The Soup Diva

Cheese Filling:

• 8 oz small-curd cottage or ricotta cheese, drained
• 8 oz farmer’s cheese or cream cheese, softened
• 1 egg
• 3 tbsp sugar
• 2 tbsp all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp vanilla
• Pinch of salt
• Zest of 1 lemon (optional, but adds a nice bright flavor)

Crepe Batter:

• 2 eggs
• 2 tbsp vegetable oil
• 1 cup milk (can also use cream, half-and-half, or egg nog)
• ¾ cup all-purpose flour
• ½ tsp salt
• About 2 tbsp butter or margarine (for coating skillet)

For Cooking:

Butter. Lots of butter.

Mix filling ingredients together until smooth; chill until firm. Beat eggs, oil, and milk together in batter bowl. Add flour and salt, beating until very smooth [should be consistency of heavy cream – if too thick, add a little more milk]. For each crepe, grease 8-inch medium-hot skillet with light coating of butter or margarine. Pour enough batter to coat bottom of skillet (about 1/3 cup), tilting pan quickly to spread evenly. Cook until edges are brown and crisp and top is no longer tacky. Remove from pan and repeat with remaining batter, stacking crepes on a plate (can use wax paper between to prevent sticking). Use immediately or refrigerate in zip-top bag until needed.

To assemble blintzes: with brown side of crepe down, spread 2-3 tbsp of filling along lower center of crepe in an oblong shape and wrap in egg roll or burrito fashion, folding “short” ends over filling then flipping lengthwise so filling is neatly tucked inside and blintz is flat on top and bottom. Saute in batches of 4-6 with 2 tbsp butter for each batch until desired brownness (could also bake at 350⁰ for 10-15 minutes if preferred). Serve immediately with desired topping (fruit, jam, honey, powdered sugar, or sour cream).

Adapted from New York City’s Stage Delicatessen, creator of the “original” cheese blintz recipe; also thanks to The Lakehouse Bed and Breakfast, Stanfordville, New York, Tyler Florence of The Food Network, and Cooks Country.

(Yes, we had these with bacon. Yes, I know that is incredibly wrong.)