Blini, Smoked Trout and Fennel Salad Topping

The festivities are coming and to be honest, my favourite part of the meal is the beginning, when all the appetizers come out! I have been thinking about making my own blini for a very long time. It is one of my favourite kinds of pancake, to be honest :)

With this recipe I make my own, I don’t use any yeast. The airiness in the pancake comes from the whipped egg whites. This is super simple to make and turned into a refreshing appetizer with smoked trout and a fennel salad.

What do you need? (for about 15-20 blini’s)

For the blini’s

• 1 egg, separated

• 100g of flour

• 25g of melted butter

• 150ml milk

• fresh herbs - you can choose whichever you like. I enjoy dill or chives in my blini. (optional)

For the topping

• sliced smoked trout (you can also use smoked salmon)

• 1/2 finely sliced fennel (use a mandolin but be careful!)

• juice from 1/2 lemon

• salt

• pepper

• olive oil

What do you need to do?

For the blini whisk together all the ingredients except for the egg whites. It should form a liquid paste.

Separately whisk the egg white until stiff and fluffy. Gently fold the egg white into the first mixture.

In a hot pan with some oil, spoon heaps of the batter. I used a small pan and did about 4 at a time. Make sure they don’t stick together or run into each other.

When nicely browned, put to the side on a plate. If you’re not going to use them immediately you cant leave them to cool down and put them through the toaster right before serving.

For the fennel salad, simply combine all ingredients and season to taste. Make sure you use enough lemon juice to give a bit of a kick but you can always adjust if it is not enough. This will keep in the fridge until the next day.

When assembling, simply top with some smoked fish, fennel and finish off with some freshly ground pepper and some fresh chives or dill..

Perfect for a festive appetizer round! Looks festive and colourful.