Blintzes--guess that meal . . .

 Finally a cookbook from my favorite blog author--Deb Perelman of smittenkitchen.com.

I have to say my first look at the cookbook was disappointed in terms of main dishes.  There are a lot of things that I probably won't try.  On the other hand, maybe it will broaden my horizon a little.

This recipe falls under the category of Vegetarian Main Dishes.  But we couldn't decide if it was more appropriate for dinner, brunch, lunch . . . we did decide it was a bit heavy for breakfast.  

Blintzes are a bit like crepes, so the picture above is the filling.  It's a sweet potato and farmer's cheese filling with cinnamon and sugar, so it's not a really savory dish.

 The wrappers are cooked similarly to crepes but they are a bit more robust in texture.

I did enjoy the finished blintzes topped with raspberry jam and sour cream, but again felt a little like they weren't quite "dinner food".

Try them yourself and tell me what meal you think they work best as!

SWEET POTATO BLINTZES WITH FARMERS CHEESE from "The Smitten Kitchen Cookbook" by Deb Perelman.  Modified only slightly.

Wrappers:

1 1/2 milk, whole preferred but others fine

6 large eggs

1 1/2 c flour

1/2 tsp salt

Non-stick spray for the pan

Make wrapper batter by combining all ingredients in a blender.  Pour into a bowl, cover with plastic and refrigerate at least an hour or up to 2 days.

Filling:

3-4 medium sweet potatoes (really depending on size, sometimes it's hard to find a "medium sweet potato")

2 c farmer's cheese (available in specialty cheeses, probably could be substituted by queso fresco if you can't find it )

2 large egg yolks

1/4 c sugar

1/2 tsp cinnamon

dash of nutmeg (or a few fresh gratings if you have it fresh)

pinch of salt

Preheat oven to 400, bake sweet potatoes on a tray for about 40 minutes, until soft.  Peel and mash or rice them.  The recipe indicated to wait until they were cooled, but I did them when they were warm and it was fine.  Stir in farmers cheese, yolks, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt.

Cook the wrappers as you would crepes: preheat a medium skillet over medium-high heat, spray with nonstick spray, then pour 1/4 c batter into pan and swirl to coat the bottom of the pan.  Cook until the bottom of the wrapper is brown, about 2 min (less as your pan becomes heated), remove from heat (no need to flip, top will be set).  Remove from pan and stack on a paper-towel lined plate.

To fill: put about 1/4 c filling into wrapper, tuck sides in to touch each other, then roll carefully, keeping sides in, to make an egg-roll shaped packet.  Repeat with all wrappers.  Reheat your skillet, or, like me, a large electric fry pan and spray with nonstick spray, then cook all blintzes till browned on both sides and crisp.  If you need to do multiple batches, place the finished blintzes in a 200 degree oven.

If making the cranberry syrup, simmer all ingredients over medium heat until berries burst, about 7-10 minutes.  Reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer 5 minutes more, then strain out berries and discard.

Serve with syrup or jam and sour cream (or yogurt) on each blintz.

Possible topping--Cranberry syrup

2 c fresh or frozen cranberries

1/4 c orange juice

1/2 c sugar

 

or other toppings if you can't find cranberries, which I couldn't: raspberry jam (freezer jam was great), I have heard Smuckers all fruit is good and would work well on this or even a ligonberry syrup if you can find it.

Sour cream or plain yogurt