CREPES ARE MY NEW FAVORITE TASTY AND CHEAP EAT !!!

Hi everyone,
Okay, so I finally made it back into the kitchen to make crepes. I got the recipe out of the Fred Meyer "Naturally Preferred" magazine. It's a free publication that is located in the natural foods section of my Fred Meyer store. It comes out once a month. It's chock full of healthy information etc. So I really enjoy this little freebie. Plus, when I scanned the pages and saw the crepe recipe, I knew I had to make some.  The  recipe was changed just slightly because I only wanted to use what I had on hand. Here's how it went.

FIRST ADD A 1/2 (HALF) CUP OF ALL-PURPOSE FLOWER.

 I still had a nearly full bag of Bob's Red Mill flour, so I used that. You can tell from the photo what type of flower I used.  I personally don't think it matters in this case. Although, it's literally been YEARS since I made crepes. If you make them often, please feel free to share your tips for yummy crepes.

NEXT, ADD 1/2 (HALF) TEASPOON OF GROUND NUTMEG.

Why nutmeg? That is a total mystery to me.  I will say it added a very nice subtle spicy note to the crepes. So feel free to include it or leave it out. I'm sure there's some sort of health benefit to nutmeg :) 

Also, I used a literal "tea spoon" to measure out the nutmeg and the salt. I don't have measuring spoons, so I had to eyeball it. It's more fun that way, anyway. Besides, if it worked for the pioneers, than it will work for me, too :) :) :)

ALSO ADD 1/4 (ONE QUARTER) TEASPOON OF SALT.

Sea salt is what I had on hand. I don't even remember why I bought this particular brand. It was probably the best value when I was at the grocery store. Sea salt is "saltier" then regular salt? That's how it is, right? In any case, I personally love sea salt :) :)

Okay, so now that you have those first three inredients, mix them together in a medium-size bowl. I didn't post a photo of that because  it didn't look very interesting. Once you've mixed those three ingredients in a bowl, grab another bowl and add these two items together:

IN ANOTHER SMALL BOWL, MIX TOGETHER 1 CUP OF MILK AND  TWO LARGE EGGS.

Now in the original recipe it called for fat-free milk. NOPE!!! I like whole milk. Or as we now call it in my  home "chubby milk".  Again, I think it's a matter of preference. However, I do think everything tastes better with chubby milk :) :)

Also, the eggs should be "lightly beaten". I'm not exactly sure what that means. It just means don't mix those eggs, like you're in a race to the finish line.

GRADUALLY STIR IN THE EGG & MILK INTO THE FLOUR MIXTURE UNTIL YOU ACHIEVE "BATTER" :) :) IT SHOULD LOOK SOMETHING LIKE THIS.

I didn't think to use a different color bowl. So it's hard to see what the batter really looks like. Those darker bits are the nutmeg.  The batter should be a bit runny. It will make great crepes.
The recipe said to let the batter sit for 15 minutes.  Although, you could let it sit longer. I had a recipe given to me by a real Frenchman years ago. In that recipe, it said to let the mix sit for 2 hours. That's really up to you. Oh, I can't find that recipe, so that's another reason why I tried this one today.

 I didn't have a non-stick skillet. Since I'm using what I have on a hand, my yardsale steel frying pan would have to work. So that's what I used.  I turned the heat to a hair below medium, to give the  pan a chance to warm up without overheating or burning what I was about to cook :)

I USED JUST ENOUGH COCONUT OIL TO COAT THE SURFACE OF THE PAN.

Coconut oil is great to cook with. In addition to smelling really good in the jar, it burns very CLEAN in the pan. It doesn't brown, so it's perfect for cooking on medium heat.  There are a lot of benefits to using coconut oil. So I've read, anyway. I'll try and post a really nice article I found about that later this week.  Coconut oil is expensive. However, you only need a minimal amount. So that's what I went with. Besides that, butter is spendy and I have to save that for other recipes :) :)  I didn't use a spray because I didn't feel comfortable doing that near a hot stove.
So I added a little bit of coconut oil before adding about 1/4 cup of crepe batter. I repeated that process for every crepe. Also note, that when I did that, I removed the pan from the heat. There's no reason in particular for doing that. It's just what I felt should be done :)
Oh, how did the crepes turn out? Really yummy. The first crepe turned out really ugly and three -dimensional:

THE FIRST CREPE WAS NOT PRETTY. HOWEVER, THE TASTE WAS NOT AFFECTED ONE TINY BIT. IT STILL TASTED DELICIOUS. 

 This is one that I made using the coconut oil to grease the pan. Oh, next time I'm going to add oil to the recipe itself. I think that will be easier and use less oil. What do you think? Also, my crepes turned out browner than what I remember. However, I think that was due to the fact that I was using a steel skillet.  What has been your experience using different cooking utensils?

After you add the coconut oil to the pan, add about 1/4 cup of crepe batter. Let it cook and set for about 1 and a half minutes. Flip it over and let it cook on the other side for about 25 seconds. This worked great. Although, even here, you can alter that according to your needs. You'll know, after a few, when it's set and ready to be turned over.

THESE WERE ALL OF MY CREPES, MINUS THE UGLY FIRST CREPE. THIS RECIPE MADE 7 CREPES FOR ME.

I did switch to butter for the last half of the crepes. It didn't make one bit of difference, other than a slightly saltier taste.  

Those are my crepes. They turned out great. You can fill them with sweet or savory fillings. Today my dad and I ate them plain. They were so good. Next time, I'll make a bigger batch. It would be nice to have some for the freezer.

Here's the original recipe as it appeared in the Fred Meyer "Naturally Preferred" magazine for May 2011. 

CREPES
(from Weight Watchers New Complete Cookbook - Wiley, 2011)

Ingredients
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup fat-free milk
2 large eggs, lightly beaten

1. Whisk together flour, nu tmeg, and salt in a medium bowl. Beat together m ilk and eggs in a small bowl. Whisk m ilk misture into flour misture until smooth. Let stand 15 minutes.

2. Spray an 8-inch nonstick skillet with nonstick spray and set over medium heat until a drop of water sizzles in pan. re-stir batter: pour scant 1/4 cup of batter into skillet, tiltingh pan to coat bottom completely. Cook until top is set and underside is golden brown, about 1 1/2 minutes.

3. With spatula, loosen edge of crepe and turn over. Cook until second s ide is loightly browned, about 25 seconds.  Slide crepe onto plate. Repeat with remaining batter, lightly spraying skillet before adding more batter, making a total of 8 crepes.

 So there's that particular recipe. I'll definitely be making more crepes later this week, and trying a different recipe.  They were so good...and I only wish I'd made more, because now I'm dependent on crepes :) :)

That's the news from Oregon today. Love and hugs, Heather :)