Tuesday 29 March 2011

CREPES

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Crepes remind me of my trip to France in 2001.  Ahhh.  I lived with my penpal of over 27 years, V. and travelled throughout France with her and her now-husband, P.  I had the time of my life.  We lived for awhile in P’s brother’s home in Annecy for a while.  There, we made homemade crepes on a brand new specialty T-Fal pan that V. purchased at the T-Fal factory. 
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You don’t know the pain I suffered as a foodie in France, visiting all those wonderful shops around France; woefully conscious of the lack of space in my luggage that I would have to drag up and down those imposing Metro stairs (no elevators!)  on my own on the way back home.  I had already purchased a huge copper pan from our travels and handmade bowls made by nuns in a convent we passed by.  I had no more room for T-Fal products, but I wanted wanted wanted!  The T-Fal nonstick crepe pan had a larger surface area than what we would find in North America.    It was also way shallower.   It even came with a handy wooden dowel to smooth the crepe batter.  The pan was a cinch to hold as it was light…and you could also flip the crepes easily this way.  In Vancouver, I looked high and low for these pans but alas, there were none. 
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Here are some pics from France, of me trying my hand with the T-Fal pan.  The dowel allowed you to make a super thin crepe that wasn’t bumpy.
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Here I am deftly flippy the huge crepe. 
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In Vancouver, I purchased a similarly large crepe pan but it was made of cast iron and covered with an enamel surface.  There’s no flipping this baby.  It’s so heavy…but I think that’s designed to distribute the heat more evenly.
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In France, my favourite filling for sweet crepes was Nutella, of course.   My favourite savoury crepe was ham and cheese.  My daughters, being allergic to nuts (too bad!) love crepes with jam.    Anything goes in my opinion. 
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Interestingly, V. & P.  never used recipes when they cooked.   However, I have included one if you are inclined to try your hand at it.  Do use a nonstick pan and your life will be a lot easier.


CREPES
  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • pinch of salt
  • 1 teaspoon sugar
  • 2 eggs, lightly beaten
  • 1 2/3 cups milk
  • 1 tablespoon melted butter
  • 1/3 cup water
  • butter, oil or nonstick spray for frying
  1. Sift the flour, salt and sugar into a bowl and make a well in the centre.  Mix the liquid ingredients together with 1/3 cup water and pour slowly into the well, whisking all the time to incorporate the flour until you have a smooth batter.  Stir in the melted butter.  Cover and refrigerate 20 minutes or overnight.
  2. Heat a crepe pan or a nonstick frying pan and grease with butter, oil or nonstick spray.  Pour in enough batter to coat the bottom of the pan in a thin even layer and pour out any excess.  Cook over moderate heat until the top of the crepe is dry and the crepe starts to come away from the side of the pan.  Turn the crepe on a plate with pieces of waxed paper between them and cover with aluminum foil while you cook the rest of the batter.
  3. Serve with preserves, Nutella, butter/sugar/cinnamon, fruit & whipped cream, ham & cheese or whatever your heart desires.
  4. Remaining crepes can be stored in the refrigerator for a few days.

11 comments:

Zurin said...

Love the flipping, love the dowel and of course the pan! I imagine Iwld be dong the same if I went to France.Shopping for kitchen ware is hard to resist. esp copper pots! beautiful crepes. :)

cocoa and coconut said...

Wow, these look so authentic! I love crêpes but I've never ate them whilst being in France. Yours look perfect! I'm impressed with your flipping skills.

Jasmine said...

I'll follow your recipe to the last detail and hopefully i can have it done perfectly. 'll try it and share with my family.

Min {Honest Vanilla} said...

Wow I lucky you to have a dowel! I've been drooling over it for months! Makes your crepe so PERFECT! YUMS~ And lovely teacup set you have there :)

Helena said...

My grandma has a small crepe-maker, but I've never seen a real crepe-pan. Cool flip though :)
Thank you so much for your comment, I try really hard :-P
About the foddgawker-badge, I think you can get it on the site. Found it:
http://foodgawker.com/badges/
Awesome pictures by the way, so clean and well-composed, I wish mine would look like that!

Joyti said...

You look like a very professional crepe maker, especially when flipping with that dowel.
And wandering about France - that sounds wonderful!

Susi's Kochen und Backen said...

Your pictures are stunning and your crepes turned out perfect! I love them filled with Nutella as well, but would certainly eat your jam filled version without hesitation :o)

Julie Marie said...

so pretty! i love the styling in these photos

kk said...

These crepes look great! Just like at the little crepe stands in Paris. My favorite filling is Nutella with bananas. yummy! =)

MaxineR said...

I came across your blog accidentally, and love it! I just placed an order for a large 13" T-Fal Crepe Pan, from Amazon.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000MYI2Z4/ref=oh_o00_s00_i00_details

Maybe this is the one you used in France? I will have to definitely try your crepe recipe. I have been using Alton Brown's crepe recipe. Thanks and keep up the great blog! I can't wait to try your recipes.

Cakebrain said...

Maxine,
The size looks about right! It was definitely larger than North American non-stick pans. And it was shallow. It also came with a dowel though. It looks pretty close to me! Good find! I'll have to try Alton Brown's recipe!

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