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Recipe for Romanian pancakes

Essdras M Suarez/Globe Staff

Serves 4

Alina Budin of Needham grew up in Romania under communist rule. Ingredients were hard to find, so recipes tended to be simple, with few steps. (She still has her mother’s thin 1954 cookbook, pictured at right, which contains no fewer than 855 recipes, each a few lines long.) Alina, a gifted and inventive cook, continues to make dishes in the Romanian style, using a limited array of spices. A favorite is clatite, very thin pancakes similar to blintzes or crepes, with different savory or sweet fillings. She might add family favorites such as mushrooms and onions, or her own creations, including cottage cheese with ground pepper, or walnuts with rum. Pack flour into the measuring cup loosely.

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2eggs
1cup flour
cups low-fat milk, at room temperature
1tablespoon canola oil
Extra canola oil (for the pan)
Mushroom filling (see recipe)

1. Have on hand a 9-inch nonstick skillet with low sides.

2. In a deep bowl with a fork, mix the eggs with the flour until the dough is soft and sticky and all the flour is incorporated. Gradually whisk in the milk, stirring vigorously, until the batter is a thin cream. This can take several minutes. If there are clumps of flour in the batter, let it sit, mixing occasionally, until smooth. Stir in the 1 tablespoon of oil.

3. Set the skillet over medium-high heat and add a very thin layer of oil. Heat the pan until a drop of batter coagulates immediately. Using about ¼ cup of batter for each pancake, pour the batter into the pan, and slowly tilt it gently from side to side, lifting it slightly from the heat, until the batter spreads to fill the pan. Let it cook for about 60 seconds. It should set but not burn. With a metal spatula or rounded-end knife, carefully lift the edges of the pancake. If it sticks, it is not ready.

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4. Use the knife to flip the pancake and cook the other side for 10 seconds. (If the pancake tears, plug the hole with batter.) When the pancake is ready, it should slide easily from the pan to a plate. Continue until all the batter is used, stirring the batter for each pancake. Keep stacking pancakes on the plate; cover and refrigerate for up to 1 week.

5. Spread filling on the bottom half of each pancake, leaving the edges bare. Roll up the pancakes. Reheat in a buttered baking dish in 350-degree oven for 15 minutes. Linda Matchan. Adapted from Alina Budin