Fanning the Flames of Passion - Crêpes Passion

It's that time again. The BakeSpace International Taste Tour is traveling through the Wonderful World of Crêpes. This was kind of serendipitous for me, since I was already on a Crêpe binge anyway. So you know the Crêpes Sucrée that I made about 2 weeks ago....? Well I stored them in the freezer until I was ready for this dish.

I was REALLY excited to make this dish. I had it all planned out, as I have been toying with this, in my head, over the last year. Then I ran into a snafu. I was unable to obtain any ripe passion fruit. Luckily, I had Passion Fruit juice, Ceres brand, in the cupboard to use as my last resort.

Sadly it's "laced" with apple and pear juices for sweetness. Granted, it's great that it's 100 percent juice and contains no high fructose corn syrup, but it played down the exotic tartness that IS passion fruit. Which kind of bummed me out. Of course, I now had to drop the sugar from my original plan and try to reduce the juice to intensify the flavor. Still too sweet... So, I added Key Lime juice to brighten the acidity a little without modifying the flavor too much. Then, I figured, since I had already adulterated my (already adulterated) passion fruit with lime juice, that a few Wild Lime leaves would add a nice perfume to the dish; especially if I tossed in a hint of Canton (Ginger Cognac).

Flames of Passion

1 recipe Crêpes Sucrée
1 1/4 cup Passion Fruit juice
2 oz unsalted butter
3 leaf lobes from Wild Lime (Makroot), fine chiffonade
1 TB Water
1 TB Key Lime juice
2 TB Canton (Ginger Liqueur)
1/4 cup Light Rum

Make crêpes and set aside. (or thaw some out)

Place 2 Lime Leaves on a cutting board and fold them over.

Cut out the stem. (you only need 3 of the lobes)

Then Chiffonade thinly.

Place 1 cup of Passion Fruit juice in a small sauce pan, and reduce too 3/4 cup.

Melt butter in a small skillet, add passion fruit reduction, lime leaves, water and key lime juice.

Bring mixture to a simmer for 3 minutes, then carefully dip each crepe in the sauce,

and fold crêpes into quarters and arrange in a chaffing dish.

After all the crêpes have been dipped, folded and arranged, carefully add rum and Canton to the sauce, stir to combine, try to not let it catch fire yet, but bring it back to a simmer.

If your chaffing dish has a heat source underneath, ignite it now. (I used another skillet on the stove)

Carefully pour the Passion sauce over the Crêpes,

let the mixture simmer again, then ignite, just like you would for Crêpe Suzette.

Let the flame die on it's own, then kill the heat source underneath the chaffing dish.

Serve while warm with a sprinkling of Passion Fruit Seeds. (I used green Passion Fruit seeds just for a visual)

Alternately, you can skip the rum/Canton step, and arrange crêpes in a shallow oven proof dish, pour sauce over crêpes and broil for 4-5 minutes before serving.

Verdict - I don't think it was passion fruity enough. The Makroot lime made for an exotic fragrance... which was nice. But it REALLY needs real passion fruit pulp. Then I think it would have been completely awesome!! (sigh) Next time.

And NOW on with the Tasty Tour...... See what all my Beeps (BakeSpace peeps) have been up to as they take you on a tour of the wonderful world of the Crêpe in all it's form.

(Sorry, this iframe plugin malfunctioned)

Thank you for joining us on out International Taste Tour of the wonderful world of crêpes.

Mangia!!
~~

Paul Bunyan's Breakfast Makeover - Mapled Galette Flambé

For those not familiar with the Paul Bunyan myths, he was a ubber garmongous logger dude with a big blue ox named Babe, for a side kick. The point, for the purposes of this post, is that he always ate buckwheat flapjacks for breakfast...

This is my French spin on a logger's breakfast. It's actually my favorite thing to do with buckwheat crêpes. Cause I get to play with fire. Allow me a maniacal laugh.

Muah ha ha ha!

eh, hem.... Thank you... ;)

Lemme tell ya, Paul Bunyan never had it this good! I have never tested it myself, but this may even be a good hangover cure. You know, the "hair of the dog that bit ya". Although in this case, it may be the hair of the ox.

Mapled Galette Flambé

16 Galettes de Sarrasin (Buckwheat Crêpes)
1/2 cup Maple Syrup (grade B has better flavor when mixing with rum)
pinch of salt (yes, believe it or not)
2 TB Water
3 TB Meyers Dark Rum
3 TB Bacardi 151
Lemon Peel to garnish
optional - Broken Pecans or Walnuts

In a large skillet, heat Maple syrup, pinch of Salt, Water and Dark Rum until warm.

Meanwhile, in another skillet, heat crêpe 1 by 1, just until heated through.

Fold into a triangle and arrange carefully in the warm syrup, making sure to dip both sides in the syrup.

Once all the crepes have been added to the syrup, increase the flame and bring the sauce to a gentle simmer for 2 -3 minutes.
Add 151 and as soon as the sauce comes back to a simmer.

Turn off the lights and ignite!!!!

It takes about 20 seconds for the flames to die down... OK, Turn the lights back on, the show's over.

Serve about 3-4 crêpes per person, drizzled with a little of the sauce and garnish simply with Lemon Peel or add some broken pecans or walnuts if you wish.

Mangia!!
~~

Crêpe Expectations Part Deux - Crêpes Salées (Galettes Bretonnes au Sarrasin)

In my post regarding crêpes, I left out an important player in the crêpe world. The original Buckwheat Crêpe. The reason was simply that I had used all my buckwheat flour the last time I made Pizzocherri alla Valtellinesi, and had not replaced it yet. But being OCD, it has been bugging me that I, knowingly, did not paint a complete picture of the crepe world. So in order to soothe my conscience, I obtained some Buckwheat flour from the health food section of my closest grocery store (I only needed 3/4 of a cup) and decided to go ahead and make real Crêpes Salées (Salted or Savory Crêpes).

Technically "Galettes" or "Galettes Bretonnes au Sarrasin" would be a more proper name, as this is what they are called in Breton (Brittany) where the crêpe & galette originated so many moons ago. Galettes were savory and crêpes were sweet. Galettes were made with buckwheat flour and crêpes were made with wheat flour and sugar (Crêpe Sucrée). Then something changed somewhere along the way and savory galettes were suddenly being made wheat flour as well. My guess is that this first began in Paris, although my copy of Larousse Gastronomique is fairly vague on the subject (Did I just commit blasphemy?) oops.

So here is the recipe I use for Galettes. I DO cheat though.... I will admit that I am too chicken to not use at least a little bit of Wheat flour to kind of hold things together. Buckwheat is gluten-free, and after working with buckwheat to make Pizzocherri, just let me say that a little gluten can make a BIG difference. My mixing method is slightly different too, since I already have to use a bowl to whisk the flours together, I whisk it all up in the bowl instead of the blender.

Crêpes Salées
(Buckwheat Crêpes)

or Galettes Bretonne au Sarrasin

1/2 tsp Kosher Salt or Fleur de Sel
3 Large Eggs
1 cup plus 2 TB Whole milk
3 TB Water
3 TB Unsalted Butter, Melted
3/4 cup Buckwheat Flour
1/4 cup AP Flour
Olive or Canola oil for crepe pan

Combine all liquid ingredients in a blender with salt and blend thoroughly.

In a small bowl, whisk both the flours together.

While whisking, begin pouring the liquid ingredients into the flours until a homogeneous mixture is created.

Cover the batter with plastic wrap and chill for 1 1/2 hours.

Heat a 7 in skillet or poêle à crêpes and brush lightly with oil or sprayed with vegetable spray.
Pour ~ 3 TB of batter into the heated pan;

while tilting the pan to spread the batter over the bottom. (I tried my darnedest to get a picture of this)

Cook the crêpe/galette for 30 seconds.

Flip it and cook an additional 10 seconds.

Turn out onto paper towel & cool.

Once cooled, they can be stacked, wrapped in plastic wrap and stored in the refrigerator for a week or in the freezer for up to 2 months.

Mangia!!
~~

A Quiche in Crêpe's Clothing - Crêpe de Quiche?

Two great French creations rolled into one yummy package. I am not really sure if these qualify as quiche filled crêpes, or crêpe crusted quiche. Either way, they are delicious for breakfast as well lunch, served on a bed of arugala or even for a light dinner with pesto'ed mashed potatoes and/or a mixed herb salad.

I have not made these in a looooooong time. In fact, I think the last time these graced the table was April in the year 2008 BB (Before Blog) Thus is was, while watching the crêpe challenge on Hell's Kitchen last week, that my appetite was suddenly whet for these individual packages of deliciousness.

You will need BIG muffin tins... Sometimes referred to as Texas sized muffin tins. This makes about 11 quiche/crêpes.

Crêpes de Quiche
 

1 recipe Savory Crêpes without Buckwheat (you will have extra crêpes, but this allows for accidental tearing)
12 large Eggs
6 TB Mayonnaise (I used my own, made with White Wine Vinegar & Spicy Brown mustard)
1/2 cup Whole Milk
1/3 cup Orange Juice
1/2 cup Half and Half
1 tsp Fine ground Green pepper
Pinch or 2 of Kosher Salt
16 oz Broccoli, chopped
1 Shallot, minced
2 1/2 cups (10 oz) Shredded Extra Sharp Cheddar; Divided

Preheat oven to 350 degrees
In a large bowl, whisk the eggs till the yolks and whites are homogeneous.

Add Mayonnaise, Milk, Orange Juice and 1/2 & 1/2; Whisk to combine.

Add Green Pepper, Salt, Shallot and 2 cups of the Cheddar Cheese; whisking again.

Fold in Broccoli.

Hold your crêpes up to the light to ensure there are not little holes to allow the custard to leak out, then arrange them in a sprayed muffin tin, folding as needed. (I won't lie, this is a little tricky as the crêpes seldom wish to cooperate).

Ladle mixture into crêpe lined muffin tins, very carefully or you may end up with custard down in the tin, which will cause them to stick, regardless of the cooking spray.

Gently adjust the folds of the crêpes.

Don't be too discouraged, sometimes the crêpes tear, no matter how careful you are...

Once all the Crêpes have been filled.....

Divide the remaining 1/2 cup of Cheddar cheese between the quiche filled crêpes.

Bake for 15 minutes, then cover the crêpes with aluminum foil to prevent over-browning the delicate edges and bake an additional 15 minutes.

Allow to cool fore 5 minutes (they will sink a little bit as the quiche cools) before removing carefully from the tins and cooling on a wire rack.

Serve warm.

Mangia!!
~~

Crêpe Expectations - Sweet and Savory Crêpes

Ah the crêpe...

So delicious, so versatile, so humble and yet ostentatious at times. They can be served plain or filled with enumerable sweet or savory delights. They can then be rolled or folded or simply layered with filling in between as in the Mille crêpe. Served as is, or baked in the oven after filling and smothered in rich sauces or soaked in alcohol and ignited in a blaze of glory like Crêpe Suzette.

Ah the crêpe.

So this post is about crêpes. Not necessarily what to DO with the crêpes once they are made; but about the crêpes themselves; as building blocks to other great dishes. Kind of like homemade pasta, in a way. So I am going to lay out a foundation that I can build on it later.

I have been seriously loving my Magic Bullet, which I thought I would never actually use, as it has come in handy the last few days. It came with these silly (yeah, not so silly now) "blended drink" glasses/mugs with the handles and the rings to cover the threads on the rim. But this gave me the ability to mix up multiple batches and store them in the containers. OK, I will admit it, they are pretty cool after all, but I am still not going to serve someone a Margarita, Daiquiri or Piña Colada in one...

Savory Crêpes
(Sans Buckwheat)

3 large eggs
1 cup whole milk
2 TB Water
2 TB Unsalted Butter, melted
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1 cup AP flour
Olive or Canola oil for crêpe pan

Combine all liquid ingredients in a blender with salt and blend thoroughly.

Add flour, then blend for 1 minute until smooth.

Place batter in a bowl, cover with plastic wrap and chill for 1 hour.

Crêpes Sucrées

2 large eggs
3/4 cup + 1 TB Whole milk
2 TB Water
2 TB unsalted butter, melted
2 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp Vanilla (optional)
Pinch of kosher salt
3/4 cups AP flour
Olive or Canola oil for crêpe pan

These are made pretty much the same way, simply add the sugar with the rest of the liquid ingredients in a blender;

Blend thoroughly.

Add flour and blend for 1 minute until smooth.

Place batter in a bowl, cover with plastic wrap and chill for 1 hour just like savory crêpes.

Why the chilling? This will not only relax the gluten and make for a more tender crêpe, but it will alow time for the bubbles that were created during blending to dissipated, so your crêpes will be stronger after cooking. If you have air bubbles in your cooked crêpes they will tear easier.

OK, Now we are gonna cook up some crêpes ....... I made 1 1/2 batches of Savory and 1 batch of Sweet.

I do not have one of those fancy hot plate things with the wooden trowel used in crêperies nor do I use a Teflon coated pan. I use a 7 inch Carbon Steel crêpe pan (poêle à crêpes), that needs to be seasoned just like cast iron would. It was my first kitchen hardware purchase beyond my original 4 piece cookware set. I picked it up in Portland some 12 years ago, when I had gone back to visit my family, at a store called Kitchen Kaboodle... That was LONG before I discovered Great News down here in Pacific Beach, about 6 years ago...

Heat a skillet or crêpe pan and brush lightly with oil or cooking spray. (you will have to do this again after each crêpe)

Pour ~ 3 TB of batter into the heated pan while tilting to spread the batter over the bottom of the pan.

(OK, I am pretty good at 1 handed pictures, but this would have required 3 hands... LOL)

Cook crêpe 30 seconds, then flip and cook 10 more seconds.

And just so ya know... I always loose the first one. Sometimes the second one as well. Whether the temperature is too high or it decides to stick, like it did this time... I have come to think of the first one as being a sacrifice to the Crêpe Goddess. ;)

Turn out onto paper towel & cool.

Once cooled, they can be stacked, wrapped in plastic and stored for up to a week in the refrigerator or frozen for 2 months. (although personally, I think they have a strange texture after being thawed out)


So what am I doing with all these crêpes? Um, you are going to have to stay tuned... I have several plans in motion right now. This is why the 1 1/2 batches of Savory and 1 batch of Sweet crêpes. It all started with the Hell's Kitchen episode dealing with crêpes, I suddenly had a craving for something I have not made since April 2008 BB (Before Blogging). It actually involves another great French invention... I will give you a hint... Supposedly, "Real Men" don't eat it.... :)

Mangia!!
~~