NOVEMBER 28 • 2024 | 19
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The Chef’s Production Company
Keith Famie is the founder and executive producer of Wixom-based Visionalist
Entertainment Productions (VEP). Since 2006, Famie and his team have produced
documentaries for corporate clients and nonprofits, with some of the films airing
locally on TV stations WDIV, WXYZ and public broadcasting channel WTVS.
“My focus has always been to tell stories that inspire, educate and often help
people better understand their own lives and the lives of others,” Famie said.
VEP brings a local approach to the topics explored by the inclusion of
Detroiters. Along the way, the company has received 23 Michigan Emmy Awards
in different categories. The Emmy-winning documentaries include Shoah
Ambassadors (2021), a nationally recognized film about the Holocaust that
features nine Holocaust survivors in Michigan; Embrace of Aging: The Female
Perspective of Growing Old (2014), featuring individuals on the front lines of
Alzheimer’s and dementia and highlighting several deeply personal stories from
the Jewish community, and several “Our Story” films about Detroit’s different eth-
nic communities, starting with Italian in 2006.
Detroit: The City of Chefs will be shown on WTVS at 9 p.m. Dec. 12.

the ramps atop the morels. In a small bowl,
combine the creme fraiche and goat cheese.
Spoon the creme fraiche atop the ramps.
Serve.

TRICKS OF THE TRADE: Do not refriger-
ate your blini batter as the yeast leavening
effect will decrease, resulting in dense tex-
ture.

RYE BLINI
CREATED BY CHEF JIMMY SCHMIDT
Makes 12 four-inch blini

Ingredients
1½ cups warm milk (at about 110 degrees F)
1 package dry yeast
1 teaspoon sugar
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup Bluebird Grain Farms rye flour
3 large egg yolks
4 ounces unsalted butter at room temperature
⅓ cup heavy cream
½ teaspoon sea salt
2 large egg whites

Directions
In a medium bowl, combine the milk, yeast
and sugar. Allow to develop until foamy,
about 10 minutes. Whisk in the flours. Whisk
in 4 tablespoons of the butter. Whisk in the
egg yolks. Allow to rise, covered with a clean
cloth, until double, about 30 minutes. In a sep-
arate bowl, whip the heavy cream until slightly
thickened. Fold into the blini batter, along with
the salt. In another separate bowl, whip the
egg whites to soft peaks. Fold into the batter.
To cook: Melt 1 tablespoon of the butter
in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high
heat. Add ¼ cup of the batter to form a blini,
repeating until your pan is utilized. Cook until
golden, indicated by bubbles rising to the
uncooked surface of the blini, about 2 min-
utes. Turn it over and cook until done, about
1 minute. Transfer to a warm plate, keeping
separate and warm in a 150 degree F oven, if
necessary. Repeat with the remaining batter.
Top as you like.
WHAT IS A BLINI? Blini is a thin Russian
pancake that traditionally was yeast-leavened
and made from oats or buckwheat, poor flours
for bread making.

WHY DO THEY TASTE SO GOOD? The
flavor from the yeast activity develops the
blini’s unique taste. This recipe is enriched
with butter and cream and becomes lighter
due to the air captured in the whipped egg
whites. The use of rye flour adds a certain
unique nuttiness to the blini, too.

For more recipes from the master chefs from Detroit: The City of

Chefs, visit thejewishnews.com.

George Vutetakis, who is
included in the documentary,
was chef at the former Inn
Season Cafe, a vegetarian
restaurant.