I love crepes. They are equally good for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
When Tammy responded that she’s never had crepes, I knew I had to share this yummy goodness with everyone. It’s my social duty to tempt you into eating all these delectable treats so you won’t fit into skinny jeans. Then I won’t feel bad if when I’m not the only one who can’t pull those dang jeans 2 inches past my kneecaps.
The best crepe I ever had was in Paris in the Jardin des Tuileries right in front of the Louvre. It’s been about 10 years but I can still taste that gooey melted cheesy scrumptiousness. If I can ever talk my husband in to taking me back, we will be going straight back to that park to see if that Crepe maker is still there. (I just found out my husband is my new secret blog lurker so I have to start dropping hints.) Sweetie, take me to Paris for my birthday, take me to Paris for my birthday, take me to Paris for my birthday. If not for my birthday, our 10th anniversary. Now that would be amazing!
Okay, I better stop daydreaming. Back to crepes. The point of the story is to that you have try crepes with different fillings. My mom makes delicious Seafood Crepes. Another great filling for crepes is chicken, mozzerella and marinara, rolled up and topped with more marinara and mozzerella. Very tasty. By far the most popular fillings are sweet things like puddings and fruit.
All you need is a basic crepe recipe, a saute pan or skillet and some fillings….or not. A few of my kids like them rolled up plain or just lightly spread with jelly. This is a great kid-friendly cooking activity. These instructions were originally typed up by my sister Rachie, who gets props for some seriously professional crepe making abilities.
1 cup milk
1 cup eggs (just crack eggs to fill up a cup)
1 cup flour
If desired: a dash of vanilla
Put all ingredients in a blender and blend until completely smooth. You can hand mix too, but nobody wants chunky crepes.
Get a skillet the size you would like the crepes. A small saute pan is fine. You don’t want it too big that you can’t flip it! When we’re making lots, or trying to make them fast, I use my counter top skillet so I can cook two at a time.
Heat your stove top to meduim.
Depending on your pan, you may need to put some butter on the pan and spread it around the whole surface. I usually butter my pan every 5 or 6 crepes.
Pour some batter out onto the middle of the pan, only putting enough to spread around the whole pan so it isn’t too thick (it usually takes a couple times to figure out the right amount to pour each time!) Spread the batter quickly around the pan by just holding the handle and rolling your wrist in a circular motion until the batter just slightly goes up the sides of the pan and filling in all the gaps and holes in the middle. Put it back on the stove and be ready to flip it, because they cook fast!
Remember, you want THIN Crepes. The thinner, the better. I probably put LESS than 1/4 cup of batter in a small skillet.
Once the edges on the sides start pulling away from the side of your skillet, slide your spatula around the edges and flip. It only takes about 15 seconds per side. You don’t want brown or golden, you want cooked. They are not much different in color than the batter.
Flip it on a plate, spread more butter if needed, and start a new one!! I usually put butter on after every two, because it’s a major bust when they start sticking and you have a ruined one trying to scrape it off. It’s very sad when this happens, but kind of good because you get to eat the scraps. (Rachie, I agree!)
You can refrigerate crepes for 4 or 5 days. I personally don’t think they freeze all that well. The are too thin and come out cracked and soggy.
Crepes are super easy and you can make a stack of them fast, so it’s a great recipe for big groups. Plus people are always all impressed because it looks like this fancy shmancy dessert, when it only took you 5 minutes to make. If you have leftovers after making dessert crepes, you can have dinner crepes (like the Seafood or Chicken Mozzerella noted above) the next day! Be prepared to gain at least 5 pounds after this dessert.. Enjoy!
**Don’t forget the fillings!! Just put them out buffet style, spoon them on in different combinations, and roll up the crepe! **
For Dessert Crepes:
Nutella (hazelnut-chocolate spread)
Raspberry, cherry or blueberry Pie Filling
Fresh Strawberries
Bananas
Whipped cream
Powdered Sugar (on top of the rolled crepe or inside, it is equally delicious)
Chocolate, vanilla or white chocolate pudding
(My favorite is white chocolate pudding, cherry pie filling, whipped cream and powdered sugar. Nutella and bananas is a close second.)
For Lunch Crepes:
cheese (swiss is my favorite)
lunch meat (ham and swiss…mmmm)
jelly (PB&J is pretty good too)
Nutritional Value - mom’s are supposed to worry about that stuff right?
Taste-this is a toss up.
