French cooking

It must be another slow news week around our place because the only thing I can think to blog about is a new recipe I tried.  Yet again I am confounded by how much blogging I do about my cooking.  It's been a goal of mine this year to try a new recipe once a month.  Lately I have seemed to be on a European kick with Greek gyros and Italian spaghetti.  This week I was going to try Swedish pancakes but went a French crepe recipe instead.  I don't think there is much difference except that the crepes didn't have sugar and the Swedish pancakes tend to be sweeter- so we will have to try that sometime.  Of course if you are trying any French cooking you might as well go to the top to figure out what in the world you are doing.  Therefore my next step was to pull up all of Julia Childs' The French Chef video on YouTube about crepes-- there are several.  The video is 30 minutes long but watch about the first 2 minutes-- everyone needs a little Julia once in a while.

I think the only time I have eaten crepes was actually while I was in South Africa.  In Afrikaans (the South African language with Dutch roots) they are pannekoeks (pancakes).  I was told one day that we were going to a pancake house for lunch so I was getting psyched up for an IHOP type experience but was a little surprised when my pancake had meat, cheese, and veggies in it-- not what this Kansas girl was expecting.  Anyway, my crepe experience is very limited but I was up for a challenge.  In all actuality the crepes weren't a challenge at all.  I mixed up the batter, poured it on the skillet, and was anxious about flipping a paper-thin objects that would likely disintegrate in mid flip.  It flipped right over without any hitch.  Now I will admit I didn't flip it with just my wrist like Mrs. Childs so expertly demonstrates-- we will have to try our hand at that next time.  For fillings we did eggs, bacon, and cheese; nutella and peanut butter; peanut butter and bananas; and yogurt with pomegranate.  I love that Julia mentions right away that the main purpose of crepes is to dress up leftovers-- finally a practical French idea.   (Of course Julia's leftovers consisted of lobster meat- that sure isn't the leftovers I find hidden behind the milk in my fridge.) Crepes are thin and don't have a lot of substance to them.  The batch made about 8-9 crepes so we ended up eating them all.  I regretted this idea half way through my last crepe.  I'm "tiny" as my husband says and it is a terrible idea for me to try to eat more when I am full but I did.  How could I let fancy French food go to waste?  I spent the rest of the evening curled up in the fetal position moaning-- not quite but I felt like it I was so full.  Arthur was probably rummaging through the cupboards 30 minutes later looking for a snack since he just ate 5 flimsy French pastries.  In my internet search I came across all kinds of delightful looking recipes for dessert crepes with chocolate, whip cream, and fruit--- we will have to try some of those ideas out now that I am a beginning French chef.  Bon Appetit and Omnia Vincit Amor.