Crepes!

I’ve always been a fan of crepes. In high school there used a “creperie” near my high school where I’d stop off for breakfast or sometimes lunch (oh how I miss my days of disposable income). My fave combination was always salami, tomato and cheese. Clearly I was into health food.

A few years later I did study abroad in Paris and fell in love with the crepe stands. For budgetary reasons I would often get a simple crepe with butter and sugar but when I was feeling all splurg-y and stuff I’d get nutella and bananas. YUM!

Crepes have always been something I made at home, usually as a breakfast item. One day I was craving crepes and decided to head over to Williams Sonoma and buy a Crepe Pan to take my crepe making to another level.  I’ve always used a non-stick pan which worked okay but my crepes never had the right colouring or crispiness to them.  After some research I discovered that a steel crepe pan would do the trick.  So I bought mine at WS and seasoned it with TLC (as in Tender Loving Care).  Well really I seasoned it with oil and heat over the course of a few hours.  Check out my pan…

The other day I wanted a simple (and cheap) dinner so I figured it would be time to break out the old crepe pan.  I don’t have a standard recipe that I use… I normally alternate between a Martha Stewart or Cooking Light recipe.  This time around I used Mark Bittman’s recipe for crepes from the mega-tome .

They turned out great!  Normally my first crepe turns out wonky but this time they were perfect.  The key is to make sure that your pan is hot enough… I test with a few drops of water.  Also, if your pan is well season you won’t need a lot of oil.  I usually just swipe a piece of paper towel through some butter and wipe the pan – that’s it.  My other trick is the wrist action.  I usually use just under 1/3 cup of batter per crepe. I lift the pan and tilt it on an angel and swirl the batter onto the pan turn my wrist quickly to make an even layer on the pan.  I usually cook the crepe until the top isn’t runny and then flip it over to brown.  The whole process takes less than 45 seconds.  Not kidding.

This time around I filled the crepes with Ham & Cheese & Broccoli.  It was a great, light dinner.  Leftovers for dessert and breakfast!

Basic crepes

(Makes 10-12 crepes, depending on the size of your pan)

1 c. flour (all-purpose or whole wheat)
Pinch of salt
1 1/4 c. milk
2 eggs
2 Tbsp. butter, melted and cooled

1. Whisk the flour, salt and milk together until the mixture is bubbly. Whisk in the eggs, and then the cooled butter. At this point, Mark and many of the crepeologists in the world would say to refrigerate the batter. I never plan ahead, and my crepes turned out just fine. No refrigeration needed.
2. Heat a nonstick skillet (I used an 8-inch skillet) until drops of water tossed in the pan skitter across the surface. You’ll probably want to adjust the heat as you go, because you want to keep the pan very hot, but not so hot as to burn the crepes.
3. Using a small ladle, add somewhere between 1/8 and 1/4 of a cup of batter to the pan. Swirl it so it covers the bottom. You’ll need to work quickly, because the batter should start to cook immediately, and if you don’t swirl fast, you won’t get it to cover the whole bottom of the pan. Let it cook about a minute, until the top of the crepe is starting to dry but hasn’t yet bubbled, then flip the crepe over.
4. Cook the second side for about 20 to 30 seconds, then remove the finished crepe to a plate. You don’t want them to be as brown as pancakes would be – just slightly golden.
5. Fill with whatever you would like: Something sweet, something savory, etc. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F, and bake the filled crepes (topped with sauce, if you are so inclined), for about 10 minutes, until the filling is warmed. Serve immediately. (Note: If you’re making crepes for a party, you can do them ahead, then fill them and heat them when you’re ready to serve them.)

(From Mark Bittman’s How To Cook Everything via The Inadvertent Gardener)