Recipes & Food Styling

Violet’s Birthday Caviar Bar

My sweet darling Cocker Spaniel, Violet, turns ONE tomorrow! Succeeding through that amazing puppy year is so worth celebrating with a special extravagance like caviar!

Caviar can be so much fun! I love making hard-boiled farm fresh eggs and separating them into little glass bowls. Finely chop chives; dice some red onion and cut some lemon wedges. Add some sour cream and you have a caviar bar! Perfect for a holiday appetizer or a late-night snack!

Blinis

Ian Knauer, Food & Wine magazine

3 tablespoons all-purpose flour

2 tablespoons buckwheat or rye flour

1 teaspoon sugar

1/8 teaspoon baking soda

Kosher salt

1/4 cup whole milk

1 large egg, separated

2 tablespoons melted unsalted butter, plus more for cooking

In a bowl, whisk together the flours, sugar, soda, and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Whisk in the milk and the egg yolk. In a separate bowl, whisk the egg white until it holdS soft peaks. Gently fold the egg white into the batter until combined. Fold the 2 tablespoons melted butter into the batter.

In a large heavy cast iron or non-stick skillet, heat about 1/2 tablespoon of butter over medium heat until hot. Working in batches, spoon level 1 tablespoons of the batter (about 6 at a time) into the skillet and cook until bubbly and dry on top, about 1 minute. Flip the blini and cook until golden on the bottoms, about 45 seconds more. Transfer the blini to a serving platter and repeat with the remaining batter.