Sunday, August 28, 2011

Whole Wheat Crêpes

     Earlier this summer, Allison and I, her friends Yaniv and Grace, and my friend Marina ventured to the Carmel Arts District.  Besides gawking at outrageous artwork with outrageous prices, we popped into a cute little French restaurant called La Mie Emilie for an afternoon "snack".  We ordered croques (jazzed up grilled cheese) and crêpes.  Marina's choice was a Galette Végétarienne - a buckwheat crepe with sautéed tomatoes and onions, Gruyère cheese and an over-easy egg.  While we were munching away, Allison glanced at Marina's dish and asked her what it was.  Marina has a fabulous, wonderful accent and she told her it was a crepe.  However, it came out sounding like "crap".  Then she added, "And it's brown." The look on Allison's face was priceless!  I couldn't help it - I laughed until tears were streaming down my face!  And so did everyone else when I explained to Allison that Marina was eating a crepe and it was brown because it was made of buckwheat flour. 

Marina's Crepe!

Allison's Chcolate Coconut Crepe
 Back at home, my interest in attempting crepes was piqued!  I looked them up in Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking.  She explained that in the average French household, crepes  weren't thought of as something special, but a common way to make use of left overs.  However, her recipes calls for making the batter and letting it sit in the refrigerator for two hours!  Who has time or is organized enough for that! (Not me!)  So, I turned to the May/June edititon of Cook's Illustrated.  In the article "Foolproof Crepes" the author assured me that it wasn't necessary to let the batter sit for an extended period of time before using. Good news for me - crepes can be whipped up anytime!
     Other useful tips given were: preheat the pan for 10 minutes, pour in just enough batter to coat the pan, and flip it by first nudging it underneath with a rubber spatula.

Ready to Flip

Savory Fillings

Last Sunday afternoon, Allison and I had a great time making these and experimenting with different fillings. Our favorites were: tomatoe, thin sliced ham and Gruyere cheese; Nutella with strawberries; and a squirt of lemon with a sprinkling of Splenda. However, the possibilities for different filling combinations are endless. I tried a couple different pans, and found the best one was an inexpensive eight inch "Wolfgang Puck Cafe Collection" omelet pan from Sam's Club.  I sprayed it liberally with cooking spray and then wiped the inside with a cloth each time before pouring in the batter.  To make the crepes healthier, I used whole wheat flour and I Can't Believe It's Not Butter.  If you want to use regular white flour, increase the flour in the following recipe to 1 1/2 cups.


Nutella and Strawberries

Whole Wheat Crepe Batter                                              

Lemon and Sprinkle of Splenda

1 cup cold water
1 cup cold milk (I used skim)
4 eggs
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup whole wheat flour
4 tablespoons melted butter

Whirl the liquids, eggs and salt in the blender. Then add the flour and butter and blend again.



Grace and Yaniv at La Mie Emilie


2 comments:

  1. Grace et Yaniv. Veuillez considerer une texte blanche sur le fond rouge. Ca fera lire plus facilement Merci et desole pour mon francais affreux. Amities, John

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    1. Salut John, je suis aux États-Unis et parle l'anglais, mais puisque vous m'avez écrit en français, je vais répondre dans cette Traducteur via Google. J'ai pris le français au lycée, mais mon français est maintenant horrible! :) Merci beaucoup pour vos commentaires! A l'origine de ce message a été publié sur un fond blanc et il ya plusieurs mois, j'ai changé pour un fond rouge. Je vais éditer ce post et changer la couleur des lettres - Je dois dire que je suis tellement excitée! que quelqu'un le lire!! Meilleurs voeux à vous!

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