French Cooking ~ Crêpes Recipe

In France, we love to have soirées crêpes: that's when we have crêpes for main course and crêpes for dessert.  In the ones for the main course, we usually put anything we desire that has a salty taste to it: ham, cheese, eggs, and my favorite is lying some bechamel ~here is the recipe~ and add other ingredients on top.  As for the dessert crepes, these are the sweet kind!  We put nutella, jam, sugar, butter, whipped cream, fruits, etc.

When making crepes, try and flip them, it's a lot of fun!!!  Have each member of your family make their own crepe, they will enjoy it.  Even the little ones can do it... when done cooking, and once the pan is cooled, have them flip a crepe, it might just gets messy ;)

Recipe for 8 to 10 people

Ingredients

1 cup flour
4 eggs
1 cup milk
1 cup water
1/4 tsp salt
2 Tbsp vegetable oil
1 Tbsp butter ~for cooking~

And lastly, as I mentioned yesterday in my Bechamel Recipe, I add a secret ingredient to my crepe batter.
Add about 2 oz of Lime Beer!  Although optional to the batter, plain beer is used by many when making crepes.  However, I think that the Lime Beer gives it a nice hint of citrus taste, delicious especially with the sweet crepes.

Directions

1.  In a mixing bowl, add the flour and the eggs.

2.  Add 1/2 cup of milk and mix well.  Make sure you get rid of any lumps in the batter.

You may get a lot of lumps in the beginning, like I did here, but a vigorous whisk will reduce them.

3.  Keep adding all the liquid until completely used.
4.  Incorporate the oil and mix.

Your  batter should be very liquid.  

5.  Pour some of that secret ingredient in. ;) Mix once only .
6.  Cover the mixing bowl with a clean dish clothe, and let the batter rest for about 1 hour in the refrigerator.

Tips and tricks

a. If you are having difficulty getting rid of the lumps by whisking, try crushing them on the side of the bowl.
b. Also, the longer the batter will rest, the better the flour lumps will absorb the liquid therefore dissipating into the mix.
c. Ultimately, if you are not able to get rid of the lumps in the batter, transfer the crepe mix from one bowl to another one by passing it through a sieve. The lumps will collect in the bottom of the sieve, and you can then crush them unto the metal mesh and add a bit of water or milk to have the flour left over fall into the mix.

Making the crepes

To cook crepes, it is best to use a crepe pan.  I have the Tefal one ~or "T-fal" as it is called in the US~ and I love it!  ~Oh by the way, the brand's headquarter is situated in my hometown!! :) pretty cool, uh?!~

1.  Heat up the pan.  It has to be very hot.
2.  Grease it with some butter.
3.  With a ladle, get some of the crepe batter and pour onto the hot pan.  To make that one crepe, it is best to have the right amount at once when you pour it on the pan.  You will have to play around here to see how much of the batter you need per one crepe making.  As you are pouring the mixture, shake and turn the pan around to spread the batter throughout the entire surface of the pan.
**Play the Instagram video to see it in action ;)

4.  When the batter starts to bubble, it's time to turn.  Get a turner or try flipping it in the air like I did in the video...  Be careful though!! Don't flip it too high or it might get caught on the ceiling... haha! :D

5.  The bottom side does not need to cook for too long.  Just enough to brown and put it aside.

I like to do as my mother did.  Put some water in a pasta or soup pot and place a dish on top.  Heat the pan and the water will start steaming.  Pile up the crepes on the dish as you are making them and cover with a lid.  This keeps the crepes warm while you continue making all the other ones!

If you want to make some "salty" crepes ~ the ones for the main course~, when you flip the crepe to cook on the other side brake an egg on top and let it cook that way.  Also, add cheese, ham, salt, pepper... Well, that's just an example... put whatever you may want!  

Usually when we make "salty" ones, we like the ingredients inside the crepe to be warm, and some even need to cook ~for instance, an egg~ so it's better to prepare them in the pan, one at a time.

These had bechamel, an egg, prosciutto, and shredded cheese.  So delicious!!  And Oh so cheesy!!!! <3

When dessert time comes, make some sweet ones!
These can usually be made right at the table.  So by that time, I make sure to have all the crepes cooked, and bring the warm pot with the pile of crepes to the table.  I also bring sugar, nutella, jams, fruits, etc.  Each person grabs their own crepe, and adds anything sweet they want themselves.
My favorite... Salty butter with sugar!  A specialty from the French Brittany.

Crepes are such a fun way to eat...  Surely, they are not going to fit in the category of "super healthy eating", but if you are reasonable they won't be bad for you.
And anyways, you can once in a while ...