Crepes--Cook-Off 23

[slkinsey]

My experience is that you don't need to let the batter rest as long if you make it in the blender. Just long enough for the bubbles to come out of it.

[Pam R]

Any suggestions for mixing crêpe batter without a blender? Or should I either beg a blender from a friend with a kitchen, or just wait until I have my own kitchen again?

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A whisk with a little elbow grease. I add the liquid slowly, making sure I get rid of all the lumps - then let rest.

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This morning a customer told me that she uses an immersion (stick) blender for her batter. I had one of those 'why didn't I think of that?' moments!

[BryanZ]

I filled my mille crepe with a triple sec infused pastry cream. Since my sister was making it she freaked out when she the whole thing seized up after adding the corn starch. We thought it had curdled for a second, then it suddenly dawned on us.

It's a pretty time consuming recipe, I had her wake up early to assemble it but very, very tasty. And I usually don't even like cake.

[jeniac42]

My little sister (who's 22) has been asking me to make crepes for her for a few weeks now, but there just hasn't had time. Thanks, eGullet, for cookoff-induced impetus to actually make them for her!

I don't think she'd like the mille crepes (picky eater - everything has to be exactly the way she imagines it, which is fine), but I certainly think I'll just make a big stack of crepes (wagon fulla pamcakes?) and give that a go, because it looks absolutely amazing.

[Megan Blocker]

I filled my mille crepe with a triple sec infused pastry cream.  Since my sister was making it she freaked out when she the whole thing seized up after adding the corn starch.  We thought it had curdled for a second, then it suddenly dawned on us.

It's a pretty time consuming recipe, I had her wake up early to assemble it but very, very tasty.  And I usually don't even like cake.

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You know what, my friend Miles said the same thing. He's not usually a big cake eater, but he loves the mille crepes. It's like a cake for people who hate cake!

Same thing happened to me the first time I made pastry cream.

[miladyinsanity]

I filled my mille crepe with a triple sec infused pastry cream.  Since my sister was making it she freaked out when she the whole thing seized up after adding the corn starch.  We thought it had curdled for a second, then it suddenly dawned on us.

It's a pretty time consuming recipe, I had her wake up early to assemble it but very, very tasty.  And I usually don't even like cake.

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Bryan, your sister really loves you. Because if I were your sister, I would have shot you.

I may test out my mom's new cast-iron pan with a crepe recipe. I'm drooling over the Mille Crepes.

[Pam R]

Dinner tonight was Cheese Blintzes (Jewish Crepes?).

Started making the rounds. Batter is very thin - eggs, water, salt and just a little potato starch. Using a small, nonstick pan - lightly brushed with oil every other time.

They're only cooked on one side at this point, then turned onto a baking sheet, cooked side-up, between layers of wax paper. Unlike other crepes, these will stick together and tear easily.

Filling is mixed with a paddle - ricotta, dry cottage cheese, an egg, salt and a little sugar:

Roll up some filling in each round (fold the ends in, or you'll have cheese everywhere). The outsides of the rolled blintzes are the uncooked side - so now they must be browned (also allowing the filling to heat through). In a mix of butter and canola oil:

And served with sour cream and strawberries in syrup (as they must be):

[maggiethecat]

Pam. there ought to be a law. Those blintzes deserve an accolade I bestow rarely: Food Porn.

[little ms foodie]

thank you everyone for the info. I used a 9" non stick pan that we use for omelettes.

My batter had some green onion pieces in it so it tasted a bit like the chinese green onion pancakes!

the first one, it was pretty and I got the flip thing pretty quick but it wasn't browned and it was too thick!

the next one was better

I did a little butter with each one with my silicon brush

finally I had a nice little stack of about 13!

this is them as a 'short stack'. there are layers of shredded chicken with homemade balsamic bbq sauce

sorry for the blur, I got the coleslaw but the short stack got blurred out! anyway very yummy!

so I have some in the freezer, it's ok?? how long and how do I defrost and re serve them??

GREAT cook off- I have always been scared to death of crepes.

[snowangel]

So, should Peter and I make a mess of these tomorrow (double entrenre indended), when we freezer them, does one put parchment paper or something between each crepe? Peter and I will pick berries in the morning, buy a few plants, and then he said to me "let's cook sometthing new!" Is it a problem if the batter rests for a few hours?

Edited to add: Peter has seen The Cake. He thinks it looks "unhealty" but thinks that unhealty periodically might be a good idea, and if we eat a mess of berries, we will have undone what we have done.

[Abra]

From everything I've read, the batter should rest at least one, and even several hours. It apparently has to do with the hydration of the flour, thus the tenderness and tensile strength of the finished crepe. Somebody please correct me if I'm wrong!

And Susan, I see that crepes sold frozen at the store have paper between, so that's what I'd do, although the stack I refrigerated for a day didn't stick together at all. I'm almost ready to try another batch - the ones above are looking so beautiful.

[Ling]

From everything I've read, the batter should rest at least one, and even several hours.  It apparently has to do with the hydration of the flour, thus the tenderness and tensile strength of the finished crepe.  Somebody please correct me if I'm wrong!

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I think you're right...I've seen lots of recipes that say the crepe batter should be left to rest overnight. I remember watching a Tyler Florence show where he went to Europe to learn how to make crepes Suzette from a chef at a Michelin-starred restaurant, and the chef also said to let the batter rest overnight.

Edited June 20, 2006 by Ling (log)

[Lori in PA]

I made crepes yesterday, in honor of the cook-off, thinking they'd be a nice vehicle for using up some leftover chicken and ham. I cooked the crepes in the morning, got very busy working outside in the afternoon, and rushed into the kitchen when it was suppertime NOW. I made a thick bechamel and added in the diced meat and a couple of roasted carrots I found in the bowl with the leftover chicken. I didn't have time to make pretty rolls, so I just layered the crepes with the filling in a casserole dish and baked like that til it was heated through. Everyone enjoyed it, though I missed the prettiness of the rolled crepes. (My batter rested a couple of hours in the fridge, but I can't tell any appreciable difference than when I use it immediately. Also, I don't use a blender -- I just whisk with everything I've got.)

[Chufi]

From everything I've read, the batter should rest at least one, and even several hours.  It apparently has to do with the hydration of the flour, thus the tenderness and tensile strength of the finished crepe.  Somebody please correct me if I'm wrong!

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I think you're right...I've seen lots of recipes that say the crepe batter should be left to rest overnight. I remember watching a Tyler Florence show where he went to Europe to learn how to make crepes Suzette from a chef at a Michelin-starred restaurant, and the chef also said to let the batter rest overnight.

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While this does make sense (and Harold McGee says the batter for crepes shold stand an hour or more "to allow proteins and damaged starch to absorb water and air bubbles to rise and escape"... ) I have also seen recipes from sources that I trust, that say it does not really matter much for the final product wether the batter rests or not.

I am rarely organized enough to make batter ahead of time. Although, to contradict myself, I have a buckwheat batter in the fridge right now, resting

btw McGee also says that minimal whisking is key to achieve a delicate tender crepe. Minimal stirring = less gluten development.

So, maybe we can conclude, that the more you whisk, the longer the batter should rest to relax the gluten again?

[jenc]

So this was the day after I made the mille crèpe. I had leftobers, but I was seriously craving some cheesy spinachy goodness, so:

Spinach cooked with garlic, chopped thick-cut bacon, mushrooms (sautéed in the bacon fat!), and chunks of camberzola

and more crèpes from that brunch: with icecream and apple filling (flickr) | artsy shot of a strawberry/banana filling (flickr)

Edited June 20, 2006 by jenc (log)

[ludja]

Thanks for the inspiration from this thread! A couple of nights ago, I made some Palatschinken or "Austrian Crepes".

In Hungary they're called "palacsinta" and in Czechoslovakia, "palacinky".

I filled them with apricot jam, which is very traditional, and then topped them with powdered sugar and sauteed almonds.

These were a favorite for dinner when I was growing up and Dad was out of town on business.

They are slightly thicker than the thinnest crepes and have a more tender texture. For most applications, the batter is sweetend with some sugar as well. They have to be turned very carefully in the pan, not flipped.

Here is my Mom's recipe:

1 ¾ cup flour

2 egg yolk

2 cups milk

pinch of salt

4 Tbs sugar

Add milk slowly into flour and beat until smooth. Add egg yolks, sugar and salt. Blend well.

They are sometimes translated as pancakes even though they are so thin. They are in fact like a very thin pancake but with a more crispy crust like a crepe. I scaled the ingredients in the Julia Child crepe recipe to have the same amount of flour and the crepe recipe becomes:

1 ¾ cups flour

5.25 eggs

1.2 cups milk

1.2 cups water

5 ¼ Tbs melted butter in batter

The palatschinken recipe has a flour:egg ratio which is similar to pancakes and higher than crepes. The Palatschinken batter is much thinner than pancake batter through additional milk and has no butter added to it. The batter is slightly thicker than crepe batter. There is a lot of variation in different palatschinken recipes but they seem to share these general characteristics.

Sometimes they are filled with a mixture similar to that found in blintzes (i.e. sweetened farmers cheese with egg and raisins), placed in a baking dish, covered with a milk/sour cream mixture and baked. "Topfenpalatschinken".

Another great filling is ground walnuts mixed with some cream, rum, sugar, chopped raisins and some grated citrus. If these are served with a chocolate-rum sauce they become "Gundel-style" a Hungarian variation.

[Jensen]

Another great filling is ground walnuts mixed with some cream, rum, sugar, chopped raisins and some grated citrus.  If these are served with a chocolate-rum sauce they become "Gundel-style" a Hungarian variation.

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By coincidence, my mum just returned from a trip to Hungary; while there, she ate at Gundel and, more pertinent to this conversation, bought me a Gundel cookbook as a prezzie.

Sure enough, the recipe for the "Classic Gundel Crepe" is included in the book. If anyone is interested, I'm willing to type it up and PM it.

[Chufi]

they look so good ludja! I made that walnut-filled version once, a long time ago. It was delicious, very rich!

So, I made buckwheat pancakes today. I think I have read before that you can't make buckwheat crepes out of only buckwheat flour, but Anna Thomas has a recipe for these and her recipes always work, so I gave it a try. They came out great, toothsome with a lovely nutty buckwheat flavor. I filled them with a mixture of Chinese leaf, onion, dried porcini and smoked ham, and a dollop of creme fraiche. Sprinkled with cheese and baked. They were fantastic!

[SuzySushi]

They look great! As you've found, you can make buckwheat crepes from just buckwheat flour--this is how the most traditional ones are made in Brittany. It takes more dexterity than the ones that combine buckwheat with wheat flour because the buckweheat doesn't have gluten.

[Chufi]

They look great! As you've found, you can make buckwheat crepes from just buckwheat flour--this is how the most traditional ones are made in Brittany. It takes more dexterity than the ones that combine buckwheat with wheat flour because the buckweheat doesn't have gluten.

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when I have made crepes with buckwheat flour combined with regular flour in the past, I was always disappointed because the buckwheat flavor did not come through. These were great, and really easy to make, just as long as you only turn them over after the top has set.

Here are the proprtions, slightly adapted from Thomas' recipe:

350 ml. liquid (half water, half milk)

60 ml. beer

2 eggs

125 grams buckwheat flour

1 tablespoon oil

1 tablespoon sugar

pinch salt

I whisked with my immersion blender and let the batter rest for a couple of hours.

[SuzySushi]

It sounds like the beer did the trick!

[Eden]

I will have to find some time this week to join the crepe fest. Like Klary, I have some buckwheat sitting about in the pantry, begging to be turned into crepey goodness...

I can make buckwheat crepes no problem, but for some reason I have problems making sweet crepes. Any "never-fail" sweet crepe recipes? I tried Julia's & it didn't like me...

Oh and since I'm doing a big dinner on monday for the no egg, no wheat, uber allergy crowd, does anyone have an alterna-crepe recipe that works? If so I might turn that into a crepe fest...

[suzilightning]

dinner tonight is going to be LEFTOVERS modified into this cookoff.

using one of my mom's cookbooks - written by a friend of her's - Seafood Recipes from Local Waters by Jacqueline Pell Tuttle - and riffing off the recipe we are having seafood crepes. i did make the crepes with herbs - some tarragon from my plant and some scallions. shallots were sauteed in some canola oil then the cooked lobster and fresh shrimp were added. some sherry and Worcestershire - a sprinkle of salt and some whtie pepper. some clam liquor and parsley. pop into the crepes then cover with a medium bechemel sauce and more herbs.

sides will be some garlic green beans and a green salad.

god - i forgot how useful crepes were. i have a stack to freeze for future use - like in september when i can pull a few out so when i stagger into the house after 12 hours staring into the sky to see migrating birds i can wrap some chicken or salmon or tuna into them and heat for little packages of easy goodness.

[little ms foodie]

I wrapped up my leftover green onion crepes and put them in the freezer- how do you suggest defrosting these? Just in the fridge or is there special handling?

[Ling]

btw McGee also says that minimal whisking is key to achieve a delicate tender crepe. Minimal stirring = less gluten development.

So, maybe we can conclude, that the more you whisk, the longer the batter should rest to relax the gluten again?

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Yeah I do remember reading that the batter has to rest to allow the gluten to relax...wouldn't it be better to use cake and pastry flour to make crepes then? Less gluten. Or even cake and pastry flour plus a little bit of cornstarch...that would lower the gluten content even more.

(I usually use whatever flour I have on hand, and let the batter relax overnight in the fridge.)

Edited June 21, 2006 by Ling (log)