Potato Blinis Lithuanian Recipes

POTATO BLINIS - LITHUANIAN.

Steps:

• Grate the potatoes on the star pattern of your grater, so it comes out looking like a sort of paste.
• Stir in the salt, then start making a well in the mix with a large spoon, removing as much water as possible.
• When you are fed up with this procedure, mix in the egg. At this stage you may want to add a spoonful of flour (plain) or cornflour, but try to resist as it alters the taste of the blini. A spoon of potato flour or starch would be better, but nothing at all is really necessary.
• Add oil and butter to a hot pan, put spoonsful of mixture - 1 spoon per blini - and cook until golden, turn and cook the other side until golden. Place on a platter, covered, in a warm oven to keep warm until the rest of the mixture is cooked.
• My mother-in-law has always served these with several side dishes of quartered tomatoes, sliced lengthwise cucumbers both fresh and pickled (Polski Ogorki), sour cream, caviar, as either an entree or a main, depending upon how many pounds of potatoes used and how keen you are.

POTATO BLINI WITH CAVIAR

Steps:

• Heat oven to 200 degrees F.
• Stir together mashed potatoes, 1 teaspoon horseradish and flour; set aside.
• Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Make blini by dropping 1 tablespoonful of potato mixture into pan. Cook 2 to 4 minutes per side or until golden brown. Remove to a paper towel lined plate to drain. Keep warm in the oven. Repeat with remaining potato mixture.
• In a small bowl, stir together sour cream, remaining horseradish, and dill.
• Serve blini by topping each with 1 1/2 teaspoons sour cream mixture. Garnish with caviar.

POTATO BLINIS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 425°F. Prick potatoes all over with a fork and bake on a rimmed baking sheet until very tender and a knife slides easily through flesh, 60-70 minutes. Let cool slightly. Reduce oven temperature to 200°F.
• Meanwhile, whisk egg yolks, egg, and sour cream in a medium bowl to combine; set sour cream mixture aside.
• Cut potatoes in half lengthwise and scoop flesh from skins; discard skins. Pass flesh through food mill or ricer fitted with the small-hole disk into a large bowl. Working quickly, sprinkle flour, salt, pepper, baking soda, and nutmeg over potatoes; toss lightly with a fork to distribute ingredients, fluff potatoes, and break up any clumps. Make a well in the center and pour in reserved sour cream mixture. Whisk in a circular motion, working from the center out to incorporate, just until smooth (it should look like a thick pancake batter). Cover; let sit 10 minutes.
• Heat a large skillet, preferably nonstick or cast iron, over medium-low. Brush skillet with a thin layer of butter. Spoon scant tablespoonfuls of batter into skillet, spacing about 1" apart. Cook blinis until undersides are golden brown and surfaces look matte and bubbles form on top, about 90 seconds. Gently flip and cook until other sides are golden brown, about 1 minute. Transfer to a wire rack set inside a rimmed baking sheet and keep warm until ready to serve (up to 1 hour before). Repeat with remaining batter, wiping out skillet between batches and brushing with more butter.

LITHUANIAN POTATO DISH

Steps:

• In a large skillet, cook bacon and onion; drain. Add butter and stir until melted. Remove from the heat. In a large bowl, whisk the flour, salt, pepper, eggs, evaporated milk and milk until smooth. Stir in the potatoes and bacon mixture., Transfer to a greased 11x7-in. baking dish. Bake, uncovered at 350° for 60-65 minutes or until golden. Serve with sour cream if desired.

LITHUANIAN KUGELIS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• Place bacon in a Dutch oven set over medium heat, cover, and cook until the bacon has softened and begun to release it's grease. Stir in the onion and cook until softened and translucent. Remove the cover, and continue cooking and stirring until the mixture caramelizes and turns a deep, golden brown. Remove from heat and stir in butter to melt.
• Stir shredded potatoes into the onion mixture, then stir in the evaporated milk and eggs until well combined. Pour into a 9x13-inch glass baking dish.
• Bake in preheated oven for 1 hour, or until golden on top. Remove and let stand for 10 minutes before slicing into 3x3-inch squares. Serve hot.

YUKON GOLD POTATO BLINI

Steps:

• Place the potatoes in a saucepan with cold water to cover by at least 2 inches. Bring to a boil over high heat, reduce the heat, and simmer until the potatoes are thoroughly cooked and tender.
• Peel the warm potatoes and press them through a tamis. Immediately weigh out 9 ounces of puréed potatoes and place them in a medium metal bowl. Working quickly, whisk the flour into the warm potatoes, then whisk in 2 tablespoons crème fraîche. Add 1 egg, whisking until the batter is smooth, add the second egg, and then add the yolk.
• Hold the whisk with some of the batter over the bowl. The batter should fall in a thick stream but hold its shape when it hits the batter in the bowl. If it is too thick, add a little more crème fraîche. Season to taste with salt and white pepper.
• Heat an electric griddle to 350°F. Note, if you do not have a griddle, heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-low heat. Spoon between 1 and 1 1/2 teaspoons of batter onto the griddle or skillet for each pancake. Cook until the bottoms are browned, 1 to 2 minutes. Then flip them to cook the second side, about 1 minute. The blini should be evenly browned with a small ring of white around the edges. Transfer the blini to a small baking sheet and keep warm while you make the remaining blini, wiping the skillet with a paper towel between batches. Serve the blini as soon as possible.

CEPELINAI (MEAT & POTATO DUMPLINGS)

Steps:

• Cook the onion and garlic with 1 tsp oil in a frying pan over a medium heat, stirring occasionally, until softened. Remove half the mixture from the pan and put in a large bowl to cool. When cool, add the mince and egg, season well and mix together. Remove the rest of the onions and garlic from the pan and put in another bowl.
• Heat the remaining ½ tsp oil in a frying pan over a medium-low heat and fry the pancetta for a couple of minutes until the fat starts to melt. Tip in the reserved onions and garlic and cook for 8-10 mins until golden. Set aside.
• Take a third of the potatoes, chop each into four and put in a large pan of cold salted water. Bring to the boil and simmer for 15 mins until cooked. Drain in a colander, then leave to steam-dry for 5 mins. Crush the potatoes as smooth as you can with a masher or use a potato ricer.
• Finely grate the remaining raw potatoes using a food processor. Squeeze the grated potatoes through a muslin or tea towel over a bowl to squeeze out as much liquid as possible. Set the bowl of liquid aside and after 5-10 mins it will separate with the potato starch at the bottom of the bowl. Carefully drain off the water, then scrape the starch back into the bowl of raw potatoes. Stir in the citric acid or lemon juice - this will prevent the cepelinai becoming very dark. Add the cooked mashed potato to the raw, add the 2 tbsp potato starch or cornflour, season well and mix to combine.
• Bring a large pan of salted water to the boil. Season the potato mixture and shape into palm-sized 2cm thin cakes. Add the mince mixture and roll between your palms into large egg shapes, packing the potato around the mince tightly - it helps to wet your hands for this. Add them to the simmering water one at a time and cook for 20-25 mins - when they float to the surface they are done.
• To serve, warm up the pancetta mix. Put two cepelinai on each plate, add a dollop of soured cream and top with the pancetta mix and dill.