Crêpes--A Summer Staple

As a French teacher, I think I'm under an obligation to love crêpes. As a pseudo-foodie, however, it's my duty to be creative with them! While you can eat them any time of year, and the French even break them out for a holiday in February, I think they are positively perfect for summer time: light, simple, and very conducive to a variety of fresh produce. When deciding how to fill your crêpes, I generally suggest choosing at least one solid ingredient and one softer (e.g. cheese) or liquidy ingredient; if you do all soft stuff, then it has no substance and if you do all solid, it's dry and somewhat unpleasant. If you follow those rules, the creative possibilities are ENDLESS!


While a lot of people tend to think of crêpes as a dessert food and (in my opinion) err on the side of too sweet, I actually like to use them for full meals (breakfast, lunch, and dinner) and I generally either mix savory and sweet or stick to the savory all together. So, in hopes of breaking people out of the Nutella-bananas-strawberries mode, here's a list of some of my favorite crêpe filling combinations:

• Blackberries/raspberries/plain cream cheese
• Honey ham (or smoked, if you prefer)/Swiss cheese
• Tomatoes/basil/feta (or fresh mozzarella)/olive oil and balsamic vinegar (just a slight drizzle)
• Tomatoes/mozzarella/pesto
• Grilled chicken/bacon/avocado

I also find that I can make a decent amount of batter and store it in the fridge for a couple days to cook up when I want a fresh snack or a quick meal. Which, of course, brings us to the crêpe recipe itself! I've experimented with a variety of recipes, and this one is my favorite. It's got just the right combination of eggs and flour so as to be easily workable in the pan (I think crêpe makers are for wimps) but it isn't overwhelmingly eggy.


1 cup of flour
3 eggs
2 cups milk
1 tsp sugar
1/4 tsp salt
2 tbsp melted butter


If you're in a hurry, you can mix everything up in a blender, but if you like to be old-school like me, then here's what I do: Mix the flour and eggs together and then add the milk a little bit at a time--whisking as you pour (this helps avoid lumps in the batter).Then, add the salt, sugar, and melted butter. Whisk it all together again, and voilà: simple as bonjour. :)


To cook them, just pour about 1/4 cup of batter into a frying pan (either spray with cooking spray or melt some butter in it to coat the bottom) which you've pre-heated on the stove at a medium heat. Cook them for about 2-ish minutes on each side; I find that spraying the spatula with cooking spray helps flip them easier. Next, don't forget to be creative and enjoy!