Ham and Cheese Crêpes

Crêpes are very thin pancakes, very popular throughout France but the origin is from the west coastal region named Bretagne and which are comparable with Maida/Wheat Dosai. This is something which can be made in minutes with very basic ingredients of the kitchen, which my teddies love eating after school, and that can be served as it is or with a filling simply or in a sophisticated way, it all depends in which course you?re going to serve it, like for example, it can be served for an entrée or for the aperitifs when filled with some fresh vegetables, personalized with seafood or meat, as a main course, when filled with some ham and some grated cheese, topped with an egg (for gourmets), as a succulent dessert, when filled with a fruit sauce combined with a cream, fruits, nutella, sugar, fruit jams or ice creams.

In France, crêpes are traditionally prepared on Candlemas to celebrate family life, renewal and hope for good fortune and happiness. It is also beleived that if a crêpe is flipped by holding the pan in your left hand and with a coin in your right, it brings you good fortune and happiness for the year?...

Ingredients :
250g all purpose flour
250 ml milk
250 ml Beer or water
3 eggs
2 tbsp melted butter or oil
½ tsp salt
1 tbsp sugar
Butter or oil for frying

Method :
Sift the flour in a bowl,, add salt and half of the liquids (Beer/Water + Milk) and mix with a blender or a food processor. Whip the eggs and and add it to the above mixture along with the butter and the sugar.

Add the rest of the remaining liquids and blend/mix well to get a thin batter, which should have a flowing consistency but not too liquid. (It should be somewhat like the dosai batter)

Cover and leave it at room temperature for about 1 to 2 hours.

Stir the batter slightly, heat a non-stick pan on medium heat until hot, coat the pan with some butter or oil, pour a small laddle of batter, lift the pan, tilt and rotate it to coat the entire surface of the pan, cook until slightly brown at the edges.
Flip it in the air, by holding the coin on your right , if you want.... or with a spatula and top it with some ham followed by the grated cheese, cook until the other side slightly browns. Remove and serve hot.

Note: The batter can also be used as it is and fried plainly (without any ingredients) to be served or garnished as a savoury or as a dessert.

For sweet Crêpes :
Simply add 2 tbsp of sugar and a tbsp of Rhum/ or any other liquor, or vanillated sugar or citrus peels to the above batter and follow the rest of the above procedure. Fill as you wish :
- powder with sugar, fold into 4
- apply nutella or melted chocolate with nuts
- punch with some lemon juice, apply some jam
- fill with some almond cream or pastry cream
- flambéé with some Rhum
- fill with fruits and ice creams

Note : Crêpes can be conserved up to 3 days in a refrigerator and up to 2 months in the freezer, well wrapped in a plastic wrapper.
Bon apétit !