Crepe mit Nutella.

If you are planning a trip to Europe, that’s really the only language lesson you need, right there. Just use it on any street vendor.

And so my own love affair with crepes began, over 15 years ago while living in Germany. I have been making them (on again & off again) for 15 years. I can’t believe I’ve never taught you how to make crepes–I’ve been neglecting your education.

There are a few of things you need to know, first:

The first thing you must know is that it is one of the simplest things in the world to make. Truly. And you get serious points for elegance. I never make them for house-guests or dinner guests because you will find yourself standing over the skillet (and I hate missing out on the conversations in the living room).

Secondly, you have unrestricted access to creativity!  We love both sweet and savory crepes, so I’ll give you a few ideas below for both.  I recommend making a whole-lotta crepes at once so that you can make savory for dinner & serve one for dessert at the same meal.  Why not? It’s just fun.

Thirdly, no special equipment.  They sell stuff but you don’t need any of it.  For 10 full years, I made these in a cast iron skillet, something a creperie chef would balk at, definitely.  BUT–I bet that if the creperie chef were challenged to a blind taste test, mine would pass.  I make a rockin’ crepe.

And…last big sell: They are way easier & faster than traditional breakfast fare.  Waffles need a hard-to-clean iron.  Pancakes take forever (and I manage to get grease & batter on everything in sight).

I’ll lay out the basic recipe, but stick around to see the tips on how to make crepes perfectly the first time.

Crepes

Makes 6-8                                           Approximately 15-20 minutes, start to finish

• 4 eggs, beaten
• 3 cups milk
• 2 Tbs Oil
• 2 cups flour
• If savory crepe: 1/4 tsp salt,
• If sweet crepe: 1 Tbs honey or 1 1/2 Tbs organic sugar

1. Beat eggs, then add all of the other ingredients.
2. Very lightly grease and heat a skillet on high.
3. Whisk together until thoroughly blended (no lumps!).
4. Turn down the skillet’s heat to between 4-6 so that it doesn’t brown too quickly on bottom.
5. Pour 2 ice cream scoops of the wet batter into the skillet, but immediately lift and spin the skillet to spread the batter out very thinly and evenly.
6. You will see a slight bubbling of the batter and the color change as it cooks.  Cook approximately 2-3 minutes per crepe, ensuring that the batter on top has dried out.  Do not flip it!
7. Lift the skillet and flip the crepe out onto a plate.
8. NEXT!

Tips for how to make crepes perfectly!

1. Start with a hot skillet, but you will have to keep an eye on the temperature throughout.  Too hot, and it will brown too quickly.
2. Never flip a crepe, at all.  You can peek under the edges to check the color.
3. I have used traditional nonstick, cast iron, and ceramic pans.  Any pan will work as long as you have it properly maintained and/or oiled to avoid sticking.
4. Make sure that batter is nice and runny (much more so than, say, pancake batter).
5. Keep them thin!  That’s the trick completely to having it a deep brown on one side but cooked thoroughly through.
6. I only ever use home-milled flour and works beautifully–soft white wheat is best.
7. Serve them while they are still warm–amazing.  But if you need to warm them up, you can do this in your oven at 200 degrees, covered, for about 10 minutes.

Savory Crepes

My husband said, “If you weren’t already my wife, I’d ask you to marry me all over again.”

Over a crepe.

I had stuffed it with home-canned salmon from last year’s catch, cream cheese, and avocado.  So there you have it, if you can’t get the guy to ask you, make that.

 

Here are some other savory crepe ideas:

• Chicken salad crepe for a packed lunch
• Scrambled eggs, chives, ham or bacon, and your favorite cheese
• Cream cheese, sausage or ground beef, cheddar cheese
• Cream cheese, shredded chicken, artichoke, and spinach
• Canned salmon, cream cheese, avocado (okay, I mentioned that one but it bears repeating)

 

Sweet Crepes

• Brie and homemade strawberry jam
• Nutella
• Nutella & Banana (our favorite)
• Nutella & Peanut Butter
• Cream Cheese and sliced strawberries
• Honey-Cinnamon
• Put a few drops of almond flavoring in the batter, and baked apples (pictured below)

 

Enjoy!

Chaya

 

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