Part 15 (1/2)

MAKES ABOUT 36 BLINI.

TIME: 1 HOUR 30 MINUTES, LOTS OF IT INACTIVE.

Blini are light, savory, yeasted pancakes with a real Eastern European feel to them. They are small and bite-sized, similar to silver dollar pancakes and make a great appetizer. This recipe is a little time consuming because you have to make the pancakes in small batches, so you may only want to serve it for special occasions. But it's really worth the trouble, we promise. Serve with thick Mushroom Gravy (page 211) and Horseradish-Dill Sour Cream (page 208) and top with fresh chopped parsley.

1 cups soy milk, at room temperature

2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar

cup warm water

1 tablespoon sugar

1(-ounce) envelope active dry yeast

1 tablespoon ground flaxseeds

cup buckwheat flour

cup chickpea flour

teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons olive oil

Nonstick cooking spray or spray-on olive oil

Use an ice-cream scoop to efficiently pour the blini batter. Measure a tablespoon and a half of batter into it once to get an idea of how much batter that is, and then just eyeball it for the rest of the blini.

Use the thinnest spatula you can to flip the blini. Since you'll be using a nonstick pan, a very thin, flexible heatproof rubber spatula makes all the difference in the world. Of course, you can still get by using any spatula you've got.

MEASURE THE soy milk into a measuring cup and add the vinegar to it; set aside to curdle.

Mix the sugar and water in a large gla.s.s or plastic mixing bowl. Add the yeast and stir briefly. Leave the bowl in a warm place and let the yeast foam up; it usually takes about 3 minutes.

Meanwhile, add the ground flaxseeds to the soy milk and stir well.

In a separate large mixing bowl, combine the remaining ingredients. Pour in the soy milk mixture and mix until smooth. Add this batter to the yeast and mix again until smooth. Place a towel over the batter and leave it in a warm, draft-free place for about an hour.

Preheat a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Give the batter a stir-it shouldn't be bubbling over the bowl, just slightly bubbly. When the pan is hot, spray with nonstick cooking spray. Carefully pour about 1 tablespoons of batter into the pan to form a blin (pancake); you can usually fit about five at a time, but take care not to overcrowd; if you can only fit four, then so be it.

The tops of the blini should bubble up and set within 90 seconds (if they do not, then either the heat is not high enough or the pan hasn't had time to heat up properly). Flip each blini and cook for another 90 seconds. Both sides should be a dark, flecked golden brown.