A Blintz-krieg bop to break the fast
A Blintz-krieg bop to break the fast
Hey ho, let's go make a blintz soufflé!
Shalom from Israel.
One of my earliest attempts at cooking was (burning) Golden Frozen Cheese Blintzes in an overzealously buttered pan with the electric range cranked up high. The smell of burning blintzes is an olfactory memory that lingers long after the smoke clears. You also don’t forget the disappointment you feel when biting into it and the hot, crispy and dark (burnt?) golden exterior gives way to a semi frozen cheese core that tastes like broken dreams.
To those nodding along, I see you.
Eventually, you live and learn enough to figure out how to nuke it in the microwave (my dad’s words) and then brown the blintzes in a pan with some butter (just keep the flame low).
Golden Frozen Cheese Blintzes are not available here in Israel, so I haven’t had them in well over a quarter century. (I find that writing “well over a quarter century” is more dramatic than writing “well over twenty five years.”) Blintzes in Israel are seasonal and most closely associated with both Hungarians and the holiday of Shavuot, but to me, blintzes have always signified Yom Kippur and Ratner’s Dairy Restaurant on the Lower East Side of New York.
For those who have not had the honor of having an aging, cantankerous, and somewhat belligerent waiter taking your order, Ratner’s was a kosher dairy eatery opened in 1905 that became a neighborhood institution, serving up latkes, legendary onion rolls, omelets, soups, blintzes and other Jewish vegetarian dishes. I’ve dined there countless times, but I only remember two specific visits.
The first was when my Dad and I took the two hour train on the LIRR into the city to buy a tallit from the Lower East Side a few months before my Bar Mitzvah. I remember two things from that day: walking in the background of a scene being filmed for, Crossing Delancey (sadly, my Hollywood debut ended up on the cutting room floor); and the blintzes. Those amazing blintzes.
My last memorable visit was just a year before they closed their doors forever in 2002. I went with my wife and her family. They had been going religiously for years, renting out the backroom for all their extended family to come together to dine Jewish on a monthly basis. I cannot confirm or deny that a member of the family has had “social interactions” with Jewish gangsters Bugsy Siegel and Meyer Lansky (Lansky was a huge fan of the cheese blintzes at Ratner’s btw).
Though it closed, Ratner’s has been immortalized forever in during Gene Hackman’s and Roy Scheider’s stakeout in The French Connection1, the finance bro cult classic Boiler Room, a random episode of Mad Men, and a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it appearance in Steven Spielberg’s Ready Player One (great book, awful film).
Its greatest legacy is The World Famous Ratner's Meatless Cookbook (1975).
In it, they boldly declare, "At Ratner's the pièce de résistance can be blintzes like you never dreamed could happen."
(Editorial note: Who approved that sentence? How about "At Ratner's, the pièce de résistance are the blintzes beyond your wildest dreams"? Or "At Ratner's, the pièce de résistance are the blintzes which are unlike anything you've ever imagined"?) In any case, the blintzes were banging.
Leave the Fast, Take the Blintzes
As a kid, I always looked forward to Yom Kippur. Was I deeply spiritual, eager for repentance and atonement?
Not quite.
I looked forward to breaking the fast. It was always a big deal and no one did it better than the Bergers. Imagine a massive spread of baked ziti, bagels, egg salad, smoked salmon, herring, quiche, and the pièce de résistance: blintz soufflé.
Picture this: a layer of sweet cheese filling baked between two layers of a puffy blintz-like cloud. Somehow they got it right: it wasn't your average synagogue cookbook's blintz soufflé. You know, the one where frozen blintzes were arranged in a dish and baked in a custard bath of eggs, sour cream, vanilla and sugar (which rendered it “soufflé”ish). Every recipe of blintz soufflé I’ve come across are nearly identical to one another.
I needed to resolve this memory ahead of the upcoming Yom Kippur. After all, we have a break fast with friends to cook for, and expectations are high. I knew there must have been a better way: One that was still relatively easy - and didn’t rely on store-bought frozen blintzes - but also wasn’t a huge time suck and required making blintzes from scratch.
Eureka!
While embarking on a culinary-meets-archaeological expedition through my vast collection of American Jewish cookbooks, I unearthed what I believe to be the Holy Grail of blintz soufflé recipes: In Gloria Kaufer Greene's 1985 masterpiece, The Jewish Holiday Cookbook: An International Collection of Recipes and Customs, I found the recipe for a "Quick-and-Easy Cheese Blintz Casserole." It’s the only blintz soufflé recipe that I discovered that dares to break free from the tyranny of frozen blintzes.
And it my sincerest wish to share this memory-making and break fast worthy recipe with you below. Please share with me if you make it, where you eat it, and your most favorite memories of blintz traditions and holidays.
May this coming year be filled with sweet and good times for you and your families, and peace and prosperity for all.
Shana tova,
Harry
A Blintz Casserole Soufflé of Sorts
Batter
4 large eggs
1 ¼ cups, milk
2 tablespoons, sour cream
¼ cup, unsalted butter, melted
¾ teaspoon, vanilla extract
1 ⅓ cups, all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons, sugar
1 ¼ teaspoons, baking powder
A pinch of salt
Filling
16 ounces (454 grams), farmers cheese
16 ounces (454 grams), ricotta cheese
2 large eggs
3 tablespoons, sugar
A pinch of salt
1 ½ tablespoons, lemon juice
Preheat the oven to 350°F / 175°C.
Instructions
In a blender, combine all the batter ingredients and process until very smooth, scraping down the side of the blender.
Measure out 1 ½ cups of the batter and pour it into the bottom and the sides of a buttered 9 x 13" baking dish.
Bake in the oven for 10 minutes or until it is set.
Meanwhile, combine all the filling ingredients in a large bowl and mix well.
When the bottom layer has set, remove from the oven and spread the filling over it, smoothing the top.
Give the remaining batter a brief stir and then very slowly pour over the cheese filling, so the filling is completely covered.
Return the casserole to the oven and bake it for an additional 35 to 40 minutes or until the top is puffed and set.
Let the casserole rest for 10 to 15 minutes before cutting it into squares.
Serve with your choice of fresh berries, fruit compote or a light dusting of powdered sugar.
Recipe adopted from The Jewish Holiday Cookbook: An International Collection of Recipes and Customs by Gloria Kaufer Greene.
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Ratner’s was not just a filming location, but it was in the script!
