I love a bit of smoked salmon every now and again, and this week, Dorie aided and abetted my hankering with our French Fridays with Dorie recipe - Buckwheat Blinis with Smoked Salmon and Creme Fraiche.
Dorie's blinis, which are like little pancakes, are made with buckwheat, because Dorie says it gives them a nutty flavour. However, buckwheat is rather hard to find here - it is a specialty shop item which costs a pretty penny. Now that I am possessed of buckwheat flour, I will have to find other ways to use it, as it is right up there in price with chestnut flour.
Interestingly, Dorie's blinis are quite large - when you go to a drinks function here, the blinis served are teeny tiny teaspoon sized objects, whereas Dorie's are around the same size as your average pikelet.
The blinis are relatively easy to make, and I thought they tasted good without any topping at all.
However, the recipe was for blinis with smoked salmon and creme fraiche, so I continued on:
I rarely buy creme fraiche, it being a relatively exotic item that I first learned about through Jamie Oliver in his jubbly wubbly days (way back in 2001, I was besotted with his lifestyle as portrayed through his TV shows, and was so excited when I got a job in London the next year).
Although I adore smoked salmon, I knew I couldn't eat all of the blinis alone, and I wasn't going to splurge on lots of smoked salmon for my work colleagues, so I made up the remainder of the blinis with halved cherry tomatoes and creme fraiche:
These were pretty good too, although not as decadent as the smoked salmon version.
I enjoyed this week's FFwD - I have never made blinis before, and they are really quite delicious.
To check out what everyone else thought of the buckwheat blinis, visit the LYL section of the FFwD website.
Glad you enjoyed.
ReplyDeleteThese were pretty good (I wasn't sure how I would feel about the smoked salmon, but I liked it)
These freeze pretty well, by the way, and heat up pretty nicely (and go well with blueberries)
Have a great weekend!
I'm a big Jamie Oliver fan too. I've heard a rumor that he is opening a restaurant in Neutral Bay in Sydney. Not sure if it's true; it could after all be just that, a rumor.
ReplyDeleteI've had buckwheat crepes and haven't quite been able to get use to the flavor but maybe it's because I always get the usual crepes. I'll have to try Dorie's recipe for these. I love that cookbook, don't you?
ReplyDeleteI love blinis! They're so different from regular pikelets or pancakes aren't they! :)
ReplyDeleteI actually just assumed that there was a typo in Dorie's book because I too have always encountered blini as little bite-sized nibbles. But maybe it's me who has this wrong, maybe I need to take a trip to Russia to find out.
ReplyDeleteHave you ever made french crepes before? The traditional recipe calls for buckwheat flour and would be a tasty way to use up your pricy purchase.
I've always wanted to try buckwheat!
ReplyDeleteWhat a great idea to put tomatoes on them. Looks delicious!
ReplyDeleteYour colleagues must have thanked their lucky stars that they work with you because they get to eat fabulous stuff like your blini! We enjoyed these too, they were a big hit at home.
ReplyDeleteLovely option for the rest of your blini. My hubby ate our leftovers with syrup...I was kind of surprised he didn't think these were too exotic....LOL
ReplyDeleteYour co-workers are a lucky bunch! I'm glad you enjoyed these blini. I tried making them in all the different sizes, from the two tablespoon ones up to larger "meal" sized ones.
ReplyDeleteI've always thought blinis were small...they look great larger though and probably much more filling. I didn't get to make these this week, but am going to try them as I have never worked with buckwheat flour before. I'm glad you enjoyed them!
ReplyDeleteI love that this group is having me try so many new things! We loved this at our house!
ReplyDeleteI agree with you that as a appetizer the blini would be pretty and practical being smaller. Nice idea to top with tomatoes...gets me thinking about other veges that would be nice.
ReplyDeleteI think the topping possibilities are limitless. The tomatoes are a good idea. I'm hoping to try something to use up the buckwheat flour this weekend.
ReplyDeleteYears ago I made blini from Martha Stewart and they were much smaller. I really enjoyed the size of these as a brunch food. Your blini look delicious! I served my second batch the next day with pears sauteed in butter and brown sugar...Yum!
ReplyDeleteThose look fantastic, both the salmon ones and the tomato ones! I have made blinis before, but never with buckwheat flour, I guess I need to give these a try and figure out what else to do with buckwheat flour as well! Nice job.
ReplyDeleteNice job. The tomato version looks good, too. And I learned a new word - pikelet.
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