Cut the crêpes

If you haven’t added yet added crêpes to your repertoire, carpe diem already. Crêpes have been around for hundreds of years. Originating in the Brittany region of France, the word crêpe derives from the Latin “crispus” meaning crisp. These days, crêpes are considered a national food in France and their popularity has spread via worldwide crêperies.

Full of nothing but possibility

Mostly eaten indiscriminitely throughout the year, especially by teenagers and others in need of immediate snackage, crêpes have a special role to play on Candlemas in France. While we Americans are in the throes of the traditional Groundhog Day bacchanalia (or is that just me?), the French flip crêpes with the hope of earning fortune and happiness. Crêpe pan in the left hand, gold coin in the right, a successfully flipped Candlemas crêpe promises wealth in the coming year.

Crêpes have been a staple of my diet since I was 16. Returning from my first trip to Paris, I refused to accept that in the U.S., far from the crêpe vendors of the arrondissements’ avenues, I would no longer be able to eat crêpes on demand. So I began experimenting with the recipe in the Better Homes and Gardens New Cookbook and within the year had established myself in some circles as the type of person who needs a professional crêpe pan. The pan was a wonderful gift from a great friend and I still use it to cook nearly everything I eat, crêpe or otherwise.*

Same pan, but I use Jacques Pépin’s crêpe recipe from Complete Techniques now. It’s the recipe that I prepared thousands of times in my brunch kitchen, from the book I was ordered to buy to remain employed as a chef there. I’m paraphrasing though, so direct any angry letters to me, not JP:

Pépin as a baby: the Cupid of Crêpes

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Crêpes à la Pépin:

• 1&1/2 c. flour
• 3/4 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. sugar
• 1&1/2 c. milk
• 3 eggs
• 2/3 stick butter (melted)
• 1 c. cold water

With a large whisk, mix flour, sugar, salt, eggs and about half the milk in a large bowl until blended. Add remaining ingredients, whisking vigorously until batter resembles a thin syrup. You can use the batter immediately or allow it to chill in the fridge for up to a day. Some argue that this allows an imperceptible fermentation to occur that improves the end product.

Pour about 3-4 tablespoons of batter into a hot, buttered pan. Lift and rotate pan until the batter coats the bottom. Cook over medium-high heat until the edges start to curl and brown. Flip the crêpe and cook the second side briefly. Place finished crêpes on a plate, covered with a paper towel, or eat directly out of the pan with your fingers, depending on your company.
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Beside the buttery simplicity of a freshly cooked crêpe, the beauty of the dish is in its infinite potential. Anything edible – particularly anything sautéed, melted or sliced – makes an incredible filling. Butter and sugar alone are delicious in a pinch but Nutella and sliced banana with a dusting of powdered sugar can really change the tenor of an after work snack. Here are two outrageously simple ideas that you should add your own touches to:

• Sweet
  Slice fresh fruit (strawberries, peaches, bananas, whatever), sautée in browned butter, adding about a tablespoon of brown sugar, cooking until caramelized. Spoon fruit into crêpe, roll carefully and top with fresh whipped cream, powdered sugar and something bite-sized like blueberries or raspberries or chocolate shavings.
• Savory
  Sautée sliced mushrooms, chopped yellow onion and minced garlic in about a tablespoon of olive oil. Season with salt and pepper, cooking until lightly browned. Add a handful of spinach, cooking until wilted. Fill crêpe, roll up and top with grated parmigiano reggiano.

I admire his restraint

After dinner this Saturday, I had crêpes with caramelized peaches, fresh cream and blueberries. On Sunday morning, I used the leftover batter to wrap up eggs scrambled with green onions and shiitake mushrooms browned in fish sauce for breakfast.

A light white wine or a bottle of Orangina goes best with any crêpe at any time of day or night.

 Better Homes and Gardens New Cookbook  - Second to none as the ideal cookbook for the beginning home cook. For basic American cooking or when all else fails, I’ve been referring to this book since I was allowed in the kitchen.

Jacques Pépin’s Complete Techniques – Confident enough to start thinking about a recipe as a marriage of different elements, techniques and traditions? Perhaps you want to start writing your own… This book ranges from roasts to meringues and is employed in many a professional kitchen to inspire the development of new restaurant menus.

* If you’re the sort of person that’s afraid a seasoned pan will convey a horrible butter-born parasite into your system, feel free to use your non-stick. But you won’t be sorry if you experiment by seasoning  just one pan to start: food will come out more easily and with better flavor and I promise that it probably won’t kill you.