Crêpes

I have very fond memories of walking the cold, damp streets of Paris with a warm crepe enveloped in my hands.

I explored with all types of fancy toppings until I settled on my personal favorite--"beurre et sucre" (butter and sugar).  A "crepe Suzette" (butter, sugar and lemon juice) is a close second.  And I can't leave out nutella!  My favorite crepe stand in Paris was across the street from the Centre Pompidou Museum and Library.  The guy making the crepe would paint my nutella on, as if it were a work of art..    

There is a restaurant in Los Angeles that makes wonderfully authentic crepes--Creme de la Crepe.  My favorite location is their Hermosa Beach one.  The owner is a young French guy who has been so successful because the food is so good and the service is so French.  I often go to brush up on my French, as all of the waiters are native French speakers.  My favorite is the "crepe splendide"--a crepe with strawberries, honey, whipped cream, and vanilla ice cream.

All of this leads me to my recent endeavor--to make crepes at home. I found a wonderfully simple recipe, and the crepes came out rather good.  

Recipe: Crepes

1 and 3/4 cups all purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 cups milk, room temp.

3 large eggs, room temp.

5 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

1. Sift flour and salt into a large bowl.  Whisk together milk and eggs in a medium bowl. Pour milk mixture into flour mixture, whisking to combine.  Whisk in butter.  Strain mixture into a medium bowl, and refrigerate for at least two hours (or up to one day).

2. Heat an 8" or 12" nonstick skillet over medium heat.  Brush with butter.  Ladle 3 tablespoons batter (for smaller crepes)  or 1/3 cup batter (for large crepes) onto the skillet, turning and tilting the skillet to coat the bottom evenly with the batter.  Cook until the tops of the crepes appear set, about 1 minute.

3. Run a spatula along the edge of the crepe to loosen.  Slip the spatula under the crepe and gently flip in one swift gesture.  Cook until the bottom is firm, about 45 seconds.  Transfer to a plate.  Repeat with remaining batter. Serve immediately.