crepes

One of my latest pandemic shop-a-thon purchases was a cordless electric crepe maker, the direct result of watching too many Instagram reels and having an Amazon Prime account. Last night I decided to see if it worked just like it did in the video I watched. I thought about making blintzes but didn’t have the right cheeses so I opted for roasted vegetable crepes. I made my crepe batter, and while that was resting in the fridge, I prepped all of my veggies and got them ready for roasting. I used broccoli, asparagus, onion, peppers, mushrooms, butternut squash, and brussel sprouts. I added fresh herbs and salt and olive oil and let them roast until tender. They smelled so good roasting. While the vegetables were in the oven I fired up this crepe maker. I poured my batter into the shallow (plastic) dish that came with the CucinaPro.

This post exists only because of this crepe maker. The first time I dipped the crepe maker into the batter one area came up bare. There is some wrist action required to get nice even coverage. After a couple tries I had pretty much perfected the dip, even though this one appears to have a frowny face.

The crepes slide right off the surface and no oil or butter is required. The crepes are paper thin as advertised on the box. My recipe made 20 crepes. I tore sheets of wax paper and layered them as they came off the iron. The crepes themselves were very easy to work with once I started filling and rolling. All in all, I am very satisfied with my purchase and this will not be a ”one use wonder.” I do have a very nice blue carbon steel crepe pan that I will still use on occasion, particularly for making things like blintzes. Since I brush that pan with a little melted butter between crepes the crepe has a little different consistency, and obviously a more buttery flavor. I think the crepe maker will be my go-to for savory crepe dishes. Whether you have a CucinaPro Cordless Crepe Maker or a favorite non-stick skillet, the basic crepe recipe I use will work fine.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups AP flour

3 eggs

1 1/2 cups whole milk

2 T melted butter

1/2 tsp salt

Combine all the crepe ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth. Refrigerate the batter for at least 30 minutes. Heat your skillet over medium heat, brush with butter, and add about 1/3 cup of batter. Swirl the pan to spread the batter out and, when the edges turn golden, flip the crepe. Stack them between layers of wax paper until you’re ready to use them.

Crepes can be filled with just about anything. This was dinner so I filled mine with some grated Gruyere and all of the veggies that I roasted.

You can use any combination of vegetables and herbs. I added fresh rosemary, oregano, and salt to my medley and tossed them with a generous amount of olive oil. I roasted them at 425 on a jelly roll pan lined with parchment for easy clean up.
I gave them a stir after about 30 minutes and let them roast for another 30 minutes until they were tender.

Once the veggies are done let them cool a bit before you start stuffing and rolling your crepes.

One of my favorite bits are the crispy brussel sprout leaves. I munched a few of those while I was waiting for them to cool a bit. I roasted a whole garlic in the foil and squeezed that delicious garlic out to stir into the vegetables. Add salt and pepper to taste. When you’re ready to fill your crepes grate some cheese because, lets face it, everything is better with cheese. I used Gruyere but any cheese will work.

Lay down some of the cheese and then top with your vegetables. Roll the crepes and put them on a parchment lined sheet pan.
Bake them in an oven preheated to 350 for 15-20 minutes until heated through.

I made a Bechamel sauce to serve over the crepes. When I learned to make this sauce in my high school home economics class it wasn’t called Bechamel, it was simply called white sauce. You make a roux from butter and flour and add milk. Today I whisked in a little nutmeg and fresh grated parmesan cheese. Served up with a chiffonade of fresh basil.

I had a lot of extra crepes so I cooked up some apples with apple pie spices and a little sugar, and made a dessert crepe topped off with a little caramel sauce.

Fun to make and delicious to eat.

NOTE: Crepes have no end of potential. You could use a combination of meat and cheese like ham and swiss or chicken with roasted peppers and jack cheese. If you have extra crepes, as I did, you can refrigerate them in a ziplock bag leaving the wax paper sheets in between the crepes. Make them up for breakfast filled with scrambled eggs, cheddar cheese, and bacon. You can top them with salsa, marinara, or a cheese sauce. You’re only limited by your imagination.

About a month ago I brought my Dad home to Michigan’s Upper after he spent the Thanksgiving holiday with me. A friend came along for the ride and she and I went to Marquette to check in at some of the local breweries and do a little shopping. Marquette has some great little shops with locally made jewelry, pottery, wood crafts, art, and candy. We made lots of stops. A candy store called Donkers that’s been in business since 1896. A favorite restaurant that serves organic and locally sourced foods called Sweet Water Cafe. A unique grocery called the Flying Moose that sells UP Sushi with venison. I have never been a mall shopper so I really love the small, locally owned stores in Marquette’s downtown area. I know this is a convoluted trip to my blintz recipe. But while we were at a little shop called Touch of Finland I purchased a new sauna stove, a box of rocks, and a great iron crepe skillet. The sauna stove replaced our old stove that died a few months previous. The new stove was installed a few weeks ago and is working great! I seasoned my new iron skillet yesterday morning and decided to make blintzes for brunch. The skillet is working great!

Blintzes are my sister-in-laws go-to dish for Christmas brunches. She buys them frozen and heats them up. Don’t get me wrong, they are good. But homemade from scratch is better. Blini is the Russian name for crepes. Blintzes are crepes that are filled with cheese or fruit and then sautéed or baked. I’m filling mine with cheese filling and baking them.

Crepe Ingredients:

4 eggs

1/2 cup whole milk

1/2 cup water

1 cup AP flour

1/4 cup granulated sugar

2 T butter melted for brushing the skillet

Filling Ingredients:

1 cup cottage cheese

6 ounces cream cheese at room temperature

4 T honey

1 egg yolk

1/2 lemon juiced

Prepare the batter by first whisking the eggs.

Add all the other ingredients to the eggs and whisk until the batter is smooth.

Refrigerate the batter for 30-45 minutes. Heat your skillet over medium heat. Brush the skillet lightly with melted butter and put about 1/3 cup of batter on the skillet. Swirl the skillet to distribute the batter evenly and cook for 30-60 seconds. Flip. Slide the crepe out of the skillet onto wax or parachment paper and start the process over again. Repeat until all the batter has been used. (Makes about 12 crepes.)

Preheat the oven to 350.

Now it’s time to prepare the filling and assemble the blintzes. Beat all of the filling ingredients together with a hand mixer. Brush a casserole dish with butter. Put a couple tablespoons of the cheese filling on one end of the crepe. Fold once, then fold the sides in like an envelope and roll. Place the blintzes in the casserole dish seam side down.

Continue filling and rolling. Brush the tops of the blintzes with a little butter.

Bake for 45 minutes. I served ours with homemade apple sauce.

Enjoy!

NOTE: You can make fruit blintzes with an apple or cherry filling similar to what you’d use in a pie. You can top your cheese blintzes with fresh berries or sliced banana. Dust them with powdered sugar. If you want to make a double batch, crepes freeze well. Separate the crepes with wax paper and store in a zip lock freezer bag for use later.

The new crepe pan I got is a de Buyer. It’s iron so it’s an excellent heat conductor. Best used over medium heat. I love my new sauna stove and I love my new crepe pan.

The Finnish Dish

Cooking in Michigan with Ruth

Roasted Veggie Crepes

Blintzes with Cheese Filling