Okay gals, thank you for asking about my failed country cuisine challenge entry of Lithuania.
The reason I called it a big fail is because I cheated! I made what is probably my favorite dish – blintzes. I have always loved them so much that it is the first thing I can remember learning to cook as a kid. (My dad asked me to make them for him as one of his last meals before he passed away.) My dad’s family are all from Russia (Russian Jews) but my mom (who was an incredible cook of many different cuisines) didn't know where her folks were from, only vaguely eastern European.
So I started looking at Hungary and Lithuania, and it says that Lithuanians eat a lot of filled pancakes. I looked at the Jewish cookbook that I inherited from my mom, and sure enough, it says the blintzes we always made (cheese but not sweet) were Lithuanian. Then I looked for recipes for other blintzes, meat filled or veggie filled, but they were all really vague about origin and specific ingredients. They just used the crepes as a wrapper for whatever meat or veggies they had on hand.
I made these, but unlike you all, I don’t have anything to back up how authentic they may or may not be. Oh, and the creamed spinach: I saw that one specialty is “sorrel soup” which I remember my dad loved. The recipes said you could substitute spinach, and I decided I would rather just have creamed spinach. So I made “Martha Stewart’s easy creamed spinach” which I am sure is just like what they made in the old village.
Nevertheless, I did try to lighten these up where I could, and I entered them into my “cookbook” so I will include swaps I made and calories.
Recipes:
Basic crepe (Makes 10-12 crepes)
2 large eggs
1 cup flour
1 cup milk or water, (I use almond milk and it works great)
Frying crepes is super easy, it just takes a little practice. Julia Child, and I am sure a million youtubers can show how. Fry on one side, then turn out onto a plate in a stack, fried side up. Place a spoonful of cooled filling on cooked side and fold up like a package or roll like a burrito, uncooked side out. Place seam side down in buttered or oiled baking dish, dot with butter or brush with oil and cover with foil. Bake at 400 degrees for 30 minutes. Uncover and bake for another 10 minutes until golden brown. Usually served with sour cream and sometimes fruit sauce or chutney. (If you see sour cream on 90% of my meals, at least I come by it honestly. It runs in my blood.)
Fillings:
Cheese (~125 kcal each)
I use cottage cheese seasoned with salt and pepper. Most that you see are sweet cheese blintzes, which have sugar in the crepe and in the filling. Often they are served with fruit or jam. Mine are rather plain but for me very addictive.
Meat (~170 kcal each)
I browned onion and garlic and mushrooms, added a pound of ground sirloin and some peas. I squirted in some ketchup and some Worcestershire sauce.
Veggie (~110 kcal/each) -- @keyten hope you are still reading
I sauteed onion, garlic and mushrooms, threw in a bag of broccoli slaw and soy sauce. These taste just like a veggie moo shu, and so I did end up dipping them in plum sauce.
Bonus:
Creamed spinach (~150 kcal/svg)
Google Martha Stewart’s easy creamed spinach. I subbed Neufchatel for cream cheese.
Cucumber salad (~125 kcal/svg)
Cucumber, red onion, shallot, olive oil, red wine vinegar, honey, sour cream, fresh dill, salt and pepper. My mom used to make this and it tastes like summer! I used my garden cucumber.
