Smoked Salmon Blintzes with Sour Cream and Chives

Blintzes are egg batter pancakes from the Jewish culinary tradition. These are done the traditional way, filled with lox (smoked salmon) and topped with sour cream. A wonderful holiday or Sunday brunch dish.

Recipe by Kathleen Taggart.

Recipe Ingredients:

Batter:
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, sifted
1 1/2 teaspoons coarse salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
4 large eggs
1 1/3 cups milk
1 cup water
3 tablespoons finely chopped chives

Filling:
1 (16-ounce) container dry curd cottage cheese
1 (16-ounce) container small curd cottage cheese
3 large egg yolks
1 lemon zest (about 1 1/2 teaspoons)
2 tablespoons finely chopped chives
1/2 pound Nova Scotia lox, sliced and finely diced
3 tablespoons butter
5 tablespoons corn oil - divided use
1 pint sour cream

Cooking Directions:

1. Resift the flour with the salt, baking powder, and pepper into a large bowl. In a separate bowl beat the eggs, and then add the milk, water and chives. Make a well in the sifted ingredients, pour in the liquid ingredients, and combine with a few strokes. Ignore the lumps, they will dissolve when you stir the batter before making the crêpes. Let the batter rest for 30 minutes at room temperature.
2. While the batter is resting make the filling. In the work bowl of a food processor combine the two types of cottage cheese, the egg yolks, lemon zest, and pepper. Process for one minute. Remove to a medium-sized bowl and gently stir in the lox and chives. Taste and adjust seasonings if necessary.
3. Using a 5 to 6-inch crêpe pan make the crêpes. Allow about 3 tablespoons of batter per crêpe. Have the pan well-heated before beginning. Using about 2 tablespoons of the oil, brush the pan
   with a little of the oil before adding batter each time. Cook each crêpe on one side until lightly browned, then turn and cook just a few seconds on the other side. Remove to waxed paper to cool. As the pancakes cool, stake between sheets of waxed paper.
4. Divide the filling among the crêpes, allowing about 1/4 cup per crêpe. Fold up envelope-style, by first folding the bottom to cover the filling, then folding over the two sides. Allow the seam to be on the bottom of the blintz. (The blintzes can be made to this point ahead of time and refrigerated or frozen.)
5. In a 10-inch skillet heat one tablespoon each of the butter and oil. Sauté the blintzes over medium heat, allowing them to brown nicely on both sides. Add more butter and oil to the pan as needed. Keep warm in a 200°F (95°C) oven while completing the batches.
6. When ready to serve, stir the sour cream until smooth and creamy. Place two blintzes in the center of the warmed plate, spoon sour cream over them and garnish with the chives.

Makes 24 blintzes.

Recipe and photograph courtesy of Kathleen Taggart.