Savoury pancakes

[Dept of PMM Artists & things]

 MAIZE TORTILLAS

275 g fine corn flour, preferably masa harina
or
200 g coarse corn flour and 100 g wheat flour
pinch of salt
about 300 ml water

Mix the salt and the flour(s) in a bowl. Start adding water, stirring and kneading the mixture to form a soft dough. The dough should not be too sticky, nor too dry or hard. Cover the dough with plastic wrap and let rest for about one hour.

Divide the dough into about 14 to 16 equal pieces and roll them into balls. Place one ball at a time between two sheets of sturdy plastic, eg a thick freezer bag cut open. Flatten the balls into thin tortillas, either by using a rolling pin or  —  more preferably  —  a tortilla press. Keep the dough balls covered with plastic while you work, as they will quickly dry out.

Heat a pan  —  preferably of cast iron  —  over medium heat. Do not add any oil or fat. Take one tortilla at a time, remove the top plastic sheet covering it (it should peel off easily, otherwise your dough is too soft and sticky), flip it onto your other hand, remove the other plastic sheet and place the tortilla in the hot pan. Cook the tortilla for about 30 to 60 seconds, or until brown spots appear on the bottom surface, then gently turn it over and cook the other side.

Place the hot tortillas between sheets of foil or inside a foil pouch and cover with a towel to keep them warm and soft.

Place the filling of your choice on the tortillas and roll them up or fold into burritos, etc. Reheat them in oven, if necessary.

Recipe source: adapted from "Tortillat", Helsingin Sanomat/Ruokatorstai, 1998, and www.pbs.org/P.O.V Interactive: "How To Make Your Own Corn Tortillas" by Patricia Mitchell, 2002.

 RUSSIAN BLINS
Bliny

750 ml whole milk
450 ml wheat flour
1 tbsp fresh yeast
1 tbsp melted butter
2 eggs
100 ml cream
½ tsp salt

serve with:

clarified butter
smetana
finely chopped onion
diced Russian-type gherkins
chopped hard-boiled eggs
roe of rainbow trout, salmon, whitefish, vendace, burbot etc, or caviar
gravlax or/and cold-smoked salmon in thin slices
herring in mustard, dill or sour cream sauce
smoked Baltic herring
smoked reindeer roast
(fresh chopped dill and lemon wedges)

Start with dissolving the yeast in the warm milk. Add the flour and the melted butter. Mix until smooth, cover and set to rise in a warm place for several hours or until the batter becomes bubbly. Add the egg yolks and salt and allow to rise for a few hours more.

Finally fold the hard-beaten egg whites and whipped cream into the batter. Immediately fry the pancakes in plenty of clarified butter on both sides either in a special blin-pan (see the picture below) or an ordinary small pan until dark golden brown. Serve hot with the toppings mentioned above.

Russian cast iron blin pans

When eating, first pour melted or clarified butter on the blin and cover it with different combinations of the ingredients mentioned above, or with whatever topping you may like. A classic combination is to use salmon or vendace roe, chopped onion and smetana or chopped hard-boiled eggs, chopped onion and smetana.

Note:
Blins or bliny (= plural in Russian) are usually served as appetizers before the main course. Bliny must be eaten piping hot straight from the pan. Bliny can never be made ahead: the rule is that blins never wait for diners but the diners wait for the blins. Reheating is the surest way to destroy the flavour and texture of blins :-)

Recipe source: "Linnit/Bliny", Sarje, I., ed. (1964) Hyvää ruokaa. Helsinki: Tammi.