Basic Crepes

Crepes are something that I love. I grew up going to this restaurant in my hometown (Colorado Springs) called La Creperie. They had all sorts of crepes there-- filled with turkey and mushrooms or asparagus or chicken and bechamel sauce (I didn't know what that was at the time, I tended to substitute hollandaise which I recognized as the funny yellow sauce my mom would sometimes make from the packet. Hee!). I really enjoyed going there for most of my life and thus grew up with a special affinity for crepes.

Fast foward a few years and I was in college-- it'd been years since I've had crepes. Savannah had very few french bistros or crepe joints. So, I began making my own. My boyfriend at the time, Ryan, bought me a book of french recipes and from it I started making crepes (as well as a few other things you've seen on here). The first thing I actually made from that book was chocolate mousse... which I later made into a cinnamon chocolate mousse pie that I shared with Jeff. At the time, it was just mousse. Then crepes. The crepe recipe in the book is fairly straightforward, and I've sort of just adapted my own over time. But originally, crepes came from my French cookbook (which is Williams Sonoma, I might add, I suppose).

After that I didn't make crepes very often. It's kind of difficult to do it in a frying pan that sticks easily and doesn't have gently sloping sides. But I made do. Eventually (not sure when anymore) I got a crepe pan. I spent the summer after graduating college in Denver, with my best friend Sarah (who's an editor/writer/awesome person) where I made her crepes time after time. We called them blini, but really, they were crepes. Except the one time I made them out of buckwheat. But whatever.

Fast forward. I live in Los Angeles and I haven't made crepes once. I used to get them with Jeff-- sometimes, when we were down at the Del Alamo Shopping Center, there was a crepe place there and we'd get the occasional treat. Also, we'd sometimes eat at Monsieur Marcel, and I remember getting crepes there, maybe once.

However, since Brian and I started dating I've had crepes multiple times-- we actually had crepes once when we were just friends and we went to lunch at the Farmers Market-- those were okay. Just okay. Then, in Boston, we had supper at a crepe place in Coolidge Corner called Paris Creperie. It was fantastic! We've also had crepes in Santa Monica for our3monthsversaryyesi'maromanticnerd some reason and enjoyed those but maybe not as much. But I did unpack my crepe pan from one of my boxes in persuit of my igloo pan, and promised my roommate Vicky I'd make her crepes.

She's Russian. My roommate, Vicky. So I just assume she likes crepes-- because Sarah (the bff) majored in Russian and went to Russia and likes crepes. So I assumed. Luckily, she did like crepes. I made them for her for breakfast one morning (after I made her kasha, which I didn't take a picture of-- sorry guys). We both enjoyed them sprinkled with cinnamon and sugar and drizzled in butter. My crepes are probably too buttery, and they are a tad small-- my crepe pan is but a small one. However, that makes them feel all homey to me-- not perfect like the kind I can buy out of my own home.
I'm not very good at making crepes anymore, however. The first batch came out very thick, but I got the hang of it and started making them thinner. Still, not perfect. But whatever, they tasted very good.


Basic Crepes

1 cup flour
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar
2 tablespoons melted butter

Whisp together the flour and eggs. Gradually add in the milk, stirring to combine. Add the salt and butter and beat until smooth.
Heat a crepe pan or griddle over medium high heat. Oil the pan with butter and pour the batter into it, swirling it around ot cover the entire pan-- do this quick! Try to get them as thin as possible. COok for about 2 minutes, loosen with a spatula, flip, and cook for another two minutes-- until each side is very lightly browned.

Comments

Kelly said…
I really like your blog, and I don't want this to sound like I'm just commenting to criticize it, but do you think you could maybe try to take more pictures like the last one of the crepes? Pictures where we can see more of the dish rather than just close ups? I assume you do that becuase you worry about taste rather than photo design and presentation, but we get that, and I think I would make more recipes if I could see what the whole thing looked like. But, I love your blog! Feel free to ignore me!
Stephanesia said…
Haha, yeah, sure! No, thanks for the input-- I actually do that because I don't really have good places or good lighting, so the best way I can get a capture, usually, is closer to the food. I will try to have 'the big picture' more often. :) Usually it depends on the food I'm making, too.
Stephanesia said…
Except for maybe a couple more posts, since I've already taken those photos. Eh-heh.
phoenix said…
I love love LOVE crepes, but I haven't had them in ages. There aren't a lot of places in my area where you can just pop out and get some, so reading this and how to make them yourself thrills me. :D Thank you!