Baked Blintzes with Fresh Blueberry Sauce

Day 64: “Barefoot Contessa Back to Basics”

March 5, 2011

If you are invited to an event and asked to bring an egg bake, this is a great alternative.  Always looking to keep things fresh and exciting and not bring what is expected in the form of an egg bake I was so excited to come upon this recipe.  We have eaten Cheese Blintzes in the past……buying them frozen in the grocery store.  To make Cheese Blintzes in their traditional form from scratch involved the first step to make crepes, (which if you want to do try these) which can be time-consuming.  This recipe skips that step and instead you layer the ingredients and turn it into a one dish meal.

 

Have I told you lately that when I grow up I want to be Ina Garten?  I love her show “The Barefoot Contessa” and I love her style for entertaining as well as the food that she creates.  Her cookbook “Barefoot Contessa Back to Basics” delivers some great recipes for any family.  Full of pictures and full of party and entertaining tips, this cookbook takes you past just recipes.  I have about 10 more recipes that I want to try in this cookbook, such as the fresh raspberry gratins or the maple-roasted butternut squash.  But when I came upon the blintzes recipes I knew I had to make and share this one with you.

The Ruling:  We all loved it.  It makes a lot, so if you need to feed a crowd, this one will do it.  The only thing I wish I had done a better job doing was to pay attention to the “carefully spoon”, I poured and it made little rivers in my topping….no points for beauty on this one for me!

Baked Blintzes with fresh blueberry sauce, page 230

Ingredients:

For the batter:

• 1 1/4 cups milk
• 2 tablespoons sour cream
• 4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 4 extra-large eggs
• 1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1 tablespoon baking powder

For the filling:

• 3 cups (24 ounces) ricotta cheese
• 8 ounces mascarpone cheese
• 2 extra-large eggs
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1 tablespoon grated lemon zest (2 lemons)
• 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt

Fresh Blueberry Sauce:

• 3/4 cup freshly squeezed orange juice (3 oranges)
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 1 tablespoons cornstarch
• 4 half-pints fresh blueberries
• 1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
• 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 9×13 inch cake pan or baking dish.
2. For the batter, place all the ingredients in the bowl of a food processor fitted with the steel blade and blend until smooth. (You can also use a blender.) Pour half the batter (about 1 3/4 cups) into the prepared dish and bake for 10 minutes, until set.
3. Meanwhile, for the filling, whisk together the ricotta, mascarpone, eggs, and sugar in a large bowl. Add the lemon zest, lemon juice, vanilla, and salt and mix until thoroughly combined. Spread the cheese filling over the baked pancake. Carefully spoon the remaining pancake batter to cover the cheese.
4. Return the pan to the oven and continue baking for 35-40 minutes, until the top is lightly golden and the filling is almost set. Remove from the oven and allow to stand 10-15 minutes. Cut the blintzes in squares and serve warm with the fresh blueberry sauce.
5. For the sauce, combine the orange juice, sugar, and cornstarch in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil, stirring occasionally. WHen the mixture is translucent and thickened, stir int he blueberries and simmer for 4 to 5 minutes, just until a few berries have burst but most are still whole. Stir in the lemon zest and lemon juice and cool.

To Joyful, Simplified Living,

MS. Simplicity

MS. Simplicity, also known as Melissa Schmalenberger  operates her business as I Did it with MS. Simplicity.  She is a Professional Organizer based out of Fargo, ND and her website can be found at www.ididit-fargo.com .  Need to contact MS. Simplicity privately, you can email her at melissa@ididit-fargo.com.  For daily organizing tips find the MS. Simplicity fan page  here.

If you try any of my suggestions, I would love to hear from you.  It helps me to understand what my readers want me to write about and what they think is a waste of their time….thanks for taking the time to help me out.

Day 21….Ina Garten Barefoot Contessa Family Style

I have been saying for years now that when I grow up I want to be Ina Garten.  She has a beautiful home in the Hamptons and has an endless supply of dinner guests showing up at her house.  I love her show on the Food Network.  I aspire to have a kitchen like hers some day…..yeah, it is probably a set kitchen, but a girl can dream can’t she?  Most of the recipes that she makes are fairly straightforward and call for fresh ingredients.  One of her favorite tricks is to use truffle butter.  I have yet to find it at our local grocery store.

Since I have started this cooking journey with the cook books my middle son has been asking me to make Chicken Parmesan.  He loves it and he seriously asks for it at least 3 times a week.  But I hate to pound the chicken as chicken parts and me do not get along.  I just want to touch it with a fork and call it good.  Any sort of touching with my fingers grosses me out.  Well it must have been a sign from God that Ina had a chicken parmesan in her cookbook and I found at our local big box store thin cut chicken breasts!  Yippe!  I didn’t have to touch them!

The recipe is your basic Chicken Parmesan.  Ina suggests serving it on top of lettuce with a squeeze of lemon.  My kids are them hot right out of the pan.  My youngest ate one breaded, and then wanted one without breading…..you will see his naked chicken in the pictures below.  My middle son wanted me to cook it with marinara sauce and topped with mozzarella cheese like I normally do.  Too bad, so he poured some jarred sauce on top of it and made the most out of it.  Good recipe to keep  on hand if you don’t already have a chicken parmesan recipe.  My tip is to cook it on medium, even if you want it to cook faster.  I also like to keep mine in the oven on a cookie sheet warming up until they are all done.  This way they can cook a little longer if needed without becoming burned.

Parmesan Chicken, page 82

Ingredients:

• 6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp. kosher salt
• 1/2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
• 2 extra large eggs
• 1 1/4 cups seasoned dry bread crumbs
• 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese, plus extra for serving
• unsalted butter
• Good olive oil
• salad greens for 6, washed and spun dry
• lemon vinaigrette

Directions:

1. Pound the chicken breasts until they are 1/4 inch thick.  You can use either a meat mallet or a rolling pin.
2. Combine the flour, salt, and pepper on a dinner plate.  On a second plate, beat the eggs with 1 tablespoon of water.  On a third plate, combine the bread crumbs and 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese.  Coat the chicken breasts on both sides with the flour mixture, then dip both sides into the egg mixture and dredge both sides in the bread-crumb mixture, pressing lightly.
3. Heat 1 tablespoon of butter and 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a large saute pan and cook 2 or 3 chicken breasts on medium-low heat for 2 to 3 minutes on each side, until cooked through.  Add more butter and oil and cook the rest of the chicken breasts.  Toss the salad greens with lemon vinaigrette.  Place a mound of salad on each hot chicken breast.  Serve with extra grated Parmesan.
4. Keep the chicken breasts warm for about 15 minutes on a sheet pan in a 200 degree oven.

To Joyful, Simplified Living,

MS. Simplicity