French Crêpes

French Crêpes are thin and delicate, delectable and oh so versatile. Perfect for breakfast, lunch or dinner and can be sweet or savory. This morning I made them for the kids and we ate them quite simply, with maple syrup and powdered sugar ( the kids like it with powdered sugar lol). I personally prefer to eat them with a wonderful caramel sauce I learned to make in a restaurant I once worked at years ago. I'll try to get that recipe up here soon. In addition to eating them with the caramel sauce I like to also eat them with Camembert brie neatly tucked into the folds of a crêpe ( or two, lol), and then completed with a drizzling of caramel sauce...it is so decadent and satisfactory...I guarantee you will make it more than once. 
As for the savory aspects of crêpes, you can add herbs and spices into the batter to compliment any fillings or garnishments. Ham and cheese filled crêpes with a classic white sauce ( bechamel ), proscuitto and roasted asparagus rolled up or neatly folded into a crêpe and accompanied by a Hollandaise sauce, or even Pizza stuffed crêpes...there are so many possibilities! 
One last way to serve them is as a dessert. Rolled up loosely and filled with whipped cream and topped with a fruit sauce such as strawberries, blueberries..etc. Even more tempting is to fill the crêpe with fresh strawberries and cream, roll it up and top with a caramel or chocolate sauce ;) Are you salivating yet? 


French Crêpes
     Yields 30-40 crêpes

2 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp salt ( if making savory crêpes add more salt to taste )
1/3 cup sugar ( for slightly sweetened crêpes, omit if making a savory or neutral recipe)
3 Eggs
3-5 cups of milk ( 2% or higher for better taste...however they are good with low fat milk as well )
1/2 cup melted butter
Non-stick pan
Thin plastic ( heat resistant ) spatula


Directions:

1 Mix all dry ingredients together in a large bowl with a whisk.
2 Whisk the eggs and three cups only of the milk. Slowly whisk in the melted butter.
3 Start adding the dry ingredients to the wet, all the whisking to fully incorporate. Once all the dry ingredients have been added you should have a thick batter.
5 The consistency you want to achieve is thin and syrupy. Add the rest of the milk 1/2 a cup at a time until this consistency is achieved. You may or may not need all of the milk listed in the recipe...and it is possible you may need a smidgen more. If there are any lumps, you can always pass the batter through a blender or use an immersion blender.
6 Time for cooking: Using a non-stick pan on medium heat ( you may still need cooking spray, although not for every crêpe only every other 3-4 crêpes)
I use a 2 oz ladle and it gives me the perfect crêpe size. Ladle the batter into the center of the pan...you want a thin crêpe, so tilt the pan counter-clockwise or clockwise ( depending on whichever you are best comfortable doing ), and slowly spread the batter so that it spreads the batter into a larger circle than initially ladled. This may take some practice...but we all know the first crêpes or pancakes don't turn out as pretty anyway ;)

7 You want to start to loosen the edges of the crêpes when the edges are all cooked and the batter is 3/4 cooked in the middle. So, start by sliding your spatula all the way around the edges of the crêpe to loosen the edges and then slide under the middle to completely loosen it. Flip over...but be careful not to rip the crêpe. 
    Here is a picture of what that looks like.

This is a picture of the crêpe flipped...not too dark not too light. This picture also lets you see how I took the original ladle of batter and spread it around by tilting the pan and rotating it counter-clockwise. This makes the crêpe's circumference bigger and makes for a thinner crêpe ;)

Once the crêpe has been flipped cook for 30 seconds to 45 seconds longer and it should slide right out of the pan.

Here is a picture of the underside all beautifully speckled.

You can roll them up and stack them or you can fold them in half and then fold them in half again which will give you a pretty little triangle ;) Enjoy!!