I bought myself a couple of cookbooks for Mother’s Day. They have recently come in the mail, and I have perusing them for new ideas. Last night I started reading a french cookbook called, My Little French Kitchen, by Rachel Koo. Rachel is a Brit in France. She went to cooking school in Paris and is a pastry chef, and she has written a few cookbooks. She has traveled and eaten her way all over the diverse countryside to test out fabulous French cuisine in her tiny flat in Paris. I live vicariously through her. Lots of the recipes and ingredients are foreign to Americans, but not impossible to find or make. I came at this cookbook with the idea of, “Hey, I want to try to adapt this to ‘My Relatively Small American kitchen.'” Does that sound like a cookbook title?
Blinis. Really just a synonym for pancake. I recently bought a bunch of kale at the farmer’s market. I read this recipe with an open mind and thought it would be awesome if I interchanged the chard with the kale. Then I got to the end when she said we could substitute chard for spinach or kale. I felt that my instincts were validated as a home cook. My girls actually helped me with this recipe. They all tried the kale blinis. Rebecca and Katie had 2 bites and decided they were done. Lizzie ate 2 whole pancakes. Even Brutus the dog got a taste when Katie “accidently” dropped the rest of hers on the floor. He wanted more.
I LOVED them. LOVED. If you love your greens, pancakes, and sour cream or creme fraiche, then you will love these as well. Give them a try. Pretend you are in Provence sipping Rose and scarfing these down as an amuse bouche.
The original recipe is called “Farcous aux blettes et citron confit” or Chard and preserved Lemon Blinis. I am changing the title to “Le chou frisee aux blettes et citron” or Kale and Lemon Blinis. The ingredients in the book are in metric, but I did the conversions for you. You’re welcome. =)
Ingredients
1 cup white flour
1 tsp baking powder
a pinch of salt
1 shallot, peeled and finely chopped
1 clove of garlic, peeled and finely minced
1 lemon- juice and 1/2 of rind grated
6 curly kale leaves, finely chopped (or 3 chard leaves or about a cup of spinach leaves)
1 cup milk
2 eggs, beaten
optional; 4 tablespoons of creme fraiche, or sour cream- I used a combo of sour cream and marscapone- don’t tell the French
Directions
Mix together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Add the shallot, garlic, lemon, and chard. Mix together, and then stir in the milk and eggs.
Heat the butter in a large non-stick pan over medium heat. I used my trusty cast iron skillet.
When the butter melts, use a spoon or small ladle to drop some batter into the pan and quickly flatten it down. Fry it in batches so as not to overcrowd the pan. Fry on each side about 3-4 minutes until golden brown. Serve warm with your creme fresh or sour creme/marscapone combo. They can also be enjoyed cold. Especially by the light of the fridge when your tummy won’t quit rumbling at 1:30 am…
Batter
Frying in Butter
Perfect Brown
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