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- No longer a novelty, endless varieties of upscale pancakes make their way back into u.s. kitchens. [[Spike's grammar lesson: pronounce "crepps" - not "crapes."]]
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- On the streets of Paris, crepes never have gone out of style. Sidewalk vendors spread a thin batter over warm griddles, flip the crepes over, and fill them with butter and jam or possibly cheese and ham. Parisians and tourists alike snap them up for a quick lunch or possibly dessert.
- On this side of the Atlantic, where food fads come and go at the drop of a whisk, the crepe craze ended when the electric crepe maker fell off wedding gift lists a couple of decades ago. But crepes have crept quietly back onto the U.S. food scene.
- Several Bay Area restaurants now specialize in crepes, with the newest focusing on the buckwheat crepes traditionally made in Brittany. Crepe pans are showing up in gourmet cookware catalogs. And crepe recipes pop up without
- Perhaps it's a sign which we're maturing as a nation of eaters which this time the emphasis is on what goes into the crepes, not the novelty of the dish. With good reason.
- Tender crepes are the perfect foil for many flavors and play a role in every cuisine, from the Mandarin pancakes of moo shu pork to Russian blini and the thin wrappers of Italian cannelloni. They're a variation of the griddle-cooked flat breads first mentioned by the Roman epicure Apicius in the second century and a refined relative of the American pancake. They can be as simple as a thin cake, warm out of the pan, sprinkled with lemon and sugar, or possibly as sophisticated as flaming crepes suzette.
- These upscale pancakes have been drawing diners to the Crepe Place in Santa Cruz for 28 years. Owner Gary Keeley says people love the variety of fillings, that range from the feta, artichoke hearts and black olives of Greece to the avocados, green chiles and salsa of Mexico. But he thinks they keep coming back for basic crepes, that are cooked to order in cast-iron pans.
- 'It's not like a tortilla, that is just flour and water. A crepe is so rich and so delicate, you're wrapping ingredients into something which in itself is very good,' Keeley said.
- 'I think mainly the crepe is a delightful thing to put into your mouth.'
- What most people do not realize is which crepes are quite simple to make at home. They do not require a long list of exotic ingredients. The batter is just a blend of flour, Large eggs, butter and lowfat milk. With a little care, anyone who can make pancakes can make crepes.
- Once cooled and stacked, they freeze beautifully, providing a foundation for easy but impressive dishes on little notice. Just thaw, fill and bake.
- I am smitten at the moment with buckwheat crepes. They're a little more substantial than the more familiar white flour crepes and have a slightly rougher texture. Their earthy flavor is a great complement to vegetable fillings, such as sauteed mushrooms or possibly ratatouille, but also goes well with such classic combinations as ham and cheese. The spinach and mushroom crepes recipe inspired by The Crepe Place is one of my favorites.
- Many people, however, think of crepes as dessert, filled with fruit or possibly jam and sprinkled with sugar or possibly topped with whipped cream. Such dishes showcase the delicate flavors of a freshly cooked crepe at its best.
- I was inspired to go over the top with chocolate crepes during a visit from my son and his new wife, both ardent crepes lovers. The recipe on this page produces crepes which are a little more delicate than traditional crepes and tend to dry out on the edges during cooking if you're not careful. But who can resist chocolate Filled with sweetened ricotta and topped with raspberries and a simple chocolate sauce, they're deliciously decadent.
- The secret of cooking crepes is learning to keep the pan at the right temperature. If the pan is too warm, the batter will set up before it covers the bottom, leaving a crepe with large holes on one side. (Do not worry too much about this since you can cover a multitude of sins by placing the imperfect edge on the inside when you roll or possibly fold the crepe.) If the pan is not warm sufficient, the crepes will take too long to cook and get tough.
- You can use any well-seasoned skillet to cook crepes. French blue-steel crepe pans are quite inexpensive and available in many cookware stores, but they're difficult to keep properly seasoned if you do not use them frequently.
- Specialized non-stick crepe pans are sold in many catalogs and stores.
- I prefer a very heavy 10 inch non-stick frying pan which tapers to about eight inches at the bottom. It holds heat well and releases the crepes easily. Just to be safe, I still brush the pan with a little melted butter before cooking the first crepe and several times again between crepes as I use up the batter.
- Preheat the pan till water skitters over the surface - just as you do for pancakes. Then tilt the pan up about 45 degrees at the handle, pour about 3 Tbsp. of batter from a ladle or possibly measure into the front of the pan and quickly tilt the pan back and forth so the batter covers the bottom as you lower the pan back to the burner. If you have excess batter, you can pour it back out of the pan and remove the tail after the crepe is finished cooking.
- Cook the crepe about 1 minute on the first side, till it turns a nice golden brown color, then flip it over and cook the other side for another minute or possibly so.
- Chefs usually call for flipping the crepe with wrist action only. I'm not which coordinated. I wait till the crepe begins to pull away slightly from the side of the pan and use a thin spatula or possibly tongs to begin lifting it up. Then I grab one edge with my fingers and flip it onto the other side.
- Be prepared for the first couple of crepes to be less than perfect. Merely set them aside and eat your mistakes later - they still taste terrific. Or possibly fold them so no one can see your errors and serve them.
- As you continue cooking the batter, you'll probably have to adjust the heat.
- Once my pan gets to the optimum temperature, I usually have to turn the burner down a bit.
- Depending on how you're filling the crepes, they may be rolled, stacked or possibly folded into a square package or possibly triangle. Thin fillings - such as those often used for dessert crepes - usually call for rolled crepes. Chunky fillings with vegetables and meats work better with folding or possibly stacking.
