Fresh Corn Blinis with Smoked Salmon and Chive Cream

Classic blinis are nutty buckwheat flour pancakes topped with sour cream and caviar. Our version has silver-dollar-sized sweet corn pancakes crowned with cold-smoked salmon. To prevent the blinis from becoming soggy, arrange in a single layer on a platter.

Yield: 8 servings (serving size: 3 topped blinis)

Ingredients

• 1/2  cup  reduced-fat sour cream
• 1  tablespoon  minced fresh chives
• 1  ear shucked corn
• 1/3  cup  all-purpose flour (about 1 1/2 ounces)
• 2  tablespoons  fine-ground yellow cornmeal
• 1/2  cup  1% low-fat milk
• 1  large egg yolk
• 1/4  teaspoon  salt
• 1/4  teaspoon  black pepper
• 1  large egg white
• Cooking spray
• 4  ounces  cold-smoked salmon, cut into 24 (2-inch) strips
• Chopped fresh chives (optional)

Preparation

Combine sour cream and chives in a small bowl. Cover and refrigerate.

Cut kernels from ear of corn. Scrape remaining pulp from cob using the dull side of a knife blade. Discard cob. Set corn aside.

Lightly spoon flour into a dry measuring cup; level with a knife. Combine flour and cornmeal in a medium bowl; make a well in center of mixture. Combine milk and egg yolk in a small bowl; stir well with a whisk. Add milk mixture to flour mixture, and stir with a whisk just until moist. Stir in corn, salt, and pepper.

Place egg white in a bowl; beat with a mixer at high speed until foamy. Gently fold egg white mixture into corn mixture.

Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Spoon about 1 tablespoon batter per blini onto pan, spreading to about 2-inch diameter. Cook 2 minutes or until tops are covered with bubbles and edges begin to set. Carefully turn blinis over; cook for 1 minute longer. Transfer blinis to a serving platter, and arrange in a single layer; keep warm. Repeat process with the remaining batter. Top each blini with 1 piece salmon and 1 teaspoon sour cream mixture. Garnish with chopped chives, if desired.

Nutritional Information

Calories:

102 (33% from fat)

Fat:

3.7g (sat 1.7g,mono 1.2g,poly 0.4g)

Protein:

6.2g

Carbohydrate:

11.2g

Fiber:

0.7g

Cholesterol:

35mg

Iron:

0.7mg

Sodium:

386mg

Calcium:

45mg