Simple Cheese Blintzes Are Just Plain Delicious

Blintzes prove that in cooking, the whole often exceeds the parts. This Jewish dish of Russian-Polish origin is simple, economical and so delicious it deserves to be universally enjoyed.

It begins with a thin egg skin that bears a close resemblance to a crepe. But unlike crepes - which are enhanced with fruit-flavored liqueurs, full-fat cheeses and other rich ingredients - the blintz is wrapped around a slightly sweetened filling of farmer cheese or dry cottage cheese.

The transformation takes place when the filled blintzes are sauteed in butter. The outside of the skin becomes crisp, the inside tender, the filling creamy. How can anything so plain taste so good?

See for yourself with the easy recipe for cheese blintzes that follows. Serve the blintzes with sour cream - a classic - or with a sauce of dried apricots and orange marmalade.

Cheese Blintzes

1 egg

1/3 cup milk

Dash salt

1 teaspoon sugar

1 tablespoon melted butter

5 tablespoons flour

Butter

Filling

Apricot sauce

Beat together egg, milk, salt, sugar and melted butter in bowl. Stir in flour.

Heat 1 teaspoon butter in 6-inch skillet. Add 2 tablespoons batter and swirl skillet to coat bottom with batter. When edges are lacy and brown and center of skin is firm, remove and place on plate. Top with sheet of plastic wrap.

Repeat with more batter. Add more butter to pan, 1/2 teaspoon at a time when necessary, to keep batter from sticking (it will probably be necessary to use 2 to 3 teaspoons butter total). Place sheets of plastic wrap between each finished skin. There is enough batter for 6 good skins (this recipe allows for 1 or 2 disasters). When all skins are ready, prepare filling.

Place 1 skin at a time, cooked-side up, on work surface. Add 1 tablespoon filling to center of each skin. Fold up by tucking sides to center, bottom to center, then top to center. Repeat with remaining skins and filling.

Prepare apricot sauce.

When ready to cook, melt 1 tablespoon butter in skillet. Add 2 blintzes at a time to skillet, folded-side down. Brown on both sides until golden, about 5 minutes per side. Keep warm in 200-degree oven while preparing remaining blintzes. Serve blintzes hot with apricot sauce.

Yield: 6 blintzes (2 servings).

Filling:

1 cup farmer cheese or dry, small curd cottage cheese

1 egg yolk

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice

1 tablespoon sugar

Combine cheese, egg yolk, cinnamon, lemon juice and sugar in bowl. Blend well.

Apricot Sauce:

1/2 cup diced, dried apricots

1 to 2 tablespoons orange marmalade

1/4 cup apple juice

Combine apricots, marmalade and apple juice in small pan. Simmer until thick and tender, 10 to 15 minutes.