Mini Blini Burger Bites Gluten-free

Buckwheat is an interesting gluten-free option. Due to its triangular shaped seed head which resembles a beech mast, its name derived from the Middle Dutch boecweite means beech wheat. However, it is not related to wheat but rather to sorrel, dock and rhubarb. Native to Northern Europe and Asia it was cultivated in China from 900 A.D. onwards and from there its cultivation spread outwards to Europe and Russia in 1200 A.D. It was finally introduced into the United States by the Dutch in the 17th century.

Buckwheat is still widely cultivated in Russia and Poland and forms an important part of their respective traditional cuisines. Here in North Western France and in particular Brittany, every town has at least one pancake house and every market and fair a row of vendors selling galettes - traditional buckwheat savoury pancakes, folded into a square and served with a multitude of fillings.

This is one of the rare recipes where I am making a sort of a gluten-free alternative, albeit not with gluten-free bread! The burger bun blini was one I thought up because we do make burgers but we find the addition of bread, way to heavy, this in particular when eaten as a complete meal. Buckwheat blinis are light and airy and make a great foil for all kinds of snacks and appetisers, I will be including several more blini-based recipes in the following weeks.

BLINIS

INGREDIENTS

(makes 20)
100g (3½oz) buckwheat flour
¼ teaspoon baking powder
A generous pinch of salt
1 egg separated
100ml (3½ fluid oz) milk
Butter or oil for cooking

METHOD

Sift the flour, salt and baking powder together and then make a well in the centre.

Beat egg yolk and milk together.

Gradually add the liquids to the centre of the well, drawing the flour from the sides into the egg mixture.

Mix into a smooth batter.

Whisk the egg white until it holds in soft peaks, gently fold into the batter.

Brush a frying pan or griddle with butter or oil. Working in batches drop a heaped teaspoon of the mixture into the hot frying pan.

Cook until bubbles appear, (approximately after 3 minutes), the underside should now be golden.

Turn and cook on the other side (2 minutes). Brush pan with butter or oil between batches.

You can make the blinis a few days in advance and store them in an airtight tin in a cool place. Crisp up before the party by popping them in a oven for 3 minutes at a temperature of 200ºC or 400ºF

Mini Blini Burger Bites

Use a small cutter or if you don't have one a spice jar top works really well, to cut your cooked burgers into mini shapes. Otherwise just cut the burgers with a knife. From each burger I used, which were organic frozen ones, I made five minis, thus with two burgers and the 20 blinis from this mix you will make 10 burgers.

Alternatively I make my own patties, purely from minced beef, seasoned with salt and pepper bound with beaten egg. Then obviously I would just make the mini burgers to match the size of the blinis.

I  completed the burgers with a topping of Batavia salad leaf in a little mustard vinaigrette and each beef patty was laid onto a teaspoon of piperade sauce, which is a traditional spicy Basque tomato, pepper and chilli dish and you can find it in my recipes here.

Enjoy!

All that needs to said now is Bon Appėtit!

Hope to see you here again for another recipe from an old farmhouse in Normandie,

All the best,
Sue

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