheese a little we can add two teaspoons of fresh cream) we stir well to distribute the herb and reserve.

Put the quail eggs in a saucepan, cook in plenty of water for 4-5 minutes, remove, cool under the tap and remove the shell.

After the hours of rest we grease the pan with a little butter and begin to make our blinis. I particularly like them a little thick, depending on how you like them you have to put more or less dough so that they come out with the desired thickness. Once the dough is in the pan, you have to wait for bubbles to appear on the surface, once you see them it's time to turn around, leave it for a minute, approximately two and take it out. The fire should not be very high, cook them over medium heat.

Once our blinis are done, now it's time to put the accompaniment on them, with the help of two spoons we will spread the cheese with the dill, the quail egg broken in half and crowning the sturgeon roe or, as in my case, these olive oil pearls that they gave me and I thought this dish was perfect for using them.

The blinis are richer if once made they are consumed hot.