Mastering the Art of Crepe !

The art of making crepes

A gust of cold wind. A persisting sniffle. A cold bathroom in the morning. Little signs that cold weather is taking a firm grip in our lives, even in sunny San Diego. Suddenly holding a warm cup of coffee, or chocolate, becomes a much-anticipated ritual throughout the day. For me, it triggers another craving, firmly embedded in years of french upbringing: a warm crepe, with my favorite filling, Nutella. When the wind turns cold and the leaves have begun to fall, city streets in France are filling up with all kinds of aromas, most of which come from grilled chestnuts and warm crepes bubbling on hot portable stoves. As a kid I would be mesmerized watching the crepe maker skillfully pour the batter on the hot plate and spread it in a circular motion to create that soft, eggy, thin and large pancake that is called "crepe". At home, we would have crepe nights in the middle of winter. As a student, they would turn into crepe parties, with all kinds of fillings, from ham and cheese to rum-soaked sugar.

So this week-end was a bit cold, and my conditioning kicked in, I was at the stove making a huge pile of crepes ! The crepe recipe is pretty simple, really. Making them however requires a certain dexterity and practice. So before deciding for a crepe party with the neighbors, make sure you know how to pour the batter adroitly, flip the crepe, and deliver it hot and steaming on your guests' plates. Here is the basic recipe, which gives me 20-25 crepes on a 12-inch nonstick pan.

Ingredients:

• 1L or 4 cups of whole milk (don't substitute with reduced fat milk or the batter will be too runny and hell to cook)
• 4 eggs
• 2 cups of flour
• a pinch of salt
• 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil (canola)
• optional flavoring (vanilla, Grand Marnier, rum, orange blossom...)

Directions:

1. Beat the eggs, salt, oil, and a few tablespoons of milk together.
2. Add the flour and mix to get a very heavy dough.
3. Add the milk little by little while stirring until you get a homogeneous batter. I use a whisk to break up the clumps.
4. Let the batter settle for 1 hour in the fridge before using. If it gets too heavy you can add some milk to it just before use.

To make a crepe: (Note to self: a YouTube video would be perfect here!)

1. Choose a nonstick pan, usually Teflon-coated, and grease it with a thin film of canola oil. Personally I rub an oil-soaked paper towel that I use before making each crepe.
2. Preheat the pan on the stove. Medium heat is good. It's easier to make crepes when the pan is really hot. Quite often I screw up my first crepe because it wasn't hot enough. Typically, the crepe ends up sticking too much to the pan and I can't flip it without breaking it.
3. Pour enough batter to cover the entire pan floor in a thin layer. I tend to transfer my batter to an old milk container, it comes out great without the use of a ladle.
4. Wait until the crepe border detaches itself from the pan then gently slide a flat wooden stick under until you feel confident enough you can flip it. This is a critical step when the crepe is fragile and can break easily. You'll likely to spend many attempts there. Practice, practice, practice ! My secret: I use my fingers to flip the crepe ! Quick or you get burned !
5. Once you flipped the crepe, the other side will cook quickly. Transfer to a plate, regrease and repeat step 3 !

Oui, oui, making crepes is an art that every self-proclaimed french cook has to master. Consider it a rite of passage before tackling Julia Child's french recipe book.

For fillings, I'll leave it to your imagination for now. Between sweet and salt-based fillings, it would take another entire post. For immediate craving, I recommend Nutella, jams, jellies, plain sugar with or without a sprinkle of alcohol (Grand-Margnier tastes good here), peanut butter, ice-cream...have you run out of crepes yet ??? :)

I also have a recipe for buckwheat crepes for the health-conscious and advanced crepe-maker. Also another post for later. If you are antsy, shoot me an email and I'll share. For the price of a crepe or two :)