Crepes

Adapted from The New Making of a Cook, by Madeline Kamman

Two years ago, my then 6-year old daughter proclaimed to me that, “Crepes are our family food.” I knew exactly what she meant. We have been coming together on Saturday mornings over crepes for as long as she can remember. They are a tradition for us. We fill them with warm jam, drizzle them with fruit sauce and – when my jeans have been getting too tight – simply squeeze lemon juice over them.I memorized this simple recipe years ago and can scale the recipe easily for guests. I own three crepe pans. Otherwise, it would take all morning to produce the double batch it takes to feed my crepe-crazy family of six.

You do need a crepe pan to make these. I love the nonstick (yes, I’m actually advocating non-stick here) pans by Berndes that are carried by Bed Bath & Beyond.

Ingredients
Dry Ingredients
3/4 cup all purpose flour
¾ cup whole wheat flour

Wet Ingredients
2 cups milk
6 eggs
4 tablespoons melted butter
1 teaspoon vanilla

Instructions

Mix Ingredients
1. Combine dry ingredients separately from wet ones. Mix the wet into the dry by making a well in the center of the dry ingredients and pouring the wet ingredients into the well.
2. Stir until just combined. DO NOT OVERSTIR. The batter will be very lumpy. That is fine.
3. Allow to rest for 20 minutes. The lumps on top will absorb the surrounding liquid. Allowing the wet and dry ingredients time to combine themselves prevents gluten production, which would toughen the resulting crepes.
4. Whisk the batter until just smooth.

Cook the crepes
1. Preheat the crepe pans over medium heat for about 2 minutes.
2. While you wait for them to warm up, brush them with the lightest sheen of butter using a pastry brush or spray them lightly with cooking spray. You don’t need to do this again. The butter from the crepe batter will continue to keep the pan lubricated as you go
3. Pour about 1/3 cup of batter into a pan. If it bubbles up, the pan is too hot. In that case, turn the heat down just a bit. Swirl the batter around the entire pan bottom. You should have a nice thin layer.

4. Cook until the batter no longer looks wet, but is still shiny or, putting it another way, looks like it is set. This is about 45 to 60 seconds. Using a plastic spatula, if necessary, loosen the edges of the crepe from the pan sides. Slide the crepe about halfway off the pan onto your spatula to flip it over.

5. Take a look at the color of the side that you just flipped over. If it is a light golden color with a touch of browning, you’re good. If it looks dark or dry, you’ve got the heat too high. Turn it down.
6. Cook the reverse side for 20-30 seconds. The second side only takes about half as long as the first.
7. Slide the crepe on a warm plate, beginning a stack which will keep all the crepes warm and tender. You actually don’t even have to cover them to keep them warm.

Serve
1. There are two major ways you can serve crepes. We usually fold them into quarters and then drizzle our toppings on top. If I’m doing a small amount of something like jam or spreadable cheese or Neufchatel (lightly sweetened lower fat cream cheese), I’ll usually put a little dollop or schmear of that in one quadrant of the crepe and then fold it, topping the folded crepe with a fruit sauce or powdered sugar and cinnamon mixture.
2. You can also ladle a line of filling in the middle and then roll them up.

Off Script…
Flavor ideas:

• Bananas sautéed with a bit of butter, cinnamon and brown sugar
• Squeeze of lemon and sprinkle of powdered sugar mixed with cinnamon
• Warm jam, just about 1 teaspoon per crepe is perfect
• Neufchatel in the middle with fruit sauce on top
• Topped with supremed oranges and grapefruits with a bit of chopped mint
• Make ‘em for dinner. Leave out the vanilla. Add a dash of salt and herbs to the batter. Top with chicken, turkey or mushroom gravy.