Cheese Blintzes with Cherry Sauce

Cheese blintzes are one of my favorite holiday delicacies.  I make these, using my mother's recipe, each year for the Yom Kippur break fast and this year was no exception.   A few small changes to the recipe this year yielded excellent results. Here's the original recipe, with my changes listed below:

Cheese Blintzes, by Ruth Apter

INGREDIENTS
For the Batter:

• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup sifted flour
• 3/4 cup water
• 1 tbs melted butter
• pinch of salt

For the filling:

• 1 lb. cottage cheese or cream cheese. I use a mixture of both.
• 1 egg yolk
• 1 tbs sugar
• dash of salt
• dash of cinnamon or a few drops of vanilla. I use vanilla

INSTRUCTIONS
Make the crepes and let cool.

• Make a thin batter of beaten, eggs, flour added alternately with the liquid while beating with a fork
• Work in the butter and salt until smooth
• Heat butter in a small (7"- 8") skillet
• Drop about two tablespoons of batter into the pan and turn to cover the bottom  
• Once set, flip crepe over and finish cooking
• Turn out onto a rack or wax paper to cool

Make the filling and assemble the crepes:

• Mix filling with a fork to a spreadable consistency
• Drop 1-2 tablespoons on crepe
• Roll up each blintz, tucking in the ends
• Fry them in butter until nicely browned on both sides
• Serve with sour cream and stewed fruit (I use pie filling)

This year, I made the following tweaks, and was thrilled with the finished product:

1. I made a double recipe of the batter (I usually get 8 crepes out of a single recipe, so this resulted in 16 plus a small one for "testing")
2. I pulsed one pound of Friendship 1% small curd cottage cheese, briefly strained to remove any excess moisture, in the food processor until smooth
3. I added 8 ounces of softened cream cheese to the cottage cheese and pulsed to fully incorporate it
4. I added a homemade cherry sauce (recipe below)
5. I never fry the blitzes once they are assembled. Instead, I place them seam side down in a casserole dish and bake them at 350 until they are warmed through.

Cherry Sauce (taken from Taste of Home)

INGREDIENTS

• 1 pound fresh or frozen pitted sweet cherries ( I had frozen on hand so I used them)
• 2/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon water, divided
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch

INSTRUCTIONS

• In a large saucepan, bring cherries, 2/3 cup water and sugar to a boil over medium heat
• Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 5 minutes or until heated through
• Combine cornstarch and remaining water until smooth; stir into cherry mixture
• Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened

These really are far too good to eat only once a year.  They would make the perfect brunch addition, or can even serve as a dessert.  Or, make the crepes and fill them with Nutella for a decadent treat.

Skillet Apple Charlotte

In honor of Jacques Pepin being named the first  recipient of the Julia Child Award on Thursday, and because I had some apples from my recent CSA delivery, I decided to make one of my favorite easy dessert recipes - Skillet Apple Charlotte - tonight.  It's foolproof and fabulous, so I thought I would share the recipe here. When I first started baking, I only made things that did not require me to make a dough.  I made a lot of bread pudding, and pie with pre-made or graham cracker crust.  This recipe, which uses regular sandwich bread as the "crust" would have been a perfect addition to my repertoire if I had known about it then. I often make the apples ahead and then quickly re-warm them, adding the bread and baking just before we are ready to eat dessert.

Here's the recipe, taken from Food and Wine magazine.

INGREDIENTS
3 Granny Smith apples (about 1 1/2 pounds)—peeled, cored and cut into sixths
2 tablespoons pure maple syrup
1 tablespoon honey
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
4 slices of white sandwich bread, crusts removed
1 teaspoon sugar
3 tablespoons apricot preserves
Sour cream for serving

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat the oven to 400°. In a 7- or 8-inch ovenproof nonstick skillet, arrange the apples snugly, cored side up. Add the maple syrup, honey and 2 tablespoons of the butter and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat to low, cover and cook, gently shaking the pan occasionally, until the apples are tender, 5 minutes. Uncover and cook over high heat, shaking the pan a few times, until the liquid is evaporated and the apples are caramelized, 7 minutes.
2. Arrange the bread slices in a square on a work surface. Trim the corners of the slices to form a round the size of the skillet. Spread the bread with the remaining 1 tablespoon of butter and sprinkle with the sugar. Arrange the bread over the apples, sugared side up. Bake for 20 minutes, until the bread is toasted. Invert the charlotte onto a plate.
3. In a heatproof bowl, melt the apricot preserves in a microwave oven for 30 seconds. Spread the preserves over the apples. Cut into wedges and serve warm with a dollop of sour cream.

Note:  This is great the next morning with coffee.  Just re-warm, and then add the sour cream when serving.

Pastitsio

I searched high and low for a pastitsio recipe that appealed to me and finally stumbled on this recipe from Ina Garten. It was delicious, but I did make the following modifications:

• I could not find ground lamb the day that I made this, so I used all beef.  It was wonderful but I will try this again with beef and lamb the next time that I make it for the sake of comparison.
• I did not add the beef mixture to the bechamel.  I wanted to keep the bechamel just as it is.
• I did not add Greek yogurt to the bechamel.  I make bechamel frequently for other recipes and I did not think that Greek yogurt would improve this in any way.

I made the meat sauce the night before so that the following morning, I only had to boil the noodles, make the bechamel, and assemble and bake the pastitsio.  The next time I make this, I will increase the bechamel recipe.  I like a nice, high layer on the top of the pastitsio, and this was too thin of a layer for me.  This reheats beautifully so you can make it ahead to take to someone's house or to serve later.

INGREDIENTS
For the Tomato Meat Sauce:
3 tablespoons good olive oil
1 1/2 cups chopped yellow onion (1 large)
1 pound lean ground beef
1 pound lean ground lamb
1/2 cup dry red wine
1 tablespoon minced garlic (3 large cloves)
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves
Pinch of cayenne pepper
1 can (28 ounces) crushed tomatoes in puree
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

For the Bechamel:
1 1/2 cups whole milk
1 cup heavy cream
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 1/2 cups freshly grated Parmesan or Kasseri cheese
2 extra-large eggs, beaten
2/3 cup Greek-style yogurt, such as Fage Total
3/4 pound small shells

DIRECTIONS

1. For the sauce, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat in a large pot. Add the onion and saute for 5 minutes. Add the beef and lamb, and saute over medium heat for 8 to 10 minutes, until it's no longer pink, crumbling it with the back of wooden spoon. Drain off any excess liquid, add the wine, and cook for 2 more minutes. Add the garlic, cinnamon, oregano, thyme, and cayenne, and continue cooking over medium heat for 5 minutes. Add the tomatoes, 2 teaspoons salt, and 1 teaspoon pepper and simmer, stirring occasionally, for 40 to 45 minutes. Set aside.
2. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
3. For the bechamel, heat the milk and cream together in a small saucepan over medium-low heat until simmering. In a medium saucepan, melt the butter. Add the flour and cook over medium heat, whisking constantly for 2 minutes. Pour the warm milk and cream mixture into the butter and flour mixture, whisking constantly. Continue cooking, stirring occasionally, over medium heat for 5 to 7 minutes, until smooth and thick. Add the nutmeg, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1 teaspoon of pepper. Stir in 3/4 cup of Parmesan cheese, 1/2 cup of the tomato and meat sauce, and allow to cool for 10 minutes. Stir in the eggs and yogurt and set aside.
4. Meanwhile, cook the pasta in a large pot of boiling water until al dente. Don't over-cook because the pasta will later be baked. Drain and set aside.
5. Add the pasta to the meat and tomato sauce, and pour the mixture into a baking dish. Spread the bechamel evenly to cover the pasta and sprinkle with the remaining 3/4 cup Parmesan cheese. Bake for 1 hour, until golden brown and bubbly. Set aside for 10 minutes and serve hot.