Bowling, Books, Crêpes.

Bowling wasn’t great on Monday. I beat my average once, other two games very mediocre. Matt did very well, on the other hand. The weather was pretty chilly although not snowing. Keep reading about snow in Europe and we only have a heavy dusting – we are supposed to have lots of the stuff by now. Not that I want it when we are driving anywhere. Thought we might have been caught last night when we went to dinner but it never amounted to anything luckily.

Just finished The Curse of Chalion by Lois McMaster Bujold. I think I had read it before, a long time ago. Enjoyed it even so. I have now just started Cryoburn by the same author, a Miles Vorkosigan story which I had missed. Looks pretty good. Starts with Miles having been attacked with a view to abduction. Somehow he ended up trying to find his way through miles and miles of drawers containing bodies which have been frozen and stored. All about cryogenics. Interesting topic for a story although not unique.

I love crêpes, always looked forward to Shrove Tuesday when we used to have them. Often with sugar and lemon or butter and sugar, or even all three. This recipe gives some alternative fillings too. Crêpes can be stored in the freezer for quite a long time if you want. I have another recipe which maybe I will post tomorrow, for Gundel’s Crêpes which hark back to a restaurant in Budapest. I have made those several times for dinner parties. I always stack my crêpes with grease proof paper in between. I have recipes from an article in Eating Well which we used to take a few years back, there were different ways of making the crêpes as well as a variety of fillings. Having typed all this, I think I just might make some this week. I do have a few bought ones in the freezer, but Matt doesn’t like them much.

Crêpes with Sugar and Lemon

Source: America's Test Kitchen

Crêpes will give off steam as they cook, but if at any point the skillet begins to smoke, remove it from the heat immediately and turn down the heat. Stacking the crêpes on a wire rack allows excess steam to escape so they won’t stick together. To allow for practice, the recipe yields 10 crêpes; only eight are needed for the filling.
INGREDIENTS

½ teaspoon vegetable oil

1 cup (5 ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon sugar, plus 8 teaspoons sugar for sprinkling

¼ teaspoon table salt

1½ cups whole milk

3 large eggs

2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled

l lemon, cut into wedges

DIRECTIONS

Place oil in 12-inch nonstick skillet and heat over low heat for at least 10 minutes.

While skillet is heating, whisk together flour, 1 teaspoon sugar, and salt in medium bowl. In separate bowl, whisk together milk and eggs. Add half of milk mixture to dry ingredients and whisk until smooth. Add butter and whisk until incorporated. Whisk in remaining milk mixture until smooth.

Using paper towel, wipe out skillet, leaving thin film of oil on bottom and sides. Increase heat to medium and let skillet heat for 1 minute. After 1 minute, test heat of skillet by placing 1 teaspoon batter in center and cook for 20 seconds. If mini crêpe is golden brown on bottom, skillet is properly heated; if it is too light or too dark, adjust heat accordingly and retest.

Pour ¼ cup batter into far side of pan and tilt and shake gently until batter evenly covers bottom of pan. Cook crêpe without moving it until top surface is dry and crêpe starts to brown at edges, loosening crêpe from side of pan with rubber spatula, about 25 seconds. Gently slide spatula underneath edge of crêpe, grasp edge with fingertips, and flip crêpe. Cook until second side is lightly spotted, about 20 seconds. Transfer cooked crêpe to wire rack, inverting so spotted side is facing up. Return pan to heat and heat for 10 seconds before repeating with remaining batter. As crêpes are done, stack on wire rack.

Transfer stack of crêpes to large microwave-safe plate and invert second plate over crêpes. Microwave on high power until crêpes are warm, 30 to 45 seconds (45 to 60 seconds if crêpes have cooled completely). Remove top plate and wipe dry with paper towel. Sprinkle upper half of top crêpe with 1 teaspoon sugar. Fold unsugared bottom half over sugared half, then fold into quarters. Transfer sugared crêpe to second plate. Continue with remaining crêpes. Serve immediately, passing lemon wedges separately.

Crêpes with Bananas and Nutella

Follow recipe for Crêpes with Sugar and Lemon, omitting 8 teaspoons sprinkling sugar and lemon wedges. Spread 2 teaspoons Nutella over top half of each crêpe followed by eight to ten ¼-inch-thick banana slices. Fold crêpes into quarters. Serve immediately.

Crêpes with Honey and Toasted Almonds

Follow recipe for Crêpes with Sugar and Lemon, omitting 8 teaspoons sprinkling sugar and lemon wedges. Drizzle 1 teaspoon honey over top half of each crêpe and sprinkle with 2 teaspoons finely chopped toasted sliced almonds and small pinch salt. Fold crêpes into quarters. Serve immediately.

Have a great day