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Battle of the Blintz – Strawberries or Pesto?

by Leah Koenig · June 8th, 2008

As some of you might remember, I am one of the “blintz experts” competing in next Tuesday’s BLINTZKRIEG: Music and Blintzes. Competition is fierce for the battle of the blintz portion of the evening, let me tell you. (My worthy competitors are the wonderful Sandy Stollar of The Kosher Tomato Personal Chef Service, and the equally wonderful Linda Lantos, also a chef and culinary education instructor with the Children’s Aid Society.) So, I need your help.

I want to make a blintz that really wows the crowd – sweet cheese is fine, but I want something that will take people’s blintz expectations to the next level. So far I’ve concocted two ideas for fillings – one a sweet mascarpone cheese mixed with strawberries and orange zest. The other goes the savory route, mixing garlicky pesto with silken tofu.

The problem is, as of 10:00pm next Tuesday – I’m going to be swirling blintz for a LOT of hungry people – people who will vote whether or not my blintzes taste better than the rest. I just don’t think I can deal with toggling back and forth between two fillings, nor do I want eaters to come away feeling like my blintz palette is muddled by competing flavors.

So, friends – I need you to vote. Tell me, which blintz filling would most excite your taste buds – sweet strawberry, or savory pesto? I’m in your hands.

To help you decide, check out the photos of the two choices below. And if you’re around NYC next Tuesday night, come check out the blintzes and the music at Blintzkrieg.

Here’s my secret for perfect blintz wrappers – pour the batter into a container with a lid and a pouring lip – my salad dressing maker worked perfectly. Give the batter a little shake and then give a quick pour into the awaiting skillet. (I hope my blintz competitors aren’t reading!)

Here’s the strawberry filling – before.

Here’s the strawberry blintz – after. The sweet, pink filling was light and satisfying.

The pesto and silken tofu combined nicely with a little coaxing from my hand blender.

And here’s the after shot – they taste as good as they look.

I used Jayne Cohen’s recipe and method for blintz batter – the inside was a mixture of pesto, firm silken tofu, and salt. No particularly proportions – just put in enough tofu so that the batter isn’t watery, and enough pesto so that it doesn’t taste like tofu!

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14 Responses to “Battle of the Blintz – Strawberries or Pesto?”

Susan Says:
June 8th, 2008 at 9:44 pm
Pesto is so different I would go with it.
Eric Schulmiller Says:
June 8th, 2008 at 11:01 pm
I second the pesto
Elizabeth Says:
June 9th, 2008 at 5:14 am
Since the pesto one looks so tempting I’m considering violating my personal ban on all things tofu (hippie childhood, here) I’d say go with that one.
Evan Says:
June 9th, 2008 at 12:29 pm
I’d definitely go for the pesto. Yum!
Debs Says:
June 9th, 2008 at 2:37 pm
I’d actually vote for the strawberry. It’s just a slight variation on the traditional, since you could serve a cheese blintz with fresh strawberries, but it’s new. To me, pesto gets too far into a world beyond blintzes.

Good luck!

Debs

Food Is Love
phyllis Says:
June 9th, 2008 at 10:18 pm
i vote for pesto! sounds delicious and very unique.

it would make an awesome blintz souffle, too, a little like a pesto pie? mmm….i think i know what to do with those beauitful basil leaves growing in my yard….
Gemma Says:
June 10th, 2008 at 8:46 am
I think I’m going with the pesto, though it’s a tough choice. I think savory blintzes are by nature more standout.
Alix Says:
June 10th, 2008 at 11:05 am
I’m voting for the strawberry, the mascarpone with orange zest is destined to dazzle, while not everyone loves tofu, even when well-disguised.
shev Says:
June 10th, 2008 at 11:32 pm
PESTO, duh! (not that I have a strong opinion on the matter…) but since not everyone is thrilled at the presence of tofu, can you re-engineer it? something creamy from actual cream? or just a thickener? (the teensiest bit of mashed potato?) No matter what you decide, that rich pesto flavour is going to sing through!
Leah Koenig Says:
June 10th, 2008 at 11:48 pm
Dear Blintz-enthusiasts,

Thanks so much for all of your fabulous feedback. I weighed the arguments carefully and decided that, although pesto got more overall votes, that Alix’s comment:

“the mascarpone with orange zest is destined to dazzle, and not everyone loves tofu…”

convinced me that I should go the sweet route. I also realized that the pesto is very oily, and with all that melted butter around, it just seemed like things could get out of hand outside of the comfort of my kitchen! (Shev, had I more time, I could have probably re-engineered, but I was pressed after the chag.) That said, I highly recommend the pesto version and will definitely make them again.

Blintzkrieg was an absolute blast overall – great music, great food (Linda – who made a farmers cheese blintz with a raspberry/blueberry vodka sauce and Sandy who made “arroz con pollo” blintz – were by far the more qualified blintz chefs being both graduates of culinary school!)

In the end, there were multiple categories the blintz were judged in and my blintz won “blintz you’d most want to wake up next to.” Not bad, if I do say so myself.

Chag Sameach!
shev Says:
June 11th, 2008 at 1:12 pm
Awesome! Go you!

(Will you be sharing recipes?)
Leah Koenig Says:
June 16th, 2008 at 12:38 pm
Hey Shev,

You can find the blintz recipe I used above. As for the filling – it wasn’t a precise recipe but here are approximates:

Pesto: 3/4 cup pesto + 3/4 block of firmish silken tofu – blended together with a hand blender

Strawberry/cheese: 15 strawberries cooked with 1/4 cup sugar and zest from about half an orange. Let simmer into syrupy and fragrant. Blend the strawberry mixture and cool. Mix strawberry puree with about 2 cups mascarpone (or ricotta) cheese. Don’t blend – just mix with a spoon until combined.
My Sweet & Saucy Says:
June 17th, 2008 at 5:38 pm
Both look delish to me! I LOVE crepes!