Taking blintzes out of the comfort zone

Recipe by Chef Dalia

Shavuot… the Festival of Weeks. There are many traditions related to this holiday, ranging from harvest festivals, singing and dancing to crowns of flowers, and of course, many dairy recipes. Understandably, there is a divide between how Shavuot is celebrated within the Land of Israel and how it is celebrated outside of it. Israel, the land of milk and honey, loves to celebrate, and seeing how Shavuot is celebrated in Israel is just one example of their rich Jewish culture and nature as a people.

Whether its water wars on the streets, wearing all white clothing, eating your favorite dairy pastry or sampling all the many cheeses that stores have to offer, Shavuot is active with festivities and traditional roots that give patronage to ancient times.

Weeks before Shavuot takes place, newspapers and social media are flooded with recipes that make even the most ‘challenged’ cook feel confident in the kitchen. Star-quality recipes for the best blintzes in town promise to knock anyone’s socks off! But no worries … you have the best blintzes recipe here.

Atayef/blintzes, Quatayef or Katayef, however you pronounce it, remember the name, for if you like trying new styles of food, the Israeli/Middle Eastern dessert dish of Atayef/blintzes is set to become the next big thing. This is a divine dessert of little pancakes filled with either cheese or nuts or a combination of both, and golden fried or baked, then dunked in thick simple syrup. It is crunchy sweet and, oh so delicious. It’s like a combination of baklava and cheesecake, and the result is an amazing — not to mention calorieladen — delight.

Personal Chef Dalia Hemed can be reached at daliahemed@msn.com.

Growing up in Israel, I was lucky to have the opportunity to eat quite a few good Atayef/blintzes throughout my lifetime. It is hard to decide what makes this dreamy, creamy and crunchy dessert such a winner. Is it the complex texture of the pancakes? Or is it the creamy and tangy combo of flavors of the cheese in the middle? Maybe it is the fact that all of this goodness is soaked in that one-of-a-kind syrup of sugar, lemon juice and rose water, then topped with crushed pistachios.

If you go to Mach-ne Yehuda shuk in Jerusalem during Shavuot, you will see bakeries churning out these blintzes by the hundreds each day — the dessert of choice for Shavuot celebration. As kids, my sister and I literally gorged on this dessert until, how shall we say, we got really sick? Being kids, we didn’t really have a reason to stop eating, so I remember sneaking and inhaling at least half a dozen of these confections during one of my mother’s big and festive Shavuot holidays. Let’s just say that now, as an adult, I know better. I can now stop at eating just two. Yay for selfcontrol! (Though, I am not going to lie, it’s really hard!).

For this recipe, I experimented with one filling that was so rich and creamy I had to harness the willpower of steel. Can you guess what that filling might be? You guessed right if you guessed cheese… farmer’s cheese! (My favorite blintze filling).

If you don’t have farmer’s cheese, you can also use ricotta or cottage cheese. This dessert is the modern version of the classic Eastern European blintzes. I am taking the blintzes out of the comfort zone.

A few years ago, on a trip to Israel, I took a tour of the Mach-ne Yehuda shuk. I had a chance to enjoy this most incredible dish and there was no turning back. Every time I have the opportunity, a stop at an Atayef/blintze stand is on my mustdo list. You can make the best of Israeli shuk street food in your own kitchen. On Shavuot this year, you have to give it a try!

Atayef/blintzes in a filling with nuts and farmer cheese

Ingredients for Atayef/blintzes Makes 25 Atayef/blintzes 2¾ cups flour 1 tsp. baking powder 1¾ cups milk 3 eggs 3 tbsp. butter, melted 1 tbsp. sugar 1/8 cup of melted butter for coating on blintzes

For stuffing ½ cup pistachios 8 ounces farmer’s cheese ½ tsp. cinnamon ¼ cup sugar

For syrup 1 cup sugar 1 cup of water ¼ tsp. rose water 2 tbsp. fresh lemon juice

Preparation

1. The blintzes: Put all the ingredients for the blintzes, except the 1/8 cup melted butter for coating the blintzes, in a bowl, and with the help of a whisk, mix them into a uniform batter.

2. Heat a frying pan over medium heat and grease it with a paper towel soaked in oil.

3. Pour half a ladle of the batter into the pan, and with the help of the back of the ladle, shape it into a slightly thick circle 4” in diameter. Fry until the bottom of the blintz is golden brown and the top starts to show air bubble holes. (Do not flip like traditional pancake). Remove to a plate.

4. The stuffing: Roast pistachios in an oil-free pan, stirring, until slightly golden and giving off a pleasant aroma. Refrigerate to cool, then chop coarsely. Transfer to a bowl and mix with the rest of the filling ingredients.

5. The syrup: Boil the water and sugar, remove from the heat and refrigerate. Add the rose water and lemon juice, and mix.

6. Assembling the wrapper and baking: Preheat the oven to 180° F. Line a pan with baking paper.

7. Place blintzes on the work surface. Place a spoonful of the stuffing on the top (uncooked) side, in the center of one half of the blintze, fold in half and press the edge closed tightly. Brush with melted butter on the top of the blintze. Prepare additional blintzes in the same way.

8. Place the blintzes in a pan and bake for 12-15 minutes, until golden and slightly hardened.

9. Remove the blintzes from the oven and immediately dip them in the cold syrup, so they are completely coated. Transfer to a plate and serve immediately.