Cheese blintzes

This recipe is from Mark Russ Federman's book, Russ and Daughters, the story of a famous appetizing store in New York.  Appetizing stores are like delis for fish - especially smoked fish.  The idea is that they sell all the foods, under the laws regarding kosher cooking, can't be eaten with dairy.

I learned about this the hard way.  My immediate family does not keep kosher.  I knew a few basics -  that pork was verbotten for kosher folks, for example, and so was shellfish.  But it wasn't until we were visiting my much more religious relatives in Scotland that I learned that you can't eat dairy with meat. We were at a restaurant, and I started to order a roastbeef sandwich with cheese when my mother kicked me under the table, then ordered a cheeseless roast beef sandwich for me.  I got whacked again when I tried to pour milk in my tea after the meal.  She explained afterward.

Apparently it has something to do with a line in the Torah forbidding Jews from cooking a kid in its mother's milk.  Why this translates to not eating beef with milk from an unrelated cow on the side is a question that's beyond me.

A couple hints about this recipe: I found it was easier to make the crepes than I imagined, and also a lot of fun.  The batter recipe also made a LOT more crepes than it claimed.  Be prepared - you will likely run out of filling. Theoretically, this makes 12 to 14 blintzes, enough for six people. I made a half batch and got 20. But then again, I played around to see how thin I could make the crepes.

Can't find farmer's cheese?  No problem.  Take small-curd cottage cheese, stick it in cheese cloth, and let it hang over a bowl for 7 hours so most of the whey is strained out.  I'm told coffee filters work in place of cheese cloth, too.  The whey tastes kind of like buttermilk and is a nice snack.

You can put any fruit sauce over this, but I actually like it best with fresh fruit instead. The peaches from Drum's Produce on River Hill are especially nice with these.

Ingredients:

Crepes:
2 cups whole milk
4 large eggs
1 1/3 cups flour

Filling:
1 /12 pound farmer's cheese (don't panic! See note above on how to make a reasonable facsimile when you fail to find it at the store.)
1/2 cup plus 2 TBs sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 tsp. cinnamon

Cooking:
Unsalted butter.

1. Combine crepe ingredients in a food processor and process until smooth. Pour batter into a bow and let it rest 30 minutes.

2. While the batter rests, make the filling by combining all its ingredients in the food processor and running it until the mixture is smooth. Incidentally, I think this would also make a dynamite cannoli filling.

3. Melt a little butter in a heavy 8-inch non-stick skillet - or heat the skillet on medium and rub the butter over it.  Don't compromise on this one - the skillet MUST be non-stick.  A few crepes cooked on a non-stick pan won't kill you.

4. Ladle in just enough batter to coat the bottom of the skillet - tip the skilled to coat it evenly.  Let it cook until it's set - it'll only take a minute or two. Then use a plastic spatula (so you don't scratch your pan) to loosen the crepe. Flip it over to cook for a couple seconds on the other side - until it's nice and gold. Then remove to a paper-towel-lined plate.  Repeat until you run out of batter.

5. Spoon about 4 TBs of filling down the center of each crepe. Fold over the ends, then roll it up like a burrito.  Serve immediately or rewarm in a 250-degree oven. Note - Sam Dion feels strongly the crepes should have even more filling, so much that they come out round.