So, Sunday we had crepes for breakfast because I'd been craving them. My husband may be hard to impress culinarily speaking, but my kids always come through for me. I made 40 or so crepes & every single time both boys said "Wow mom, you're so cool!" They're fans of anything you can flip. I get the same reaction from pancakes.=) For lunch we had Croque Madame which is Frenchie for a grilled ham & cheese w/ an egg on top. They loved that. Christopher ate two sandwiches-and they're filling. I saved 8 crepes (minus the two I ate late last night with vanilla ice cream & raspberry sauce) and we're having dinner crepes tonight. I'll admit, it was a fight to save that many, but I was successful. Last night we had a picnic in a local park together. It was great until it started to get a little dark. Ethan, bless his little chicken-butt heart, started crying & Christopher-ever the obliging older brother-started talking about wolves coming out to eat us. Once we were in the van & he had calmed down a little bit I told him that when he's scared he can say a prayer & Heavenly Father will help him to be brave. He asked where Heavenly Father was & when can we go see Him. I told him that Heavenly Father is in Heaven & I don't know when we get to see Him, but the only way we can is if we make good choices & repent when we make bad ones. Christopher then pipes in with "Well, then you don't get to go see him yet, because you yelled at me." From the mouths of babes. I swear, that kid... Anyway, here are the recipes...
Crepes (It’s prounounced Krep not crayp)
They take a little practice, but don't give up. It's worth it. Besides, the 'ruined' ones make good snacks while you practice.
3 eggs
1 c milk (or ½ milk & ½ cream if you like. I’ve even used ½ milk & ½ water in desperation & they came out fine)
3 T melted butter
1 c flour
½ tsp salt
More butter for greasing pan between crepes
Throw it in a blender & zap it till it’s smooth. Let it sit ½ an hour in the fridge for best results or even overnight. (We skip this sometimes but the thing is, crepe batter needs to be runny while pancake batter needs to be thick. Crepe batter is better if you've let each tiny piece of flour absorb all the water it can, and this happens very slowly. If you just add more water to a thick crepe batter, you really won't get the thin crepes you want, just watery mush.)
Once you’re ready, heat a skillet up on medium and set a plate & your batter where they’re easy to get to. I pour about 1/4 cup in the middle of a 10" pan, and immediately swirl to get full pan-bottom coverage. It takes only about 40-60 seconds to get to a dry enough state to turn, then only on 2nd side for about 15 seconds. You can tell that the first side is done because it turns to a matte finish instead of a glossy sheen. Turn pan at a 90 degree angle over a plate and the crepes fall right out. Stack them as they finish. I’m told, but can’t confirm, that you can freeze them if you layer them between parchment sheets & double ziplock it. They never last that long around here. I made 40 this morning & it was just enough for breakfast with 8 leftover for dinner crepes. You can add a T of sugar to the recipe if you want, but I find the fillings are usually sweet enough and this way I can use them for dinner crepes too. For dinner, we caramelized onions, summer squash & zucchini w/ butter, olive oil, a pinch of sugar & two pinches of salt. Once it started to caramelize we added some thinly sliced chicken & browned it too. A dab of cream finished it off & we folded that inside the crepes. Lovely.
Sweet Filling Ideas
Jam, Apple butter, Nutella (the sweet nectar of Heaven), Butter and powdered sugar, Sliced bananas with chocolate sauce and whipped cream or ice cream, crepes Suzette (it’s an orange flavored sauce, google a recipe), Fresh berries (with a little sugar & whipped cream if you like)
Savory Filling Ideas
Grated cheese such as Gruyere or Comte, Sliced ham, Egg (broken and cooked in the crepe), Sauteed spinach, Sauteed mushrooms in cream sauce, Mushroom and chicken in cream sauce, Shrimp and shelled mussels in cream sauce, (I like cream sauce okay), Ratatouille (a vegetable melange made with eggplant, red peppers, zucchini, tomatoes, and onions) , caramelized onions plain or with chicken, sliced cooked sausage, Salad with vinaigrette
Croque Madame for 2
4 slices of bread plus butter for each
4 slices of Gruyer (or swiss, or cheddar or whatever you like)
4 slices ham
2 eggs
1 T butter
In a frying pan melt 1 T butter on medium heat. Crack in (without breaking the yolks) two eggs. Sprinkle w/ salt & pepper. Sprinkle in a little water to steam & put a lid on it. Cook until they’re how you like them, I like the yolk a little runny but ALL of the white cooked and that takes 1 min or so.
While that’s going butter four slices of bread. Put two on a hot griddle or frying pan & top w/ cheese & ham (we actually used cracked pepper turkey breast today.) Top with your other two slices & toast on medium until your bread is golden and your cheese is melted. Put on your plate & top with your eggs. You can top it off with a béchamel or mornay sauce if you like (We skipped it today). Voila! Croque Madam.
Other stuff you could also add or substitute: tomato slices, blue cheese, gouda, smoked salmon, cream cheese, cooked potato slices, tomato salsa…pretty much anything goes. Just don’t overcook your eggs.
Béchamel Sauce
* 5 t butter
* 1T + 1 tsp all-purpose flour
* 1 1/3 cups milkhttp://a19.g.akamai.net/7/19/7125/1450/Ocellus.coupons.com/_images/showlist_icon.gif
* 2/3 t salt
* pinch freshly grated nutmeg (optional)
In a medium saucepan, heat the butter over medium-low heat until melted. Add the flour and stir until smooth. Over medium heat, cook until the mixture turns a light, golden sandy color, about 6 to 7 minutes.
Meanwhile, heat the milk in a separate pan until just about to boil. Add the hot milk to the butter mixture 1/3 cup at a time, whisking continuously until very smooth. Bring to a boil. Cook 10 minutes, stirring constantly, then remove from heat. Season with salt and set aside until ready to use. You can add 1/4 to 1/3 c grated cheese to this to make it a Mornay sauce.
No comments:
Post a Comment