Friday, April 30, 2010

french friday - part huit

I asked you what I should write about for French Friday and a few of you mentioned French recipes.

Really?!

Do you really think I spend hours in the kitchen making fancy French recipes with titles like Coq au Vin and Boeuf Bourguignon while my baby and toddlers play peacefully at my feet?  Well that does sound heavenly, and I really do enjoy cooking and wish it worked that easily, but having 3 kids at home puts a totally different spin on how much time I can actually spend in the kitchen.   So let's just say I haven't yet mastered this book:

So I was just going to throw this idea out the window, but then I remembered... Hey, I've made French desserts before! That counts, right? And what is more popular than the French crêpe? So here's the recipe I use. Enjoy!
  • 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1 T melted butter
  • 1 1/4 cups skim milk
  • 2 eggs
  • 3/4 tsp salt
*Mix all ingredients in blender until well blended.
*Refrigerate batter for at least 30 minutes so the batter has a chance to "rest." It's just been through a lot of turmoil in that blender. Give it some time to learn to trust you again.
*During this 30 minutes, make sure you have strips of wax paper ready to place between the finished crêpes.  This can be disastrous if you forget and try and tear waxed paper off in the middle of making your crêpes and you can't get the stupid paper to rip off.  Burnt crêpes, anyone?


*Before you begin the actual crêpe making process, make sure your baby is happily playing in his exersaucer.

*Place your pan (preferably a small 8-10 inch one) on a medium-hot burner. Once hot, brush with a little oil or butter.
*Hold pan in the air with one hand while you pour 2-3 tablespoons of the batter into the pan with the other hand.
*Swirl pan around until batter coats the bottom.

*Return pan to burner. When the edge is light brown, flip the crêpe.

*Flipping can be difficult, so I was unable to get a picture of the actual flipping part.  But I always use my spatula to nudge the edge and then use my fingers to flip it so it doesn't tear (it should be thin).  But be careful not to burn your fingers!  There's another technique that involves using 2 pans, but I prefer not dirtying another dish.  I'd rather burn my fingers.
This looks kinda like a pancake, but is much thinner.  Trust me.  The picture doesn't really show it.

*Cook for about 15 seconds on second side and then remove with spatula (or fingers).
*Stack finished crêpes with wax paper in between each so they don't stick together.
*Fill crêpes with a yummy topping, such as Nutella (yum!), strawberries and whipped cream, ham and cheese, etc.  Pretty much anything you like can be rolled up into a crêpe.

Unfortunately I didn't have any Nutella in the house, so we filled ours with jam instead for a yummy breakfast.
Please pay no attention to the overflowing laundry baskets in the background... Hey, at least they're clean clothes!  :)
Millie really liked them!

I put the rest in the fridge to save for this recipe I'll be trying this evening.

Crêpes can be stored in the freezer for up to 6 months!  So, make a huge stack and you'll have easy breakfasts, desserts, and meals ready in no time!

Bon Appétit!

3 comments:

Amy@My Front Porch said...

Oooh...I wanna try those! Maybe even for breakfast tomorrow morning? I'm glad you thought of a recipe :)

Amy Kramer said...

Mmmm.... those look delicious!! :)
I think Crepes are going to be in my very near future! Thanks for the recipe!

H-Mama said...

I will have to try these!

It's okay to admit it. You sing french tunes in your kitchen... wearing your cute french apron... while cooking the fanciest french dishes. If not, don't burst my bubble please. Hehe... ;)