Crepes

[rgruby]

What are some of your favorite crepe fillings? Savory or sweet, fill me in on your favorite fillings.

What are some of the stranger fillings you've tried? I had a raspberry jam and mozzarella crepe a few days ago that was absolutely delicious.

From takeaway stands to fine dining where are your favorite creperies?

Cheers,

Geoff Ruby

[torakris]

the crepes in Japan thread

[sweetfreak]

There is a crepe place here in DC called Cafe Bonaparte. Up until a few weeks ago, I had only tried their savory crepes. By the time I finished my savory, I was too full to think about a sweet.

Until I went with two friends and one insisted on ordering a sweet to share. We got crepes with Nutella and strawberries topped with whipped cream. The menu offered to add vanilla ice cream for $1, so of course we did Sheer gluttony, but man, I am dreaming of going back.

[nr706]

For over 30 years, La Creperie on Clark St. just north of Diversey is a classic.

[munchymom]

You beat me to it! La Creperie in Chicago is one of my favorites and I try to make it back there whenever I'm in Chicago. I always get the coq au vin crepe for dinner, followed by Grand Marnier crepe for dessert. Mmmmm.

[chow guy]

Crepe Suzettes are my favorite with Grand Marnier and brandy.

Last week, I was served an open faced crepe at a French Bakery. It was folded so ingredients were exposed down the center, instead of filled. I found it very strange... The owner told me, "That's how they are served in Paris".

Was she refering to Paris Texas? I have never seen this.... Anyone???

[Patrick S]

Favorite sweet crepe: lemon-cream filled crepes with butter-orange sauce from Desserts by Pierre Herme.

[kitwilliams]

Our favorite Sunday morning breakfast (mom stood over the stove for ages as there were seven in the family!): crepes filled with sour cream, rolled and doused with an orange/butter/maple syrup sauce.

Also good for dinner on a cold, windy, wet Tuesday evening!

[Ninjai Fanatic]

my favorite sweet crepe filling is mangoes, cream, a little honey, and corn flakes.

Blueberries and yogurt is good as well- or apples cooked with caramel and walnuts..

as for the non-sweet fillings, I really like couscous or kimchi with peanut butter. :)

[Jaymes]

My favorite dessert crepes are Mexican caramel crepes. They are made with cajeta, which is a Mexican dulce de leche, and can be found at most good Mexican grocery stores. Be sure to buy a Mexican brand, like Coronado, rather than the lame US imitations.

Mexican Caramel Crepes

24 crepes

3 cups cajeta

3/4 cup whole milk

3 T unsalted butter

3 T Cognac or brandy

2 C pecans, toasted and chopped

Heat oven to 350º. Combine cajeta, milk and butter in heavy saucepan. Bring to boil. Reduce heat and simmer uncovered until reduced to about 2 3/4 cups -- about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in Cognac.

Place 1 crepe on work surface. Spread with 1 T of sauce and sprinkle with 1 T pecans. Fold crepe in half over filling, then in half again, forming a triangle. Repeat for all 24 crepes. Arrange crepes in two 13x9x2 glass dishes. Warm remaining sauce and pour over crepes. Bake until heated through -- about 15 minutes. Sprinkle with remaining pecans. Plate 2 crepes with scoop of vanilla ice cream alongside and serve immediately.

Serves 12 at 2 crepes each.

[Abra]

Yum, Jaymes, I've had a jar of Coronado cajeta in my pantry for months. This is what to do with it! (besides eat it with a spoon, I mean)

[SuzySushi]

My favorites (to make and to eat) are Crêpes Sarrasin made of buckwheat flour, as served in Brittany. And my very favorite filling is seafood in cream sauce, but I'll even eat them plain!

The other week, I made ham & cheese crepes for dinner for ourselves and two 8 year olds, followed by crepes filled with ice cream and drizzled with chocolate syrup for dessert. There weren't any leftovers....

[Jaymes]

Yum, Jaymes, I've had a jar of Coronado cajeta in my pantry for months.  This is what to do with it!  (besides eat it with a spoon, I mean)

Well, don't forget to get back to us and let us know how it was. And if you want more recipes using cajeta, pm me.

[greenwich st]

I just bought a new crepe pan because, after not making them for years, I got inspired by Richard Olney's recipe for saffron crepes -- basically regular non-sugared crepes with a little saffron added -- buttered, folded, and gratineed with "stiff" cream or bechamel and grated parmesan for 10 minutes in a 500 degree oven. I'll report back soon.

[Ms Neato]

Caramel sauce, with whipped cream (gotta be whipped to the edge of turning into butter)... at Chez Neato

edit: fixed the image.. (:

Edited March 26, 2005 by Ms Neato (log)

[rgruby]

Japanese and Mexican crepes!

Anybody have any places in, um, France?

Actually, can anybody enlighten me on regions in France where you commonly find crepes - i.e. where they would be thought of as a traditional food of that region and not an import? Or are they pan-French?

How about neighboring countries? Italy has crespelles (that doesn't look entirely right to me - I may have got the word or spelling wrong). Would crepes of some form be thought of as a traditional food in Switzerland? Germany? Spain? Belgium or Holland?

Thanks,

Geoff Ruby

[SuzySushi]

Actually, can anybody enlighten me on regions in France where you commonly find crepes - i.e. where they would be thought of as a traditional food of that region and not an import? Or are they pan-French?

←

Crepes are traditional in Brittany, France (the Northwest). They're also popular as a street food in Paris. When they're served in other regions of France, it's usually in a Breton restaurant.

[jgarner53]

I love traditional Breton crèpes. Here in San Francisco Galette on Fillmore and Ti Couz are my favorites. Ti Couz is wonderfully cheap and serves pitchers of hard apple cider. I'm partial to ham, mushrooms and gruyère cheese for savory and for a sweet one, you can't beat Nutella!

[mjr_inthegardens]

My top two favorite historical (my history) crepe places are

1) Crepe place in the open square in Vieux Nice, France -- incredible savory crepes

2) Crepe restaurant in Covent Garden, London

We had some decent crepes the other day in the East Village, NYC at a place called the Crooked Tree Cafe, egg on top the whole 9.

-MJR

[Jake]

I spent years eating crepes en salade for lunch when visiting friends in Quebec. Chopped green salad with mayo/dressing in a fresh hot crepe. Haven't thought of that in ages. Of course dessert was crepes with fresh maple syrup.

[Basilgirl]

The ham palascintas (sp?) at The Magic Pan - chopped ham and some other stuff I don't remember, stuffed in a crepe, breaded and fried. With a really good mustard sauce. I have the recipe in my old Bon Appetit Favorite Restaurant Recipes book, but I've only made it once, as it is a major PITA.

I miss The Magic Pan

[Pan]

My top two favorite historical (my history) crepe places are

1) Crepe place in the open square in Vieux Nice, France  -- incredible savory crepes

←

When were you in Nice? I really liked that place when I spent the summers of 1992 and 1993 in Nice as a student (actually, stagiaire de la flute traversiere). I had either a savory or a sweet crepe at least once a week, sometimes both, and enjoyed drinking some hard cider along with my order.

We had some decent crepes the other day in the East Village, NYC at a place called the Crooked Tree Cafe, egg on top the whole 9.

-MJR

←

I think "decent" is about right for Crooked Tree. I usually go there only between cycles at the laundromat around the corner.

They make acceptable salads and, as you said, decent crepes. Nothing incredibly tasty, but the ingredients are, again, acceptable quality and the price is OK. Hearty food, but not worth a special trip.

[mjr_inthegardens]

When were you in Nice? I really liked that place when I spent the summers of 1992 and 1993 in Nice as a student (actually, stagiaire de la flute traversiere). I had either a savory or a sweet crepe at least once a week, sometimes both, and enjoyed drinking some hard cider along with my order.

I think "decent" is about right for Crooked Tree. I usually go there only between cycles at the laundromat around the corner.

They make acceptable salads and, as you said, decent crepes. Nothing incredibly tasty, but the ingredients are, again, acceptable quality and the price is OK. Hearty food, but not worth a special trip.

←

Crooked Tree is decent, not sublime I agree.

I was in Nice in 99 probably. I have clear happy memories of beautiful sunshine beaming down on cobblestone streets and of large fluffy crepes filled with divers fillings washed down with cold lager or cappuccino.

Cheers

-MJR

[BCinBC]

The other week, I made ham & cheese crepes for dinner for ourselves and two 8 year olds, followed by crepes filled with ice cream and drizzled with chocolate syrup for dessert.  There weren't any leftovers....

←

For two or three years in a row, for my friend's birthday he would invite a bunch of us over for an all-you-can-eat crepe brunch. We were about 12-14 IIRC. The first 7 or 8 I'd eat stuffed with sausage, scrambled eggs and bacon, and the last 3 or 4 I'd fill with vanilla ice cream, strawberries and chocolate sauce, or homemade jam and whipped cream. (Insert Homer drooling soundbyte.)

Every year my birthday friend and another friend would engage in a head-to-head (tete-a-tete) crepe eating battle. I think the record was over 40, but I also think they were cheating a bit by using only maple syrup on the majority.

Looking back, I pity and admire my friend's dad who slaved over the stove making probably over 150 crepes for us. He just used a frying pan, no special device, but they all turned out beautifully thin.