Ah! Blinis and caviar: another life, another time!
Early one brisk late summer Saturday morning a couple of weeks ago, I was at the City Market downtown and spotted “Salmon Roe” on the fresh seafood board at Ocean Odyssey’s booth. I adore salmon roe and haven’t had any since our wedding! It was definitely time.
I met Vanja on a cold February evening in 1998. It was his wonderful sense of humour that drew me to him right away. We have been pretty much inseparable ever since. Inspecting the construction of our home one evening, somewhere in the kitchen area where the island now is, I seem to recall a proposal of marriage. I stepped out to the doorway to catch my breath. Within days we were planning the wedding.
We took possession of our home September 12, 2002 and were married in the dining room on October 17 of that year. (We chose that date to honour his parents as they could not be with us. That is their wedding anniversary.) My parents and two daughters attended with both of Vanja’s parents on the telephone (not understanding one word of the ceremony!). Oh, and Penny, my parent’s little puppy (and my baby sister) was also there, with a garter belt around her neck. It was a very special ceremony. Mature love is so different that young love.
A celebration of our marriage was held November 30th at our new home for all of our friends. Of course, I had to prepare all of the food. (Yes, I did hire some lovely gals to serve it.) We had 70 guests. The menu was intense and extensive; the evening perfect, but the one dish I have never had since that night was Buckwheat Blinis with caviar. The dish was the iconic plate that symbolized the regalness of our evening.
I served a the blinis with three kinds of roe: a lovely black sturgeon caviar, a golden roe, and the salmon for contrast that evening. The salmon was the least expensive (by a long shot) but, I loved it. All had to be special ordered then, and that was just eight years ago. I had considered the Beluga. Now, I wish I had brought it in, it has gone up so much. Things have changed access-wise, but it is still not so easy to find in the city.
I was not going to pass up the opportunity to make this again. I was having guests for dinner, too. Perfect!
Dry ingredients; buckwheat flour, flour, sugar, yeast and salt.
Scale milk and butter into the TM bowl; stir for 2 minutes at 37°C at spead 1-2 until butter melts.
Scale the dry ingredients into the TM bowl with the milk and butter and whisk for 15 seconds at speed 2-3 until smooth.
Cover with plastic wrap and let stand in warm draft-free area until doubled in volume for 1 to 1 1/2 hours then return to T bowl and whisk buckwheat batter for 5 seconds at speed 1 to deflate; set time to 1 minute and speed at 3; whisk in eggs one at a time, through the hole in the lid. Then pour into another bowl and chill overnight to intensify the flavour. Below is how it looks the next day.
Whisk before cooking…Â I whipped the batter up in my Thermomix, effortlessly, really, and then covered it and set it overnight to develop the complex dark yeasty flavours that buckwheat blinis have. The above photo is how it looked the following day. YUM. Really, a little butter is all you need. The photo below has far too much butter in it. I love the ridges each little blini forms around it to hold its topping with.
The crème fraiche must be homemade. This one is even better than my original recipe, as I wasn’t “A Canadian Foodie” then, and didn’t have wonderful people like Nicole giving me incredible recipes and ideas, then! The little wisp of dill is such a powerful addition to the bite. I love that it is from my own garden and that this was effortless to garnish.
When Vince and Colleen came to dinner, I served this with a smoked salmon and blueberry terrine as part of a three course tasting menu that prefaced our main course. The terrine was a bit more complex than that, and I will post the recipe for it, shortly, too. I was inspired by the amuse bouche served to us the night before at Madison’s Grill. It was smoked Arctic Char and a blueberry propped upon a buttery house made cracker: brilliant.
Vanja doesn’t like this bite. He doesn’t like caviar, or any roe. He ate it, though, and said he was surprised to discover that it better than he expected it to be. That’s progress. For me, it was crisp, and buckwheat buttery bitter; the cold cream melting on the hot blini while the briny roe popped little glistening droplets of tang on my tongue. Mmmmm. And the dill? Refreshing and fragrant; the perfect end punctuation.
This little bite brought forward an entire space in time I have not neglected, but have rushed past year after year… served on a tasting plate so unexpectedly: the possibility presented itself that morning at the market. I embraced it. And I am glad I took the time. It was long overdue.
Buckwheat Blinis
This is a very special bite and is lovely to provide a selection of caviar to top each with. This recipe takes a couple of days as the dough must sit overnight.
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup all purpose flour
- 1/3 cup buckwheat flour
- 4 teaspoons sugar
- 1 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast
- 1/4 teaspoon (generous) salt
- 1 cup whole milk
- 3 tablespoons butter , cut into cubes
- 2 large eggs , lightly beaten
- Melted butter
Instructions
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Whisk first 5 ingredients in medium bowl
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Place milk and butter in small saucepan; stir over low heat until butter melts and thermometer registers 110°F (if mixture gets too warm, cool until temperature returns to 110°F)
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Pour warm milk mixture into flour mixture and whisk until smooth. Cover with plastic wrap and let stand in warm draft-free area until doubled in volume, 1 to 1 1/2 hours
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Whisk buckwheat batter to deflate; then whisk in eggs
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Do ahead Can be prepared 1 day ahead: Transfer to large bowl, cover and chill (may increase in volume; rewhisk before using)
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Preheat oven to 200°F
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Heat griddle or large skillet over medium heat; brush lightly with melted butter
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Working in batches, pour 2 tablespoons batter for each blini onto griddle, spacing apart
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Cook until bubbles form on top and begin to pop, about 1 1/2 minutes
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Turn blinis; cook until golden brown on bottom, about 1 1/2 minutes
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Transfer to baking sheet; tent with foil and place in oven to keep warm while cooking remaining blinis
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Do ahead Blinis can be made 1 day ahead. Cool, cover, and chill; brush blinis lightly with melted butter and rewarm on baking sheet in 350°F oven 5 minutes
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Arrange warm blinis on platter; garnish as desired
Instructions for Thermomix:
-
Scale milk and butter into the TM bowl; stir for 2 minutes at 37°C at speed 1-2 until butter melts
-
Scale first 5 ingredients into the TM bowl with warm milk and butter mixture; whisk for 15 seconds at speed 2-3 until smooth
-
Cover with plastic wrap and let stand in warm draft-free area until doubled in volume: 1 to 1 1/2 hours
-
Whisk buckwheat batter for 5 seconds at speed 1 to deflate
-
Set time to 1 minute and speed at 3; whisk in eggs one at a time, through the hole in the lid
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Cover and chill overnight to intensify flavour; the next day, rewhisk before continuing
Next Day:
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Preheat oven to 200°F
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Heat griddle or large skillet over medium heat; brush lightly with melted butter
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Working in batches, pour 1 to 2 tablespoons batter for each blini onto griddle, spacing apart
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Cook until bubbles form on top and begin to pop, about 1 1/2 minutes; turn blinis; cook until golden brown on bottom, about 1 1/2 minutes
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Transfer to baking sheet; tent with foil and place in oven to keep warm while cooking remaining blinis
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Arrange warm blinis on platter; garnish as desired
Recipe Notes
Blinis can be made 1 day ahead: Cool, cover, and chill; brush blinis lightly with melted butter and rewarm on baking sheet in 350°F oven 5 minutes
mmmmm dill
Your recent posts have ingredients that reminds me of back home as well as being my favorite food items, roe and rhubarb! Mmmmmm…!!!!
I just found your blog but will be sure to visit again! I am visiting Canada for my second time in my life, this time to Montreal and I am very excited, researching restaurants and food to try as I speak (write)…
I love roe. Salmon roe, sturgeon roe. Roe, roe, roe my boat! Nice pix too, I like the play of orange and green together…Too bad Nicole hates the little salt bombs, would be nice to make them for my text party. Maybe she’ll be like Vanja and start to ‘not dislike them so much’!
–A
This is a beautiful post Valerie. Memories around food. It makes me recall your post about Angel Food Cake.
I have never had Blinis. I love buckwheat – so I should give this a try.
Thanks for the post.
I deeply apologize, I think my eyes saw what it wanted to see… rhubarb rather than beets. My husband is not a big fan of beets and goes crazy if I even bring them into our home….
Beautiful Valerie. Simply beautiful, and so tastefully done. The glow of the roe makes me feel all warm inside… or is it the story maybe? Wish I could just reach out and take one. (Darn!)
What a beautiful food memory, Valerie. Thanks for sharing.
And fantastic pictures! I love the top view of the blini plate. Sounds like a lovely tasting. Cheers!
Ah, I am totally inspired by this post. I really feel like trying this out. THey look awesome. I love it how it is connected to such a special memory of yours :). Now I think whenever I see these, I’ll think of you.
*kisses* HH
Now I’m craving roe and I’m not even hungry. Salmon roe is my favourite kind of sushi (ikura). I don’t think I’ve had golden roe, what fish is it from? Is it large like salmon or small like tobiko?
Hi, Jean… funny you should ask. When I ordered the golden roe for the wedding, I asked the same thing. Back then, I got it from Billingsgate – and thought it was only 8 years ago, the gal was stunned by my question and had no idea what fish it was from. The jar didn’t say, either. Let’s google it, and see what we come up with. It was small, but not tiny!
🙂
Valerie
Valerie, this looks totally gourmet! From the every single ingredient to the way you presented it…just wonderfully delish!
It was soooo good! As was the rest of the exquisite meal!
O how gorgeous does this look Valerie! And I love the story about your marriage!! True love indeed…
I am not really a fan of roe myself but it looks always stunning! I’d trade the roe for smoked salmon though..:)
beautiful post, love the memories connected and how great to hear abut your wedding…beautiful pics
sweetlife
Hey Valerie,
I loved reading this post! This is absolutely gorgeous, and such a special dish to you. I love the finishing touch with the dill, although I don’t think I’ve ever had fresh dill before. I never knew creme fraiche was so easy to make either. Everytime I visit your blog, there’s always something new for me to learn. Oh how I love food blogging.
I’m glad that you didn’t let this chance pass you by to make this oh so memorable dish. When Gary and I see something we want to try and is rare, we jump at the chance cause we know we’ll regret it if we don’t. Beautiful creation Valerie! You’re making crave for a midnight snack.
What a beautiful and touching post, Valerie! I think it’s so fitting that Vanja proposed to you in your kitchen and that you celebrate the food memories that are so important to you. I also can’t believe you prepared food for 70 people – yikes! You are a force of nature! Lovely buckwheat blinis, especially with creamy creme fraiche (which I’ve just recently discovered).
Have a wonderful day, Valerie!
You should definitely post some of these to FoodGawker and Tastespotting. Remember, they only use a square, so make sure you either trim it yourself or find one where the composition still holds…
Hats off to this course. Great recipe and flawlessly presented. Two thumbs up!
Bravo for prevoking such fond memories Valerie. We have our strongest connections with food.
I was so impressed with the photos, especially the second one, and then I started to focus on the words. What a lovely story of your beginning and marriage.
Your blini are just beautiful, excellent recipe, presentation and pics! Such great memories too!
These are beautiful, Valerie. I am sure they tasted just as wonderful as they look.
My aunt was the one who used to make blinis but not the buckwheat ones; I would love a chance to taste these with that salmon roe; they look so delicious! I think the buckwheat blinis are better than the other white floured ones.
I am the friend of Joan from FOODalogue that she cooked with in New York and your blog caught my eye. This post is beautiful. Your story heart warming. What a treat this post is for me as one of my favorite things to eat are blini’s and caviar. I am now a devoted follower. A shot of Vodka goes well, too.
Hi, Norma!
And I will be following you! I loved the story of the threaded polenta. A beautiful story and recipe. YUM. And, I covet your copper polenta pot!
🙂
Valerie
Hi Valerie, I just love reading about your wedding, the proposal, the reception and the blinis. I made some just like those many years ago for guest; you brought it all back to me. I must try thee again.Love you blog.
Rita