Saturday, March 10, 2012

Their Daddy's Crêpes



A classic recipe for crepes that can be eaten with sweet additions for breakfast or savory fillings for dinner.

So many stories does this recipe bring to mind, it’s hard to choose just one.  But I guess the one I most want to tell is an ode to the best husband/father. When our girls were tiny, not yet school age, mealtimes were my time with them. They ate breakfast after their daddy went to work most days since he left so early. He ate lunch at work and I served their dinner promptly at 6 p.m.  He was hardly ever home at 6 p.m.  He arrived in time for baths and bedtime stories then we ate our dinner after they were tucked in bed. Couple time. 

Now some people are morning people. And some are not. Many mornings my baby, now 18, fell into the not category. When I had all the time in the world, this was never an issue. Our mornings were mostly lovely and relaxed and enjoyable. But when she started nursery school, breakfast became a daily struggle. Now this was a most loving and adorable child. (Still is!) And I have the photos to prove it.  



But I disliked starting out every day with stress. And this was when my hero stepped in. Their daddy took over breakfast duty and has been in charge weekday mornings ever since. He would wake our girls up, take their breakfast orders and make the meal. He would sit and chat with them as they ate.  Most special of all, before all of that, he had delivered a cup of coffee to me in bed. Call me blessed, go ahead. It’s true.

I came down, showered and dressed, just as breakfast was finishing, ready to take on the next step of school preparedness: getting the girls dressed, teeth brushed, snacks packed, bags ready and then, the walk or drive to school. It changed my life and, I don’t doubt, all of theirs. Who doesn’t want to spend time every day with their daddy?

One of the favorites their daddy made them all the time was crêpes.  Taken straight out of Gourmet’s Best Desserts.

Ingredients
1⁄2 cup or 60g all purpose flour
1⁄2 cup or 120ml water
1⁄4 cup or 60ml milk
2 large eggs
1 1⁄2 tablespoons of butter, melted and cooled
1⁄2 teaspoon sugar
Pinch of salt

Method
Blend all ingredients in a blender or a rreeirrr which is what we call a hand blender in our house, because we didn't know its real name at first and because that’s the noise it makes.  Scrape down the sides and blend some more.  Let batter rest for a while in the refrigerator until ready to use.

This was a double recipe!


Heat a non-stick skillet on the stove.  Pour in just enough batter to lightly coat the bottom of the pan.



Tilt the pan all around until the batter covers the bottom.



Jiggle the pan gently until you feel the crêpe begin to unstick.  

Flip with a spatula and cook briefly on the other side.  Slide the crêpe off onto a plate.



Just to give you an idea of how big my pan is in centimeters. So that's just under eight 
inches across for the pan and about six inches across for the crêpes.  

Serve a nice stack (This recipe will make about eight or nine crêpes.) with lime or lemon juice, sugar to sprinkle and Hershey’s chocolate syrup. At our house, the girls and their sleepover guests put all three on every crêpe.


But the reason I have shared this recipe with you today, is because it can also be used in savory dishes. And it is an integral part of Greens and Pea Manicotti, my next post.  


Also, I just wanted to tell you how great my husband is. True story. 

With his Rushton's Pub pint.
Cheers!

2 comments :

  1. So in my last post I said that Simon is a lucky man but after reading this one I have to say you're and equally lucky woman...a match made in heaven!!!! who couldn't derserve a better match....These stories just made me go awww and even though my dad is not the cooking type he showed his love in different ways...and its truly a blessing to have dads like these in your lives.....Looking forward to meeting up this week...

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks again, Shelly! Dads are so important! I love that many men today are recognizing their worth to their children, so far beyond just financial support. Hope to get together this week too!

    ReplyDelete

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