NOVEMBER 28 • 2024 | 19 J N 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.