Corn Blinis Filled With Brandade Recipes

SWEET CORN BLINI

Steps:

• Put flour, cornmeal, baking powder, salt and sugar in a mixing bowl. Grind 1 cup corn kernels to a rough purée in a food processor, then add egg and yogurt, and pulse to mix. Add corn mixture to flour mixture and stir together until just mixed to make a thick batter. Stir in 4 tablespoons melted butter. Set aside for 5 minutes. Thin with a little milk if necessary. (Batter may be prepared several hours ahead.)
• Warm remaining 4 tablespoons butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Add remaining 1 cup corn kernels. Season with salt and pepper, then cook for 1 minute or so to heat through. Keep warm.
• Put greased griddle or cast-iron pan over medium heat. Using 1 tablespoon batter, make pancakes about 2 1/2 inches in diameter. Cook for 1 minute, until bubbles appear on surface and pancakes are lightly browned. Flip and cook for 30 seconds more. (Be sure to keep heat moderate or else the pancakes will blacken.) Pancakes may be cooked in advance and reheated.
• To serve, place 3 hot pancakes on small plate. Top with spoonful of cooked corn and some of the butter from the pan. Drizzle with crème fraîche and sprinkle with chives.

RUSTIC CORN BLINI WITH HAM SALAD

Steps:

• Whisk together the flour, baking powder, sugar and 1 teaspoon salt in a medium bowl. Pulse the corn in a blender until almost smooth, leaving some visible kernels, then add the milk and puree until smooth. Transfer the corn mixture to a bowl and whisk in the butter and egg. Pour the egg mixture into the flour mixture and stir until well blended. Let the batter rest for 30 minutes.
• While the batter rests, pulse the ham in a food processor until finely chopped. Transfer the ham to a bowl and add the mayonnaise, onions, lemon juice, paprika, celery and 1/2 teaspoon each salt and pepper.
• Heat a griddle or heavy nonstick skillet over medium heat until hot, then lightly coat with nonstick cooking spray. Working in batches, pour 1 teaspoon batter per pancake onto the griddle and cook until bubbles appear on the surface and the undersides are golden, 1 to 2 minutes. Flip the pancakes with a spatula and cook until the undersides are golden brown, about 1 minute more. (Reduce the heat if the pancakes brown too quickly.) Lightly coat the griddle with cooking spray between batches, if necessary.
• To serve, top the warm pancakes with 1 teaspoon ham salad and garnish with a parsley or celery leaf.

BRANDADE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 450 degrees F (230 degrees C). Lightly grease a baking dish and set dish on a baking sheet.
• Rinse salt cod under cold water, transfer to a sealable container and cover with several inches of cold water. Soak cod in the refrigerator, changing the water every few hours, for 24 to 36 hours. Remove cod from water and cut into evenly-sized pieces.
• Stir cod, milk, thyme, bay leaves, and cayenne pepper together in a pot over medium-high heat. Cook until fish begins to flake; 7 to 15 minutes. Remove from heat and strain; reserve cooking liquid and transfer fish to a bowl.
• Place potatoes and garlic in a large pot and cover with water; bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer until tender, about 20 minutes. Drain.
• Mash cod, a few splashes reserved cooking liquid, and lemon zest together in a bowl. Pour in remaining reserved cooking liquid and potatoes; mash until desired consistency is reached. Stir in 1/2 of the olive oil, lemon juice, and black pepper until smooth. Add remaining olive oil and blend until smooth. Season with salt. Pour mixture into prepared baking dish. Spread creme fraiche over the top and score the top with a spoon to create a crisscross surface.
• Bake in the preheated oven until browned and bubbling, about 20 minutes

CORN BLINI WITH SMOKED SALMON AND CHIVE CREAM

Steps:

• Combine sour cream and chives in a small bowl. Cover and chill.
• Cut kernels from ear of corn. Scrape remaining pulp from cob using the dull side of a knife blade. Discard cob. Set corn aside.
• Lightly spoon flour into a dry measuring cup; level with a knife. Combine flour and cornmeal in a medium bowl; make a well in the center of the mixture. Combine milk and egg yolk in a small bowl, stir well with whisk. Add milk mixture to flour mixture, and stir with a whisk until just moist. Stir in corn, salt, and pepper.
• Place egg white in a bowl, beat with a mixer at high speed until foamy. Gently fold egg white mixture into corn mixture.
• Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Spoon 1 tbls. batter per blini onto pan, spreading to about 2" diameter. Cook 2 minutes or until tops are covered with bubbles and edges begin to set. Carefully turn blinis over, cook for 1 more mintue. Transfer blinis to a serving platter, and arrange in a single layer; keep warm. Repeat process with the remaining batter. Top each blini with with 1 piece salmon and 1 teaspoons sour cream mixture. Garnish with chopped chives, if using.
• Makes 8 servings.

FRESH CORN AND RED-PEPPER BLINI

Steps:

• Combine the yeast with the lukewarm water and sugar in a small bowl.
• Bring the cream to a boil in a small saucepan. Add to the cornmeal and whisk until smooth. Place over ice and continue beating until lukewarm. Combine the yeast mixture with the cornmeal and leave the batter to ferment in a warm, draft-free area for two hours. (The mixture may be refrigerated overnight at this point.)
• When ready to serve, beat the eggs until light. Sift together the flour, salt and baking powder, and stir into the eggs. Add the sour cream and mix until smooth. Combine with the cornmeal mixture (if the batter has been refrigerated and is stiff, place it over simmering water and stir until soft) and beat hard for two minutes. Mix in the corn and red pepper.
• Heat the griddle or skillet until hot. Grease with a small amount of clarified butter. Ladle tablespoons of batter onto the griddle. Cook for one minute on the first side until lightly colored, flip and continue cooking for another 30 seconds.
• To serve, place three pancakes on a warmed plate with a dollop of creme fraiche and a half-teaspoon each of Sevruga and salmon caviar per person. Or place one or two slices of Norwegian or Scotch salmon, along with a dollop of creme fraiche, on each pile of blini.

BLINIS

Steps:

• Whisk milk, 1 cup plus 3 tablespoons flour, eggs, and sugar together in a bowl. Add 1/4 cup melted butter; whisk well. Let batter sit, 15 to 20 minutes.
• Bring a pot of water to a boil. Add beef; cook until no longer pink, 5 to 7 minutes. Drain. Chop the boiled beef finely until even in texture.
• Heat 2 tablespoons butter in a skillet over medium-low heat. Add onion and cook, while stirring, until soft and golden, about 10 minutes. Increase heat to medium and add the chopped beef, salt, and pepper. Cook and stir filling until flavors combine, about 10 minutes.
• Heat oil in a nonstick or cast-iron skillet over medium heat. Pour 3 to 4 tablespoons of batter into the skillet and quickly rotate the skillet to spread batter out in a thin layer. Cook until edges are brown, 1 to 2 minutes. Run a spatula around the edge of the skillet to loosen blini; flip and cook until the other side has turned light brown, about 1 minute more. Repeat with remaining batter.
• Spread 2 tablespoons beef filling on 1 side of each blini. Fold edges over filling and roll blini up. Repeat with remaining filling and blini.

CORNMEAL BLINI WITH TOMATO-CORN SALSA

Steps:

• For Blini:
• Heat milk and water to lukewarm (105°F. to 115°F.) in small saucepan. Pour into large bowl. Mix in sugar and yeast. Let stand 10 minutes.
• Stir flour, cornmeal and salt in medium bowl to blend. Stir into yeast mixture. Mix in buttermilk and egg yolks. Cover with plastic and let stand in warm area until very spongy, about 2 hours.
• Using electric mixer, beat egg whites in another medium bowl until stiff but not dry. Gently fold into cornmeal mixture in 2 additions.
• Preheat oven to 250°F. Brush large nonstick skillet with 1 teaspoon oil. Heat over medium-high heat. Working in batches and brushing with additional oil as necessary, drop batter by tablespoonfuls into skillet, spreading gently to 2-inch rounds. Cook until golden on bottoms and bubbles begin to break on surface, about 2 minutes. Using spatula, turn blini over; cook until golden, about 1 minutes. Arrange in single layer on large baking sheets. Keep warm in oven.
• For Salsa
• Mix all ingredients except yogurt in medium bowl to blend. Season with salt and pepper. (Blini and salsa can be made 8 hours ahead. Cool blini. Cover blini and salsa separately and chill. Reheat blini uncovered in 350°F. oven about 10 minutes before serving.)
• Spread small amount of yogurt over blini. Divide salsa over blini. Arrange on platters and serve warm.