Crêpes -French Pancakes

Crêpes, the traditional french pancake, can be made for a number of delicious reasons. They can be used a way to celebrate mardi gras, a festive desert for a dinner party or an attractive way to serve leftovers! Crêpes are served with a variety of fillings, from the most simple with only sugar to flambéed crêpes Suzette or with elaborate savoury fillings such as fish, meat, vegetables all with the option of additional sauce!
Tonight I made my Crêpes with a caprese salad filling and a desert crepe of the classic nutella and bananas.



Crêpes
Recipe yields about 25-30 Crêpes (6' diameter)

Ingredients

1 cup cold water

1 cup cold whole milk

4 eggs

1/2 tsp salt

1&1/2 cups flour

4 tbsp unsalted butter (melted)

Combine water, milk, eggs, salt, flour and meted butter in blender bowl.

Cover and blend on high. (1 min)

Scrape bowl down and blend again. (5 sec)

Cover with blender lid and refrigerate. (2 hours)

Batter should be very light and creamy, it will coat a wooden spoon.

Heat a 7'diameter bottom skillet on med high. (3 mins)

Brush the skillet lightly with butter to grease, the first Crêpe will be a tester to see if your pan is hot enough and your pâté â crêpe (Crêpe batter) is the right thickness. If the pâté â crêpe  seems too heavy add a tbsp of water at a time and re blend. (5 sec)

Brush the skillet lightly with butter to grease and pick up pan. Pour 1/4cup of  pâté â crêpe into center of pan and quickly tilt pan clockwise to spread evenly. You should have a thin film of  pâté â crêpe.

Return skillet to heat. (1 min)

Shake pan back and forth to loosen the Crêpe. With silicone spatula lift edges and when Crêpe is browned underneath it is ready to be turned (gently with spatula and fingers).

Brown other side lightly. (30 sec)

Don't forget to brush the skillet lightly with butter before cooking each Crêpe.

Keep Crêpes warmed on plate with cover in the microwave until ready, cold Crêpes are icky.

To make the traditional tri-fold spread filling evenly in a strip along the middle. Fold one side over the filling, then the other side over that.

Eat filled finished Crêpe out of Crêpe holder to really feel French!

(Wax paper folding directions below)

Crêpes freeze easy, pâté â crêpe can be kept in refrigerator for 24hrs.

 

 

Fillings- Caprese or Nutella

Insalata Caprese Filling (Caprese Salad)

Recipe yields 2 cups

Recipe Katie Bonzer

 

Ingredients

1 cup mozzarella

1 cup tomato

1/8 cup basil

1/8 cup extra virgin olive oil

1 tbsp balsamic vinegar

coarsely ground sea salt

coarsely ground black pepper

 

Cut mozzarella into 1/2in cubes or buy bocconcini, the bite size mozz balls.

Chop tomato to the same size as the mozz, for this I prefer to buy smaller tomatoes or cherry tomatoes because they have more meat and less juice. You dont want too much juice for the filling because the crêpe will get soggy.

Chop fresh basil into long thin strips. Do not substitute fresh with dried. If your market doesn't have fresh basil try to find a good basil infused olive oil.

Combine mozz, tomato, basil, evoo & balsamic.

(Find a good sweet aged balsamic of modena, cheap bitter balsamic is not good in this)

Freshly grind salt & pepper to taste.

 

Nutella & Bananas

 

With wax paper fold triangle Crêpe holder.