Crepe Crazy

Last summer I went with a couple of friends to the farmers market that is set up under the bridges of highway 83 in Baltimore. Having never been to a farmers market, I was intrigued by the variety of vendors there. I had expected to just see fruits and vegetables piled on tables or in the back of pick up trucks being sold by dusty looking men in straw hats and overalls.

While there may have been a couple that fit that stereotype, I found the farmers market to be a place of wonder. Not only were there uncountable amounts of fruit and vegetables, there were also vendors selling various kinds of cheese, or cooking all types of meats for tasting, snow cones, coffee drinks, fruit drinks, bakers with treasure troves of artisanal breads and....crepes.

I purchased a large fluffy crepe that was stuffed with spinach and cheese and all sorts of spicy goodness and then wrapped in a bit of newspaper. As I walked through the market munching happily on this food delight, I started wondering if I could pull off such a kitchen feat at home.

While the crepe originated in the Brittany region of France in the late 1800's as a dessert, there is no end to the amount of ways they can be prepared. Sweet and savory fillings go equally well, and with a bit of practice, almost anyone can make a crepe.

You can experiment with any fillings that are to your liking. I chose to fill mine with spinach and an array of mushrooms that I then combined with a Parmesan sauce. Since crepes are so thin, they need a little more of your attention, so you can flip them before they burn. I would suggest making your filling first so you can devote your time to those tricky crepes. Since this was the first time I had ever made a crepe, I also used a small frying pan, one that was about six inches across, since I wasn't confident in my crepe flipping skills. As you can see from the picture above, I lost a couple along the way. While most pictures of crepes you will find on the Internet will be beautiful pieces of food art, I thought I would share a more realistic view of what happens in the home kitchen.

My first attempt at crepes were an overall success. I did learn that I should probably have sauteed the mushrooms longer before adding the spinach to remove more moisture, since I ended up with mushrooms that were more juicy and had a little more "earthiness" then I would have liked. I also learned that a little less showboating for my girlfriend while flipping crepes up in the air results in less crepes ending up on the floor. Enjoy!

Spinach Mushroom Crepes with Parmesan Sauce

The Filling

1 Bag of Baby Spinach Leaves
2 cups of chopped mixed mushrooms (I used Cremini, Shitake, and Portobello)
3 cloves of garlic
1 shallot
Salt and Pepper to taste
Olive Oil

Filling Preparation

Add enough olive oil to coat the bottom of a large saucepan. Mince the garlic and shallot. Chop mushrooms into bite-sized pieces. If you are using Shitake mushrooms, be sure to remove and discard the woody stems. Add shallot, garlic and mushrooms to the saucepan and sautee over medium-high heat. Stir occasionally to keep the garlic and shallots from burning on the bottom of the pan. Once the mushrooms have cooked down and most of the moisture has cooked out (about 10 to 12 minutes) add the bag of spinach to the saucepan. Cover saucepan with a lid and let the spinach wilt down into the mixture. Add salt and ground pepper to taste. Once spinach is wilted, turn heat down to very low while you make the sauce and crepes.

Parmesan Sauce Ingredients

1 cup of grated Parmesan cheese
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons flour
1 1/4 cup of milk, heated
Salt and Ground Pepper to taste

Sauce Preparation

Begin heating the milk over medium heat in a pan. Warm the milk just until little bubbles begin to form at the edges. While the milk is warming up, melt the butter in a separate saucepan. Stir in the flour and cook, stirring constantly, until the paste cooks and bubbles a litte, but don't let it brown. This only takes a couple of minutes. Pour in your heated milk, and continue stirring as the sauce thickens. Bring to a boil and add the salt and pepper to taste. Turn the heat to low and mix in the parmesan cheese, stirring until it is all melted in.

Once the sauce is complete, mix it in with the mushroom and spinach keeping your heat on low. Return the lid to the sauce pan and then make the crepes.

Crepe Ingredients

3/4 cup of all-purpose flour
1 1/4 cup of milk
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
1/2 teaspoon of salt
pinch of nutmeg
1 tablespoon of melted butter

Crepe Preparation

Take the flour, salt, nutmeg and pepper and sift it together into a bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk together the milk, whole egg and the egg yolk, and then gradually add your flour mixture to this. Whisk all together until well combined. Once combined, force the batter mixture back through a fine sieve into a bowl.

Heat a small frying pan with medium-high heat and lightly brush the whole bottom of the pan with the melted butter. Use a small ladle or tablespoon to add some of the batter mixture to the frying pan. Add enough to cover the whole bottom of the pan with a thin layer of batter. Cook until the underside is slightly browned, then loosen the edges with a rubber spatula and flip the crepe. (or you can showboat, and flip it up in the air after loosening the edges). Cook until other side is just slightly browned and then transfer to a plate. Repeat this process, making crepes one at a time until all batter is used.

Add the filling down the center of the crepe, then roll it up, tucking the edges under. Serve.