Sweet Potato Cottage Cheese Blintzes and a Boutique Academia Giveaway

Mmm blintzes!

It's like a crepe sandwich.  A pancake burrito.

I love trough foods.  You know what I mean...things you can just throw whatever leftovers you have hanging around into and suddenly they're delicious.

Quiche, pasta, fried rice.  And blintzes!

My grandma used to make blintzes with cream cheese.  That is a good memory

These are filled with a sweet potato/cottage cheese mixture that cooks up sweet and hearty and lovely.  The kind of food that makes you feel good after eating.  Like a Russian farmer.  In a movie.

And bonus!  My baby loved them.

He's a picky one, is he.  But wait, there's more!

My friend Maile over at Boutique Academia has authorized me to give away one (one!) of her gorgeous necklaces.

Boutique Academia is a collection of jewelry that celebrates and aestheticizes the sciences.  Thus, here is the cellular makeup of sucrose, or sugar.

Pretty appropriate round these parts, eh?  And you wondered what this had to do with food.

Plus, I just love beautiful things and the creative people that make them.  Here are some more of Maile's amazing things.  Can you figure out what they all are?

Here's a hint - bottom left corner are the cells of a rose petal.  Valentine's is coming!

To participate in the giveaway, do one of the following three things:

1.  Become a follower of this here blog, Icy Violet's Kitchen, and leave a comment here.  If you are already a follower, just say so in the comment.
2.  Head over to Boutique Academia and check out Maile's stuff!  I told you Valentine's is coming!  Come back over here and tell us in a comment what your favorite thing in the shop was.
3.  Like Boutique Academia on Facebook, and come back over here and leave a comment saying so.

There, that'll do nicely.  The giveaway will close Wednesday, January 23rd at 8 pm Pacific Time.  The winner will be announced next Thursday night!  Good luck I hope you win!

Sweet Potato Blintzes with Cottage Cheese (borrowed and adapted, with love, from The Smitten Kitchen Cookbook)

wrappers:
1 1/2 cups milk
6 large eggs
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt

filling:
4 medium sweet potatoes
2 cups cottage cheese
2 large egg yolks
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
pinch of nutmeg
pinch of salt

topping:
raspberry jam (or any other kind)
plain yogurt or sour cream

In a blender, combine all the wrapper ingredients and blend until smooth.  Pour the batter into a bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for an hour or up to 2 days.

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.  Bake the sweet potatoes for about 40 minutes, until soft.  Let them cool in their skins.  Once they're cool, peel them and mash with a fork.

Preheat a medium skillet or crepe pan over medium-high heat.  Once it's heated, brush lightly with melted butter or oil and pour 1/4 cup batter into the skillet, swirling it until it evenly coats the bottom.  Cook, undisturbed, until the bottom is golden and the top is set, about 2 minutes.  No need to flip them.  Transfer the wrapper to a paper-towel-covered plate, cooked side down.  Continue with remaining batter.

Once sweet potato puree is cool, stir in the cottage cheese, egg yolks, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt.

Once wrappers are all cooked, you're ready to make blintzes.  Put a slightly heaped 1/4 cup of filling in the center of each wrapper, and fold it up like a burrito.  Opposite ends together, then pull the end of the crepe nearest to you up over the filling and roll to completely enclose it.  Like an eggroll.  Repeat with remaining blintzes and filling (I had extra filling...it's okay, more blintzes!).  Reheat your skillet over medium heat and brush again with butter or oil.  Cook the blintzes, seam side down, until golden brown and crisp - about 5 minutes on each side.

Serve topped with a dollop of jam and a dollop of yogurt.