Here in Japantown, there is a shop where you can watch crepes being made in a storefront window. People are mesmerized. It's the same in Thailand with street vendors selling "roti" another type of crepe. There is a big round flat cooking surface and the batter in ladled out onto it, a wooden spreader is used to get the batter thin enough and to cover the surface perfectly. In a matter of seconds it is flipped then flipped again, then filled and served. Popular fillings seem to include cheese or an egg or bananas or chocolate.
Because chocolate and bananas are a bit decadent for breakfast we had our crepes filled with peaches and yogurt this morning. It took me a long time to get a crepe recipe just right, but now it is no fail. The great thing about crepes is they can be filled with savory or sweet fillings, meat or vegetarian and with this recipe you can even make them virtually fat free if you want and they still come out good.
Here it is:
Basic Crepes
2 eggs (or 1/2 cup fake eggs)
1 teaspoon sugar (skip for savory filled crepes)
1/2 cup flour
1 pinch salt
1 cup milk (any kind is fine including nonfat)
1 teaspoon oil
Throw all the ingredients into the blender and blend away! The batter only needs to rest 15 minutes or so (to reduce bubbles) then heat a non-stick crepe pan over medium heat and spray lightly with cooking oil. Ladle approximately two tablespoons of the batter into the pan and tilt the pan to cover the bottom with a thin, even coating. Cook the crepe until small bubbles form on the surface and it is barely firm, 30 seconds to 1 minute. Flip and repeat until crepe is done. Use crepes immediately or stack them separated by wax paper. Wrap well and freeze for up to one month. Thaw while still wrapped at room temperature.
You can actually buy your own crepe maker. Home versions start at about $150. However unless you're planning on a career change that involves selling crepes--I would suggest a non-stick crepe pan, and in my experience cheap ones work just fine.
No comments:
Post a Comment