Potato Blinis - Lithuanian.

Submitted by iknitok

"This is a Lithuanian recipe from my mother-in-law. She always uses some powdered sulphur, burned, to keep her potato mixture white, but I am too afraid to use it, so the last of my mixture always goes brown through oxidation. Don't worry though.... when cooked it reverts to it's proper 'whiteness'. As Lithuania is bordered by both Russia and Poland, Latvia and Belarus it's cuisine is influenced by them all, plus Germany, Estonia, Finland, and Scandinavia but it still manages to be different from them all."

 

• Ready In: 45mins
• Ingredients: 5
• Serves: 2-4

ingredients

• 1 lb potato
• 1 large egg
• 1 teaspoon salt
• vegetable oil
• butter

directions

1. Grate the potatoes on the star pattern of your grater, so it comes out looking like a sort of paste.
2. Stir in the salt, then start making a well in the mix with a large spoon, removing as much water as possible.
3. When you are fed up with this procedure, mix in the egg. At this stage you may want to add a spoonful of flour (plain) or cornflour, but try to resist as it alters the taste of the blini. A spoon of potato flour or starch would be better, but nothing at all is really necessary.
4. Add oil and butter to a hot pan, put spoonsful of mixture - 1 spoon per blini - and cook until golden, turn and cook the other side until golden. Place on a platter, covered, in a warm oven to keep warm until the rest of the mixture is cooked.
5. My mother-in-law has always served these with several side dishes of quartered tomatoes, sliced lengthwise cucumbers both fresh and pickled (Polski Ogorki), sour cream, caviar, as either an entree or a main, depending upon how many pounds of potatoes used and how keen you are.

Reviews

[stevenorbert2]

This is very much like my Nana's, who emigrated to USA in early 20th century to escape Russians. She would use Flour, Cream of Wheat, Oatmeal...whatever was handy and it was always delicious! Oh, how I remember the bloody knuckles while grating the potatoes, but I think the "blood, sweat, and tears" only added to the flavor and enjoyment in eating later. (Just like making Crepes, you can never keep up with demand fresh of the griddle! Love 'em hot and crisp, but eating the leftovers (cmon...WHAT leftovers...I mean really!) cold out of the fridge the next day was a delight, too! Thanks for sharing...I was just checking for variations here and was happy to see that my Nana's version holds up to others. But, heck, people make do with whatever is available to them, so of course most recipes from all over the world are awesome to the ones who make them, I am sure!