Blintz provides flavor of spring

Our Flathead Valley Community College culinary students recently created a spring brunch from concept, menu and recipes to dining room design and event service. 

This recipe was a result of their process – looking at several recipes, testing, and adjusting ingredients to get this tasty result. They served it with a small spring salad topped with strawberries, feta and a light lemon vinaigrette. Here are the flavors of spring for you to create yourself compliments of FVCC’s Culinary Institute of Montana students. 

SPRING RHUBARB BLINTZ 

YIELD: 4 pints 

INGREDIENTS 

Blintzes 

1 ¼ c whole milk 

1 c all-purpose flour 

¼ c sugar 

Pinch of salt 

4 large eggs 

1 t vanilla extract 

½ t almond extract 

3 T butter, soft 

Filling 

1 c ricotta cheese 

8 oz cream cheese, soft 

½ c cottage cheese, small curd 

¼ c matzo meal 

1 t lemon juice 

1 t vanilla extract 

Sauce 

1 ¾ lb rhubarb, trimmed, 1/2” slices 

1 c sugar 

1” piece fresh ginger 

¼ t cardamom 

2 T confectioner’s sugar

INSTRUCTIONS 

1. Stir together sauce ingredients in large saucepan off heat. Let stand until rhubarb releases liquid - about 10 minutes. 

2. Bring to boil over medium heat, stirring occasionally. Reduce heat and simmer until texture  softens. Remove from heat. 

3. Press ginger through garlic press and allow one drop of juice to drop into the fruit. Stir. 

4. Cool to room temperature. 

5. Combine filling ingredients and mix until smooth. Chill while you cook the blintzes. 

6. Combine batter ingredients in blender and blend until smooth. 

7. Heat a non-stick skillet over medium heat. Pour two ounces of batter into pan while swirling in a circular motion to spread batter over pan in a thin layer. Cook until golden on bottom and then  flip to cook other size the same way. Remove and make stack covered with a towel to keep  warm. 

8. Add a large spoonful of filling to blintz about an inch from the bottom and fold over and roll like a burrito. 

9. Melt butter and vegetable oil in a non-stick pan over medium heat. Toast filled blintzes seam side down until golden brown and then turn to repeat on other side. 

10. Place sauce on plate and blintz on top. Sieve confectioner’s sugar over blintz just before serving. 

Manda Hudak is the Program Director/Savory Chef Instructor at Flathead Valley Community College’s Culinary Institute of  Montana. For more information, visit fvcc.edu/culinary