At the festival, cooks heat these brunch favorites in small nonstick electric frying pans and serve them with jam or sour cream. This recipe is adapted from one in the Shalom Y’all Cookbook from Congregation Mickve Israel in Savannah, Georgia. The original recipe used small-curd cottage cheese in the filling, but my tester felt that farmer’s cheese gave a smoother result. If you can’t find farmer’s cheese, you could substitute cottage cheese, but the filling may not have the same texture. You can easily double this recipe. And a touch of finely chopped fruit in the filling would be a nice variation.
FOR THE CREPES
3/4 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 tablespoons confectioners’ sugar
2 large eggs
2/3 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
FOR THE FILLING
8 ounces farmer’s cheese
4 ounces cream cheese or neufchatel cheese
1 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted
1 tablespoon sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
1/2-1 teaspoon salt (optional, depending on whether the farmer’s cheese is unsalted)
1 large egg
Vegetable oil
Jam and confectioners’ sugar
To make the crepes, sift the flour, salt, baking powder, and confectioners’ sugar together and place in a blender. Add the eggs, milk, vanilla, and 1/3 cup water and blend until lightly frothy. (Alternately, whisk the dry ingredients together in a medium bowl, then add the wet ingredients and beat well until smooth.) Cover and chill for at least 1 hour or up to overnight.
To cook, brush a 6-inch nonstick skillet lightly with vegetable oil or spray with nonstick cooking spray and place over medium heat. When the pan is hot, lift it from the heat and pour in 3 tablespoons of the batter. Tip the pan quickly to fully coat the bottom evenly. Return the pan to the heat. As soon as small bubbles appear and the edges of the crepe begin to brown, loosen the edges and slide a thin, flat spatula under the crepe. In one movement, flip it over. Brown the second side. When done, remove the crepe to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or wax paper and let cool.
Repeat with the remaining batter. Place parchment paper or wax paper between the crepes as you stack them.
To make the filling, combine the cheeses, butter, sugar, vanilla, and salt (if needed) in a medium bowl. In a small bowl, lightly beat the egg. Stir 2 tablespoons of the beaten egg into the cheese mixture. Beat 1/2 teaspoon water into the remaining egg.
Stir the cheese mixture until smooth. Press a layer of plastic wrap on the surface to prevent a skin from forming on top and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes or up to overnight.
To prepare the blintzes, place the chilled cheese mixture and crepes on a work surface. With the more browned side of a crepe facing up, imagine a horizontal line about 1/3 of the way down the crepe. Place a scant 2 tablespoons of the filling on that line and gently tap it into a log shape. (A small cookie scoop is good for this.) Tuck in the sides of the crepe and fold down the top flap to enclose the filling. Then gently roll to form the blintz. Dab a bit of the egg wash along the seam to seal. Place seam-side down on a plate covered with parchment or wax paper.
Repeat with the remaining filling and crepes. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 15 minutes.
To cook, place a 12-inch nonstick skillet on medium-high heat and add about 4 tablespoons of vegetable oil. When the oil shimmers, arrange 4–5 blintzes in the pan, seam-side down. Do not crowd the pan. When the blintzes are lightly golden, turn and cook the other sides until golden.
Serve immediately with jam or a dusting of confectioners’ sugar.
NOTE * Don’t overfill the crepes. If filling escapes during cooking, it will cause the oil to darken or smoke. If that happens, pour out the spoiled oil, wipe out the pan, and continue with fresh oil. Cooked and cooled blintzes can be frozen. Wrap them individually in wax paper and place in a reclosable plastic bag. Allow the blintzes to thaw overnight in the refrigerator, then reheat in a lightly oiled pan until crisp and warmed through.