Blinis! - Dairy Foods

{Photo credits and recipes: Smoked salmon blini puff, Sunday Suppers blinis, Blinis with smoked salmon, Chive blini with creme fraiche, Yukon gold potato blini with eggplant caviar, Fresh corn blinis} 

A group of my girlfriends and I recently started having dinner theme nights. We choose one ingredient and each bring a dish that contains that ingredient. Last dinner was all about mushrooms. I made a spectacular mushroom pate, Emily made mushroom risotto that was out of this world, Natasha made a mushroom and potato dish and Shannon made roasted cauliflower with truffle oil.  Everything was delicious. 

Tomorrow evening we are having a seafood theme dinner. Ever since Sunday Suppers posted about blinis earlier this year I have had them on my list to make. I decided to attempt a non-traditional blini; a smoked samon blini puff. Sounds pretty amazing, right? It's the photo in the upper left hand corner. The puff pastry is what really sold me on the recipe, much easier than making homemade pancakes. I can't wait to see how it turns out.

Smoked salmon blini puff (recipe via Pepperidge Farms)

Ingredients

1/3 cup crème fraiche

1 1/2 teaspoons grated lemon zest
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 of a 17.3-ounce package Pepperidge Farm® Puff Pastry Sheets (1 sheet), thawed
1/2 of a 4-ounce package thinly sliced smoked salmon, cut into 12 pieces
12 sprigs fresh dill
3 teaspoons black caviar, tobiko or salmon roe

Preparation

Heat the oven to 400°F. Stir the crème fraiche, lemon zest and black pepper in a small bowl.

Unfold the pastry sheet on a lightly floured surface. Using a round cutter, cut the pastry sheet into 12 (2-inch) circles. Place the pastry circles onto a baking sheet. Prick the pastry circles thoroughly with a fork.

Bake for 12 minutes or until the pastries are golden brown. Let the pastries cool on the baking sheet for 10 minutes.

Spoon 2 teaspoons crème fraiche mixture on each pastry. Top each with 1 piece salmon and 1 sprig dill. Top with the caviar, if desired.

Fortunately, I found a local seafood store (if you are in MN, check out Coastal Seafoods!) that carries caviar. I opted for the more affordable version, salmon roe.

I'll let you know how it turns out!