Jonathan said this should be subtitled: How to efficiently make a vast quantity of palascinta to make your family happy.
This recipe is for the thin pancakes that we Hungarians call palacsinta (pullah-cheenta) - similar to the French crepe, Jewish blintz, or thin Swedish pancakes.
2 cups milk
1 3/4 cup flour
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
Butter for frying.
Jam, lekvar (prune butter), or cinnamon sugar for filling.
I double the recipe to make about 26 8" palacsinta.
Mix all ingredients together in a bowl with a stick blender, or in a regular blender. It is very helpful to have everything arranged for easy cooking - I set things up like so:
I ladle the batter into a measuring cup to make it easy to pour from, and set it on a saucer to catch the inevitable drips. Since I make a large batch and have hungry people waiting, I use two frying pans to keep things moving. I have my butter close by, and a plate to put the finished palacsinta on. Usually people come up and grab them as I make them and fill and roll them for themselves.
Over medium-high heat melt a small dab of butter in the frying pan (or pans if you are using two). Pour in some of the batter - it will be thin, not like regular pancakes. The dollop of batter should be about like this much-
Then you pick up the pan and swirl it around to get the batter to cover the bottom of the pan like so-
Let it cook until the surface looks rather dry-
Then flip it over to cook the other side -this is where my second pan comes in - I flip it over right into the second pan to finish cooking. Then I go ahead and pour my next palacsinta in the first pan. This works out as an efficient system for me to keep them going and feed the family.
Continue to add a tiny dab of butter to the frying pan after each couple of palacsinta.
Spread the finished palacsinta with a thin layer of jam or sprinkle with cinnamon sugar-
Roll it up and feed it to waiting hungry child-
Alternatively, for cheese filling mix up 1 pound cottage cheese, 2 eggs, 1/4 cup sugar and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Spread filling generously on palacsinta, roll it up, and place in a buttered baking dish. Bake in oven for about 20-30 minutes until filling is cooked.
Sprinkle with powdered sugar on top or dollop with sour cream if you want to be fancy.
