Crepes

Earlier on this year, I spent a chunk of 6 months in the beautiful country of Switzerland where I learnt to speak, eat and live in the unique swiss-french culture. Having lived with a french housemate, one of the "tricks of the trade" that I picked up along my way was the art of making crepes. mmm..mmm! I havn't met a person yet who does not enjoy that tastey sweet or savoury filled paper thin pancake. Classically eaten with a sprinkling of sugar and a squeeze of lemon juice, sweet crepes are destined to delight any persons taste-buds. Or what about a savoury crepe with gruyère cheese, ham, mushrooms and egg for dinner. Anyone? Personally, a generous spread of nutella will always go down well.
We cooked these in a crepe pan: a circular pan designed to evenly distribute the heat which has smaller edges to support flipping action (but personally I always flip by hand with a spatula).
Here's the recipe that I received from my french housemate and used successfully at many a crepe party. I remember it as the 4-3-2-1 crepe recipe.

Ingredients:

• 4 cups of milk
• 3 eggs
• 2 cups of plain flour
• 1 pinch of salt

Makes approximately 12 crepes.

Method:

1. Pour the milk and eggs into a mixing bowl and whisk together.
2. Add the salt and small amounts of the flour slowly whilst whisking. Continue whisking until all the lumps are eliminated and the batter is smooth.
3. Grease the crepe pan by rubbing oil over it's surface with a piece of paper toweling.
4. Heat the crepe pan on medium-high heat on the stove.
5. Using a ladle, pour one ladle of crepe batter evenly over the crepe pan. You need to work quickly at this stage swirling the pan in order for the batter to cover the entire area (this takes a bit of practice to get right). Leave to cook for several minutes.
6. When the edges begin to curl upwards, flip the crepe over (I recommend using a spatula) and continue cooking for several more minutes. The crepe should be slightly browned and set. Remove from pan with a spatula and leave aside to cool.
7. Repeat the process until all the crepe batter is finished, ensuring that you re-grease the pan before use each time.

Savoury variation:
 
Once one side of the crepe is cooked, flip it over. Crack an egg on the cooked side, sprinkle on gruyère cheese and ripped pieces of ham. Wait for the egg to cook to satisfaction. Fold the edges of the crepe in on itself and remove from the heat.
 

Other ideas:

• Ham, Swiss cheese, egg and spinach (ensure that you fry up the spinach in a separate pan before adding to the crepe)
• Ham, Swiss cheese, egg and mushroom (ensure that you fry up the mushrooms with herbs and onion before adding to the crepe)
• Nutella, banana and walnuts
• Nutella and strawberries
• Strawberry, fig or orange confiture
• Sugar and a squeeze of lemon

Improvising with a not-exactly-crepe-pan pan

The ingredients

The lazy way to whisk. I love technology.

So... practice makes perfect hey!

Bon appetit!