I like the books dirty.

[gfrancie]

I like a cookbook that I can genuinely use. Porn-worthy pictures are nice but not required. It doesn't make sense to have too many books that have glossy pictures of food you feel too intimidated to make. (though I do admit to having the French Laundry Cookbook book but that is because I had so much fun flirting with Thomas Keller when talking about Meat)
Mastering the Art of French Cooking is a book I keep turning to for a variety of dishes and techniques. It is a used copy I picked up a few years ago and I have put to good use. It has stains and water marks from when I cook. I don't think I will ever be a courtly lover of books. I like things a bit messy. I found that Julia Child helped once again when it came to making crepes. I told emmabovary that I had tried a few different recipes from different sources and the results were alright and for some reason some recipes made the process of making crepes more complicated than it ought to be.
Sometimes going back to a reliable source will bring out simplicity and damn delicious results.

Crepes

1 cup cold water
1 cup cold milk
4 eggs
1/2 tsp salt
2 cups sifted all purpose flour
4 Tbs melted butter

You don't need some fancy Kitchen Aid mixer to do these. Either a hand mixer or a blender can do the trick if you don't feel like whisking your arm off.
Mix together the water, milk and eggs. Once that is combined add the salt, flour and butter and mix (if you are using some electric device) a few more seconds. Maybe scrape down the sides of the bowl or blender glass if there is lingering flour.
Saint Julia says that the batter should be like a light cream and thick enough to coat a wooden spoon. Put the batter in the fridge for at least two hours.

When it is time to make the crepes you just heat up a skillet/crepe pan over moderately high heat. Brush the pan with butter/oil, lade out some of the batter (the ladle should hold about 1/4 cup) into the middle of the pan and tilt tha pan till it runs all over the bottom of the pan. Reduce the heat for about a minute and then jerk the pan a bit to loosen the crepe. Lift the edges with a spatula and then turn. You can do this with your fingers if you have burned off all of the nerves on them like I have or do it with the aid of a spatula. Then for about 30 seconds let it cook and then place on a plate. Rebrush the pan with butter every crepe or so. It should make about 10-12 crepes with this recipe.
Place what you like on them. Cheese, nutella, butter, your boyfriend. Take yer pick.

Tomorrow I am going to make a Persian dish. I have been kind of enticed by Persian culture as of late. The food is rather interesting.

Comments

[presently.livejournal.com]

dfhkdls I love you right now. I haven't made crepes in ages but, tomorrow? I am so making them. \o/!

[gfrancie.livejournal.com]

Eat them for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

[artemis-moon.livejournal.com]

my daughter loves crepes. I haven't made them in a long time though. And we never used Nutella before, just sugar or jelly.

[gfrancie.livejournal.com]

In Paris I had a few that were slathered in Nutella. Pure dangerous decadence.

[artemis-moon.livejournal.com]

the word slathered is decadent, lol.

[doggereler.livejournal.com]

I made our pancakes last night in much the same way, though without the salt and butter or putting the mixture in the fridge for two hours. I mixed a half cup of milk with a half cup of water and a half cup of flour and added an egg. Hand whisked it a little till it was runny, poured a bit in a small frying pan that had had oil in but which I poured out before I put in the mix and that was it. All seemed too simple.

I flipped my pancakes with a deft flick of my wrist because I'm a daredevil. Admittedly, the first one didn't make it past that step.

[gfrancie.livejournal.com]

Sounds like a proper good time. Did you feel faintly ill afterward?

[doggereler.livejournal.com]

Absulotely. Pancake Day is all well and good but Pancake Night is a bit of a slog to get through.

[maliekai.livejournal.com]

I'll have to give this a try and see how they turn out relative to my mom's German pancakes, which we call crepes but taste slightly different.

Butter, syrup, whipped cream, and strawberries -- the only way to go! Mmmm.

[gfrancie.livejournal.com]

Are they the kind that are baked in a cast iron skillet in the oven?

[maliekai.livejournal.com]

No, you make them in a crepe pan.

[gfrancie.livejournal.com]

Ah okay. The only way I knew of German pancakes were the kind that were almost souffle-like and baked in an oven.

[maliekai.livejournal.com]

Huh, cool. Yeah, my parents grew up with Canadian Mennonite backgrounds, so I think that affected the food more than actual German food. It's a whole nother kettle of fish. And there's a lot of deep-frying.

[gfrancie.livejournal.com]

Okay. That makes a fair amount of sense.

[meowlet.livejournal.com]

I have heard tell that you can even store it overnight for maximum awesomeosity. I have been known to cheat and use it RIGHT AWAY. (Like after 20 minutes)

I purchased a Julia Child cookbook just the other night and of couse I thought of you!

[gfrancie.livejournal.com]

Oh I have done the same. I get impatient. "Bitches I need crepes now."

[meowlet.livejournal.com]

Also I throw in a dab of maple syrup. For fun. Or maybe vanilla. Maybe both. It's like a PIN, I can't remember until I do it again.

[gfrancie.livejournal.com]

A bit of flavor can be fun. I like doing some with grand marnier.

[rosy1.livejournal.com]

thanks for the recipe...I cheat and by them ready-made at the bakery and usually use 'creme de marron'. I am so going to try the nutella!

[gfrancie.livejournal.com]

Nutella is great with everything. Including dirt.

[cigale.livejournal.com]

have you tried using beer instead of water? Do you think you need any oil in the dough? Yours is the first recipe I see with butter.
How about flavoring in the dough? Maybe it is a south of France thing but we would not make crepes without orange blossom flower water, which is also excellent as a filling with sugar, just like lemon. hmmm I had some with lemon and sugar this saturday :)

[gfrancie.livejournal.com]

From what I have researched about crepes a recipe can vary from region to region all over Europe. Some add beer, flavorings, fat and some don't. Orange blossom water in the South of France makes a lot of sense. The batter is increibly flexible as to how it is put together.

[zepharum.livejournal.com]

Really? I'm all about the cookbooks with pictures. It IS like porn.

[gfrancie.livejournal.com]

I like pictures alot, but if the recipes are so-so or overly complicated it becomes useless.