posted by Masha on Entrées

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Blintzes or crepes, known in Russian as “blini”, are not only a staple of Russian cuisine, they are also a universal vehicle for filings both sweet and savory – and everything in between. Blintzes stuffed with farmers cheese, with tart cherry, with meat, and even with salmon caviar are frequently eaten at celebrations, and even at home.

Growing up, blintzes stuffed with meat or chicken filling were one of my favorite entrées. I will acknowledge that the multi-step process and manual nature of crepe making can yield a time consuming activity. I had cooked another batch of my homemade chicken broth and had two very large cooked chicken breasts as a result. A pang of childhood nostalgia prompted me to convert them to the chicken stuffed blintzes that I loved as a child. (Note that this recipe will work just as well, or arguably even better, with boiled beef if you just made beef broth). I want to share a bit of that nostalgia with you here!

The crepe recipe is just as easily used with jam or nutella for an indulgent treat. I will also note that I have made these here with regular unbleached flour but I have made the same exact crepe recipe in the past with Trader Joe’s gluten free flour mix (which is rice and tapioca flour and potato starch based) and it has come out nothing short of wonderful.

Ingredients:

Crepes:
2 large eggs
2 cups of milk (I use 2%, but feel free to use whole)
1-2 tbsp sugar (depending how sweet you want them)
~1/2 tsp salt
6-8+ tbsp flour
1-2 tbsp olive oil (not evoo, can use melted butter if you would like)

Filling:
2 large boiled/baked chicken breasts
A cup or so of chicken broth (to moisten filling)
1.5 medium onions
Salt and pepper
Olive oil for sautéing

Crepe directions:

Whisk together milk, eggs, oil, sugar, and salt. Add ~6 tbsp of flour and whisk in until incorporated. This is a bit of an eye-ball and trial-and-error step; you will likely need to add a few more spoons to the batter. It should be liquidy but have a bit of viscosity so it lightly coats back of a spoon. Refrigerate for at least 15 minutes.

Heat a non-stick small to medium skillet to medium high heat. (Note that if you are just starting out a small skillet will make flipping easier and your crepes are less likely to rip). Brush the skillet with a tiny bit of oil using a brush or paper towel – the skillet will oil itself after your first crepe.

Hold the skillet in your left hand and ladel in a bit less than 1/3 of a soup ladel. As you ladel you need to swirl the pan to evenly distribute the batter in a thin layer on the pan. Keep swirling until it’s fully distributed – ideally it will be almost translucent. You made need to reduce the amount of batter. This is one of the most challenging parts – it might take a few tries to get the hang of it – don’t give up! If the batter wasn’t sticking you have one of two problems: either the skillet isn’t hot enough, or you don’t have enough flour in your batter. Experiment a bit, it’s not a science, it’s an art.

Reduce heat to medium heat. Keep the skillet on the heat until you see the edges drying a bit and getting golden, about a minute or so.

The next tricky part is flipping the crepe. I like to loosen the edge with a chopstick or wooden spatula, then very carefully grab the edges on one side with my fingers, peel the blintz slowly ~1/4 of the way, then in a swift motion pull all of it off and flip it quickly. It may rip, or land crumpled – again practice helps. If you can’t peel it 1/4 without ripping it may not be ready to flip, or you may need to add flour.

It only needs to cook on the other side for a few seconds. Then you can jiggle the skillet and the crepe should slide off the pan onto a plate.

Again, don’t be discouraged if your first few aren’t perfect – there is even a Russian saying for this: “первый блин комом” or “the first crepe rips/is ruined”.

Repeat the process until you use up the batter. Once done cover with plastic wrap so they don’t dry out.

Chicken filling:
Pulse cooked chicken in a food processor until you have a mealy consistency.

Chop onion and sauté on medium heat until golden.

Mix chicken, sauteed onions, salt and pepper (to taste) together and add 1/2 to 1 cup of broth to moisten.

Filling the blintz:

To each blintz add 1-2 heaping tbsp of filing. See the images below for a guide on shaping:

To serve: warm on medium heat on a skillet before serving (or in the microwave in a pinch).

Good luck on you blintz adventures!

Tags: blini, blintz, chicken, crepe, entrée, Russian