When you think of crepes, you probably think of extravagant and difficult but they really aren't. I use to make crepes when my kids were little and they always loved them, hot off the grill. They would come home from school and I'd whip up some crepes (literally, since you make them in the blender.) They would eat them as fast as I cooked them, one by one right out of the pan. I don't know why I stopped making them because everybody still loves them. So, on the first night that Nick was here from Japan, I asked him what he wanted to eat while he was home. I mentioned the possibility of having a family brunch on Saturday and he and Lauren immediately requested crepes. I hadn't even thought about making crepes in such a long time but apparently they've never forgotten. It was unanimous. Crepes for brunch it was. And the crepes were a huge success. They are not extravagant or difficult. Just plain good.
The request wasn't for just plain crepes but for "sweet and savory crepes". I've had an old recipe for ham and cheese appetizer crepes but Nick requested ham, cheese and spinach crepes. I figured that was an easy enough addition. My notes on my old ham and cheese crepe recipe said to make a lot because people will easily eat 4 or 5 crepes. So, with 10 people coming to our Saturday brunch, I decided to make a total of 48 crepes with half savory and half sweet.
We actually had more than 10 people over because people came in waves during times when they could come. The first wave were the 10 people hungry for crepes. I made my cranberry spritzer drinks using regular cranberry juice because it's hard to find white cranberry juice and they still taste just as delightful.
Of course, Hana was the star of the show, not my crepes...
The second wave was my nephew's family who had just come from a brunch so were not really hungry. They came for the social aspect knowing what a fun and jolly group of people that we are.
And also, so newborn Jackson could meet his new second cousin, Hana. (Joe is Nick's cousin who also recently had a new baby boy)
Cousins feeding their babes.
The third wave were friends of Nick's who came by and we ended up ordering take-out barbecue for dinner for their visit.
I guess you could say it was a brunch that lasted all day. But the crepes served their purpose well. The recipe is from a cookbook called Wonderful Ways to Prepare Crepes and Pancakes, copyright 1979.
Obviously, I've had this cookbook a long time. It has 94 pages covering every type of crepe and pancake you can imagine but I've always just made the very first recipe called "Basic Crepe Batter". That one alone is just so good, I've never gotten around to making any of the others. Below is the Basic Crepe Batter recipe with instructions on how to make a basic sweet crepe and the second recipe is the Ham, Cheese and Spinach Crepe recipe.
Basic Crepe Batter Recipe
Makes 12 crepes
2 eggs
1-1/4 cups milk
1 cup flour
1/4 tsp. salt
2 Tbsp. melted butter
1. In an electric blender, beat together the eggs and milk.
2. Sift the flour with the salt and add to the egg and milk mixture.
3. Add the melted butter and blend thoroughly.
4. Allow the mixture to stand for at least an hour before using.
Making Crepes
1. Pour batter into a container with a nice pointed spout for easy pouring.
2. Heat burner to medium heat. I use a setting of 4.5 that was a perfect temperature for making the crepes.
3. Pour 1 or 2 Tbsp. of the batter into a nonstick frypan.
4. Tilt to spread the batter to the edges of the pan.
5. Keep tilting the pan so the batter keeps going around and around the cooked batter until it will not spread any longer.
6. When bubbles start to form, flip the crepe using a small spatula.
7. Continue cooking for about another 15 to 30 seconds.
8. Remove from pan by sliding off onto the pile of cooked crepes.
Crepes taste good just like this but if you want sweet crepes, make a bowl of cinnamon and sugar mixture and a bowl of melted butter. Brush crepe with melted butter.
Sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar mixture.
Roll up and eat. Or if you are making several to serve, place on a cookie sheet, brush with more butter and sprinkle with more sugar mixture. Warm up in the oven and serve with toppings such as chocolate syrup, berries, whipped cream, nutella, etc.
Ham, Cheese and Spinach Crepes
Makes filling for 12 crepes
1 medium onion, minced
2 Tbsp. butter
1 6 oz. bag fresh baby spinach
1 cup cooked ham, minced
1 large ripe tomato, peeled and chopped
1/2 tsp. basil
1/4 tsp. fennel seed, crushed
1/8 tsp. pepper
1 cup shredded Swiss cheese (4 ounces)
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter, melted
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1. Saute onion in butter in a large skillet until soft.
2. Add the bag of spinach to onions.
3. Cook spinach until wilted and mix into onion mixture.
4. Stir in ham, tomato, basil, fennel and pepper.
5. Cook and stir over low heat until liquid has almost evaporated. Remove from heat.
6. Fill crepes, putting about 2 Tbsp. filling and 1 Tbsp. Swiss cheese near edge of crepe.
7. Roll up and place on cookie sheet. (I doubled the recipe)
8. Brush tops with melted butter.
9. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.
10. Broil about 4 inches from heat for 2 minutes or until lightly browned. If you want to serve for appetizers, cut each crepe in half diagonally.
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