Yesterday the NCAA National Championship in football was on tv, and as most good Southerners do, we rooted for the SEC team: Auburn University. You do realize the SEC is the strongest conference, don’t you? Well, you should recognize.
Since we’ve been snowed in for two days, my diet has been limited to what I bought on Sunday, which to me was just another day to buy what I can get by on, but madness had ensued at Wal-Mart. To all you Northerners out there, we tend to freak out a bit if there is a winter storm threat. I’m using “winter storm threat” very loosely. Since I’ve been eating bread that expired on December 21 (no mold, I promise) I really needed groceries! And, the store was horrible. I got out of there with some frozen hamburgers, dinner rolls (since there was NO bread to be found), Diet Coke, and some tortilla chips. I thought we’d only be snowed in for 1 day, tops, and so on Monday night after finding out that I didn’t have to go to work again on Tuesday, I threw together some crêpes with my new crêpe pan that I got for Christmas. My husband said he was “not eating crêpes while watching football.” Well, he ate his words and the crêpes. They were savory ones, with Mexican-style chicken inside, covered with a pepperjack white sauce. Yum. So, since I think I have the technique down (although I wish I had one of those nifty wooden utensils that French vendors use to make those fabulous huge ones on the streets of Paris), I decided to try some sweet ones today. Here is dinner last night:
For the dessert crêpes, I used Julia Child’s recipe from Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Volume 1. The batter is sweet, as opposed to the batter I used last night in the savory crêpes. It also has 3 tablespoons of liquer (I used Grand Marnier, I love it).
You begin by making the batter in a mixer. Start by putting in the milk then cold water.
Next add the three egg yolks. I love to separate eggs with my hands.
Then add the sugar and Grand Marnier.
Then add sifted flour. I used my new electric sifter!
Add melted butter to the batter, mix for 1 minute on high, and then cover the batter and keep it in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours to age.
You can leave the batter in the refrigerator overnight if you wish. I’m a bit impatient, so I pulled it out after 2 hours. Begin cooking the crêpes by heating up your pan. I used a 1/4 cup measuring cup, which made crêpes that were about 5 inches in diameter. Make sure you swirl the batter around! It makes the crêpes thin!
See, I told you he occasionally gets lucky!
I chose to fill the crêpes with several different items. The favorite, by far, was blackberry jam mixed with a little Grand Marnier. I also made some with fig preserves and others with homemade honey from Beech Bluff, Tennessee, from which all good honey comes.
I filled the crêpes with the blackberry jam, added some whipped cream, powdered sugar, and a little nutmeg. Bon appétit!
alta billie 