Crêpes

Ham, Asparagus, and Cheese Sauce Crêpes

It had been a difficult day. As members of the company, we had been required to help out at the Annual Garden Party. Clumsy girl that I am, I had dropped a platter full of hors d’oeuvres face down on the floor. Fortunately they had been the goat cheese-stuffed grapes that nobody was touching, so it wasn’t a huge loss. Nonetheless, I was nearly in tears from embarrassment. It was tradition that the ballet company members would perform a dance that we had rehearsed for ages. Unfortunately, this was a dance I disliked intensely, and I felt like a fool in the costumes we had to wear. (Looking back, it seems silly – in years to come, I would be forced to wear much, much more ridiculous costumes.) All in all, it had been a pretty lousy day.

It took only one thing to take the day from unpleasant to wonderful. The crêpe lady. My ballet company had hired a woman to come to the Garden Party and make free crêpes for everyone there. She set up her stand in front of the house where the party had been held, and would make each person a crêpe with whatever fillings they wanted. For me? Bananas and chocolate.

It was love at first bite. Then and there, I knew I would forever love crêpes. Unfortunately, it was many years before I would have crêpes again. I don’t go out often to eat, so I’ve never been into a crêpe shop, and up until a couple of years ago, I had no interest in learning how to cook. However, once I did find a love for cooking… crêpes were one thing I knew I would have to make.

These taste just how I remembered them… thin, sweet pancakes that I filled with bananas and chocolate sauce, just like when I first tried them. I made a second batch of more savory crêpes, filled with ham, asparagus, and this cheese sauce. The savory crêpes were so much more amazing than I had expected them to be – it’s actually a toss-up as to which fillings I prefer.

After I made these crêpes and went raving to my parents about them, I discovered they had owned a crêpe pan for many years. My response was, “What? You had a crêpe pan and you didn’t tell me?” This actually happens quite often – I’ll discover some new recipe and rave about it to them, then they’ll tell me that all along they’ve had some kitchen gadget that would have made things so much easier for me. My parents hear, “And why did I never know about these things?” quite often these days.

Banana and Chocolate Crêpes

I found this recipe on A Whisk and A Spoon.

Ingredients

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons water
• 1/2 cup milk
• 3 large eggs
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled, plus some for the pan
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

Cooking Directions

1. In a blender or food processor blend the flour, water, milk, eggs, butter, and salt for 5 seconds.
2. Turn the motor off and scrape sides down, with a rubber spatula.
3. Transfer the batter into a bowl and let it stand, covered, for 1 hour. The batter may be made up to one day in advance.
4. Heat a 7 to 8-inch crêpe or non-stick skillet over moderate heat until it is hot but not smoking and remove from heat.
5. Brush the pan as necessary with butter.
6. Stir the batter, pour about 1/8 cup of the batter into the pan.
7. Tilt and rotate the pan quickly to cover the bottom with a thin layer of batter and return any excess batter to the bowl.
8. Return the pan to the heat, loosen the edge of the crêpe with a spatula, and cook the crêpe until the under side is browned lightly.
9. Turn the crêpe, brown the other side lightly and transfer to a plate.
10. Fill with any fillings you like. I love to fill my crêpes with sliced bananas and chocolate sauce, or ham, asparagus and a cheese sauce.
11. Crêpes can be made in advance, stacked, wrapped in plastic and stored refrigerated for 3 days or frozen.