cooking

Crepes with Jam

Do you like crepes?

To some of you  – who have been raised on typical American pancakes –  these might sound and look quite exotic.

Right?

Yeah, they are those delicate things that those weird, delicate Europeans eat.

… With their delicate fingers.

On the other hand, those of you who come from Europe, might perceive crepes as something very similar to oxygen you breathe. I guess they are this much common and usual all over the old continent.

And you, dear Europeans, look at the American chubby pancakes with kinda perplexed look in your eyes.

Don’t you?

Well, now that we are clear about the difference between Europe and America (which definitely lies in the preferred thickness of pancakes) we can have a look at the origin of the word ‘crêpe’.

That, in fact, comes from Latin ‘crispa’, meaning ‘curled’.

How lovely!

I guess the one who has invented this dish must have had an excellent sense for cuteness – because these beauties, with their adorable shape and their scrumptious taste, represent pure, heart-touching cuteness to me.

But hey!

What about the rest of the world?

Do you eat pancakes or crepes?

I’d really like to know…

This is what you are going to need in order to prepare you own delicious crepes.

The ingredients are very simple and easy to find in everyone’s pantry.

1. The first step is awesome, I think.

You just place the flour, eggs, milk, water, sugar and salt into a larger bowl and whisk it till it’s smooth.

You don’t even have to pay attention to what comes first.

Initially, the batter will look rather lumpy – which means some more mixing is needed.

Sooner or later there comes the point when the batter becomes perfectly smooth.

2. Pour one tablespoon of the vegetable oil into a medium sized frying pan (I used 7-inch – 18 cm pan).

3. Heat the pan over medium heat – we definitely don’t need too strong heat here.

4. Pour or scoop the batter onto the pan, using approximately 1/4 cup (60 ml) for each crepe.

5. Tilt the pan with a circular motion so that the batter coats the surface evenly.

6. Cook the crepe for about 30 – 40 seconds, until the bottom is light brown.

7. Loosen the edges with a spatula, …

8. … turn and cook the other side.

9. Place the crepes on a separate plate and let cool a little – just until they can be handled with your hands.

10. Then spread about 2 tablespoon jam over the surface of each crepe …

11. … and roll it up.

12. Serve warm.

Sweet crepes can be garnished with fresh fruit and whipped cream.

Enjoy, dear friends.

(This recipe makes 7 crepes.)

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Rosemary Surprise

I prepared this Rosemary Surprise the other day.

I also put a parsley leaf on top to accentuate that life is not that straightforward.

Anyway…

Recently, I’ve found myself in a rather inventing mood here in my kitchen… and this is my second fantasy-come-true this week.

You might ask why I’ve named it a surprise.

Well, have a look, I’ll show you…

These are the ingredients I’ve used.

They are rather simple and easy to obtain.

Because simplicity is my life.

1. First, cut the meat into 5 slices.

You can even let it marinate for a couple of hours, as I did.

But it’s definitely not necessary.

2. Put one slice into a Ziploc or cover with some plastic wrap and pound it until thin.

3. Then cut a piece of aluminum foil – it should be about twice the size of the pounded meat.

4. Place one piece of meat onto the foil and sprinkle with the grilling spice.

(The spice I was using contained some salt so I didn’t have to add any more. In case your grilling spice is salt-free, then use some salt in this step.)

5. Mustard time!

Spread 1 teaspoon mustard over the top.

It will balance the flavors wonderfully.

6. Go on and slice the cheese.

7. Place a few cheese slices over the meat – use as much as needed to cover one half of the meat surface.

8. Place one slice ham over the cheese.

Yum!

9. Slice the onion and the garlic cloves.

There’s a lot of slicing in this recipe.

Slice, slice, slice – like never before.

10. Scatter about 1/5th of the onion and garlic over the meat.

11. Then fold the meat in half – so that the cheese/ham part stays on the bottom and you cover it with the other half.

12. Move the meat to the center of the foil.

13. Now place 1/2 tablespoon butter on top and sprinkle with some rosemary.

If you’re using fresh rosemary, just place the twig on top.

Isn’t this just fun?

I love it when recipes are fun.

14. Wrap the meat with the foil.

Try to press the seals tightly since we definitely want to keep the delicious juices inside.

15. Place the cute packages on a baking sheet.

If you find some free space on the sheet, then slice (again!) some potatoes, sprinkle them with vegetable oil and also with some of the same grilling powder that you’ve used for the meat.

16. Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for about 50-55 minuets.

Oh my.

Can you see the juices?

Well that is something!

And also, now you can see why I’ve named it a surprise.

If you served this dish to someone he’d first say something like: ‘Hm, nice piece of meat. Thank you.’

Then he’d go on, slice it open and …

… find out he is really, really lucky to know you.

And that’s very good.

Enjoy, dear friends!

And have a wonderful weekend.

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