Eat and Drink and Find Delight: The French Crepe

Perhaps the most utilitarian french invention that you will find in my kitchen. These smooth velvety disks of indulgence can be used to carry sweet or savory. Easy snacks to take on the road or liberally smothered with a citrusy suzette sauce. A stack of crepes can be made the day before for, for that matter days before for, you need them making dessert a mere assembly job.

The one caveat with the crepe is that I found it near impossible to make a good one with out a crepe pan. I ended up ordering mine on-line but more power to you if you can find it in a local shop. Though I do not tend to buy many specialized tools for my kitchen a crepe pan has become a pan that I use daily--for frying any kind of pancake, eggs, omelets--all of which my crepe pan is the tool of choice in my kitchen.

To say this is my recipe would be like saying I have a recipe for a Peanut butter and jam sandwich. The first recipe for a Crepe that I used was found in a lovely little french cook book aptly named, "French" by Carole Clements & Elizabeth Wolf-Cohen which I would highly recommend if you would like to dabble with French flavors. A Crepe recipe can easily be varied with little concern for a crepe catastrophe. Heavy flours like Rye and Spelt make beautiful crepes, almond milk brings a lovely nutty flavor to the crepe. However, I would stick to the butter unless you find yourself in the lamentable condition of having a dairy allergy, as I have found this to be the only factor to bring about any questionable outcome to the crepe. If you must change to oil I would stick with a grape seed or almond oil as I have had success with these.

INGREDIENTS:

1 cup flour (white, whole meal, spelt, rye or a mix)
1 teaspoon caster sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 eggs (whisked)
2 cups milk
*2 tablespoons butter

*You will also need a mix off 2T butter & 2T oil for greasing pan when cooking.

Method:

Step 1: Whisk together, eggs, milk, and butter.

Step 2: Add flour, sugar, and salt then whisk until all lumps are gone.

Step 3: Cover and allow to rest for 20 minutes to over night. Note: When ready to cook the mix will need to be mixed well before use.

Step 4: Heat crepe pan to medium/hot heat.

Step 5: Lightly grease crepe pan then pour 1-ladle full of crepe batter into the center of the pan then holding the handle of the pan tip the pan in a circular motion allowing the batter to spread a thin layer evenly over the base of the pan. Cook for approximately 1 minute until the top of the crepe is set. Carefully slide your spatula under the crepe and gently flip. Cook additional minute. Stack crepes onto a plate lined with a paper towel or kitchen dish towel. If you will be using the next day allow crepes to completely cool, then cover well with cling film and store in the fridge if it is summer or in the winter (if your house is cold) store in a cool dry place.

Fill crepe as you desire...but be warned these slid down easily and one can easily consume more then their fare share...

Crack eggs into a large bowl then whisk...

Pour two tablespoons of butter into the eggs and mix...

Add milk and mix...

Whisk wet ingredients well...

Gently tumble the flour (I have used 1/2 cup Rye and 1/2 cup Whole Meal here)...

Carefully tip the salt and sugar on top of flour, and whisk the dry ingredients together just as it is sinking into the wet... (this method saves an extra bowl..less washing up!)

Whisk together until all lumps are gone. Mind you don't stress tiny little lumps like the ones seen on the side of the bowl here...

Cover and rest for 20 minutes...24 hours...

Heat your pan over medium/high heat until hot. Get yourself organized before you pour!

Pour one ladle full onto the center of pan then twirl the pan around allowing the batter to slide smoothly and thinly to coat the bottom of the crepe pan.

The French say the first crepe is for the dogs. This is not because of their deep love of the family pet but rather because first crepe almost always ends in disaster like the above photo. However, in our family this saying is quite apropos as the kids always come running like a pack of wild snarling dogs to see who gets the "dogs" crepe. So toss your first ruinous crepe to your kids and move onto the next.

Allow the crepe to cook for about 2 minutes until the top has set then very carefully slide your spatula under the crepe and flip. It is not as difficult to do as the first couple may leave you feeling that it is but by your third or fourth crepe you will begin to feel like a pro.

The golden glow of a finished crepe just waiting for its filling and a hungry mouth.

Nutella filling is always a crowd pleaser but don't get stuck in a Nutella crepe rut, branch out to a Suzette Sauce or mix together cream cheese and your jam of choice, the options can go as far as your imagination.

Fold the crepe in half...then in half again...to form your tasty parcels. And as my children always say, "If you bite the tip it's gunna drip!" so our advice is to eat from the top down!

Suzette Sauce (Orange Sauce):

INGREDIENTS:

6 tablespoons (85gm)
butter
1/4 cup caster sugar
1 large orange (zest & juice)
1 lemon (zest & juice)
2/3 cup fresh orange juice
4 tablespoons orange liqueur

*Brandy for flaming (optional)

Method:

Step 1: Melt butter in sauce pan

Step 2: Add sugar, zest, juices, and liqueur and heat until sugar has dissolved. Sauce will be very runny.

Step 3: Place crepe into juicy sauce, sock while flipping in half and half again. Set to the side and continue heating crepes.

Step 4: Flame crepe (Totally optional no need to do this unless you want to really impress someone however its not as difficult as it sounds.) Heat 2-3 tablespoons of orange liqueur and brandy in small saucepan over medium heat. Remove pan from heat and carefully ignite with a match then gently pour over the crepes.