Monday, May 21, 2007

Blintzkrieg!



Yep, even "Mad Dog" MD loved blintzes.

Not one, but two kinds of blintz shells, one more typical for crepes, the other some blinchiki variant. Both good but they are two different tastes. We don't put fruit in our blintzes usually, preferring to pass fruit sauces on the side.

The Shells:

     4 eggs

     1 1/2 cups of flour

     1 1/2 cups of milk

     1/2 teaspoon salt

     2 tablespoons sugar

Beat the eggs and milk together. Then gradually sift in the flour,
salt and sugar. The mixture must be thin and so if it happens that it
comes out thick, add a bit more milk.

Melt margarine in a large frying pan and when hot, put about 3
tablespoons of the batter into the pan, tilting the frying pan to make
the blintz thin. Cook each crepe-pancake until it just begins to brown
and slide out of pan on to a waiting plate. Put the cooked side up to
receive the filling.

Sour Cream Batter

1 egg

1/4 milk

3/4 cup sour cream

1/8 tsp salt

1 cup sifted flour

butter for frying

Beat egg, milk & sour cream together with salt. Stir in the flour, mixing until smooth - no lumps. Next, heat some butter in a 7" skillet. Pour about 2 tblsp in to pan, tilting the pan to spread the batter evenly. Fry until brown and turn to brown other side. (makes about 16)

Pre-heat oven to 450.

Filling:

This should be prepared before the shell so that it may be added when
the shell is ready.

     2 packages of cream cheese of your liking

     2 egg yolks mixed well - or just say to heck with it and go with two whole eggs

     3 teaspoons of melted butter

     6 teaspoons of vanilla flavored sugar

     1 pinch salt

Mix filling ingredients together until they are smooth.

Place a heaping tablespoon of the filling on the edge of the
crepe-pancake. Fold over from the two sides to protect the filling
from leaking out and roll up like a jelly roll. Roll over to seal blintz; it should look like a flat
cigar.

At this point the blintzes may be fried to be served now, bake 450 in buttered baking dish for 10 min, or frozen for
later consumption. l

Monday, May 07, 2007

Smell Cookies

Tom's favorites!

Smell Cookies

2 1/2 c. flour
1 c sugar
1/2 tsp soda
1 c butter
1 slightly beaten egg
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 tsp almond extract

Preheat oven to 325 f.

Cream flour and sugar. Add egg, extracts and beat. Mix soda with flour and add to butter mixture. Incorporate the last part with hands.

Roll into 1" balls and place on ungreased baking sheet or parchment. Leave at least 1" between as cookies spread. Bake 15 - 18 minutes but do not let get brown. Cool on rack. Cookies remain chewy.

Carrot Cilantro Couscous Salad with Tahini Dressing

Moroccan Carrot Cilantro Couscous Salad with Tahini Dressing
1 cup prepared whole wheat couscous or 1 cup quinoa
1 cup grated carrots
1 cup drained canned garbanzo beans
Generous handful of chopped cilantro
Shredded romaine or spinach
(Slivered toasted almonds, optional)

Stir together couscous, carrots, beans and cilantro. Then heap on top of romaine lettuce or spinach leaves.

Tahini Dressing
1 tbsp. tahini
1 tbsp. water
Juice of 1/2 lemon
A dash of coriander or cumin
1 clove chopped garlic

Stir it all together. Pour over salad.