French Crêpes

I am sharing a special secret with you. French crêpes are extremely easy to make, and you can make paper-thin pancakes as well as any Parisian vendor easily in your kitchen. The trick is to keep the stove top heat at medium high, just a couple notches down from maximum, and tilt the pan around in circles while you slowly pour the batter in so that you just get a really thin layer of batter over the whole pan, then stop pouring and return to the heat. Crêpes only take about a minute to cook on each side because they are so thin, so stay right at the pan and be ready to flip immediately when the top is just set and is sweating. To flip the crêpe,  jiggle the pan to free the crepe, and then flip it with your fingers, pull it up by one side, and flip it over. You can use a flipper, too, but sometimes it will break the crêpe if you are not careful, and never use a plastic flipper because they are too thick and will just make the process more difficult.

When I make crepes at home, I often fill them with ham and cheese, or whatever combination of fillings I have on hand. If you want to do a crepe with melted cheese, proceed to make your crepe as normal, but immediately after flipping your crepe, sprinkle the fillings on one side of it, and fold the other side over the fillings, so your crepe is folded in half with the filling in the middle. Then let it cook another minute or so to melt the cheese, and remove it onto your plate. This is one of my favourite lunch or supper foods, and when I lived in Munich, I used to make crepes almost every day for supper instead of sandwiches, because I found that the bread did not last long enough for me to eat it all, but crepe batter keeps well in the fridge for a week or so. If you want to have a whole crepe supper, you can make a savoury crepe for supper (i.e. ham and cheese), and then make a nutella filled crepe for dessert. Mmmm!

Julia Child's Master Crêpe Recipe

Ingredients:
1 cup flour

2/3 cup milk

2/3 cup water

1 tsp salt

3 eggs

3 tbsp tasteless oil or melted butter

Directions:

1. If making the crepe batter by hand (with a bowl and a whisk), pour the flour and salt into a large bowl, and gradually pour in the water and milk while whisking the mixture constantly so that it doesn't form clumps. Then whisk in the eggs and butter. The mixture should be rather thin (not as thick as pancake batter) and smooth. Place crepe batter in the fridge for an hour or two before you make the crepes, to allow the flour to blend into the liquids.
2. If making the batter in the blender, pour the water, milk and eggs into the jar of a blender. Scoop the flour on top of the liquid mixture, and sprinkle the salt and butter on top of the flour. Fit the blender lid tightly onto the blender jar, and mix for a minute or two, or until the mixture is fully combined and smooth, scraping the sides of the mixture down once during the mixing. Place crepe batter in the fridge for an hour or two before you make the crepes, to allow the flour to blend into the liquids.
3. To cook the crepes, remove the batter from the fridge, and turn your stovetop on to medium-high heat (just a couple notches down from maximum). Choose a wide pan, and brush some canola oil over it with a pastry brush. (I usually pour some oil into a small bowl, so I have it ready to brush onto the pan between crepes.)
4. When the pan is smoking hot, pour a very thin layer of batter into it, tilting the pan to spread the batter evenly over the bottom of the pan.
5. The crepe will only take about a minute to cook, so watch closely, and when the top is set, and has begun to sweat, jiggle the pan to free the crepe, and flip it over carefully. To flip the crepe, I pick up one side with my fingers, and carefully flip it over.
6. If you wish to fill your crepe on the pan, then sprinkle the filling onto one side of the crepe, and fold the other side over the filling, so your crepe is folded in half, and the filling is in between. Once the crepe has cooked about a minute longer, and you cheese has melted, remove your crepe onto a plate and enjoy! (Or give it to one of your visitors, and begin to prepare the next crepe)
7. If you are filling your crepe with a sauce filling, or rolling your crepe, just cook it about a minute on the second side, remove onto a plate, and proceed from there.

That's it - enjoy!