Last year, on a sunny summer day, we served buckwheat blinis in the restaurant with house cured gravlax for a fundraiser for the Greenport Farmer’s Market. A guest wrote me to ask for the recipe and I finally found the time to write it out.
I hope you will enjoy this combination as much as I do. I love the taste of buttery, thinly sliced gravlax with blinis. The nuttiness of the buckwheat flour lends the perfect backdrop to the briny, buttery flavor of the cured salmon. I also like to add fresh chopped chives from the garden to the batter for another layer of flavor.
Served with thinly sliced gravlax or smoked salmon and garden herbs, these are an elegant addition to brunch, lunch, or as a first course for a dinner party.
Prep Time: 20 minutes Cook Time: 10 minutes Total Time: 30 minutes Ingredients: 2/3 cup all-purpose flour 1/2 cup buckwheat flour 1/2 teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon instant or rapid-rise yeast 1 cup warm milk 2 tablespoons butter, melted 1 egg, separated 1/2 teaspoon of sugar
Preparation: In a large bowl mix flours, salt, sugar, and instant yeast. Make a well in the center and drizzle in milk, mixing until creamy. Cover for an hour until it rises, creating bubbles and almost double in size. Stir cooled melted butter and egg yolk into batter. In a separate bowl, whisk egg white until stiff but not dry. Fold into batter. Cover and allow this mixture to rest for 20 minutes. Use a flat nonstick skillet and heat to medium heat. Use a small ladle to drop silver dollar dollops of batter into pan without crowding. Cook for about 1 minute or until bubbles form and break. Turn and cook for about 30 seconds. Cover blini and keep warm to avoid reheating. These are perfectly delicious served at room temperature. Top with thinly slice gravlax (we cure our own in the restaurant) or smoked salmon. Chop fresh herbs like wild fennel or dill to sprinkle on top of the salmon just before serving. Serve with creme fraiche or Drizzle Swedish-style Dijon vinaigrette or creme fraiche and fresh green salad.
Serve this with a bottle of Chenin Blanc from Paumanok Vineyards in Aquebogue. This is one of the founding vineyards of the North Fork in one of the first towns you’ll hit when coming from New York City. The saltiness of the gravlax is dazzled by the citrus and minerality of this wine. Get it while you can because it always sells out!
