Sirniki (Russian Cheese Pancakes)

Ingredients

• 1 lb farmer cheese
• 2 eggs
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup flour, plus
• extra flour, for dipping
• 2 tablespoons butter, approx
• sour cream or jam, for serving

Directions

1. 1

   In a food processor, pulse the farmer’s cheese until it is uniformly crumpled. Add the eggs, sugar, salt, and ½ cup of flour. Pulse or mix to combine. Refrigerate 1 hour, or even overnight. The dough will remain thick but sticky.

2. 2

   Put approximately 1/3 cup of flour into a bowl, and use this to prevent the dough from sticking to your hands. Using 2 teaspoons, drop 1½” balls of dough into the flour, roll them round, and flatten to about 3/8” thick. Place them on a plate in a single layer until all the patties are all formed.

3. 3

   Heat a frying pan with 1 T. butter, and fry the patties on each side until golden. You will need to add more butter as you go.

4. 4

   Serve hot with sour cream and/or jam. This recipe will make approximately 20 small patties.

5. 5

   NOTE: Farmer Cheese is usually found near the cream cheese; my store sells Friendship brand. These days, the packages are just under 1/2 pound (don't you hate this incremental downsizing?), and 2 packages will work fine.

6. 6

   About the Times, Prep time is mostly frying time, and Passive time is the chilling time.