Ricky Bobby would say he loves my Crepe's

Unlike Ricky Bobby I am willing to shout from the rooftops that I love crepes. There is nothing like a thin eggy pancake which can be used for breakfast, lunch, dinner and any meal in between. They can be made as a sweet treat or a savory meal without much effort.

Last night I had a hard time sleeping and found myself thinking about what I could make for breakfast and I kept finding myself craving crepes. As I lay there I realized that not only would we have all the ingredients necessary for the crepes themselves but I also had a bag of frozen organic berries (blueberry, raspberry, strawberry and blackberry mix) and a pound of cream cheese. Breakfast was going to be delicious!

I started by cooking the frozen berry mixture over high heat with 2 tablespoons of sugar and 1 tablespoon of lime juice until it began bubbling then I turned it down to low heat while I cooked the crepes.

Ingredients:

2 Eggs

3/4 Cup Milk (plus extra if needed to thin batter)

1/2 Cup Water

1 Cup Flour

3 Tablespoons Melted Butter

2 Tablespoons Sugar

1 Tablespoon Vanilla Extract

Butter for coating the pan (I like to use a frozen stick for ease and perfect distribution)

If you don't want sweet crepes and prefer savory eliminate the sugar and vanilla, add a pinch or two of salt and up to a 1/4 cup of chopped herbs

The yield will vary with the size of your pan - I get about 20 with my small 6" saute pan

Place all the ingredients (except the butter for coating the pan of course) into a blender and combine on low until smooth. I like to let the batter sit for 10-15 minutes to eliminate most of the bubbles. It should be the consistency of cream (you want it to be loose enough to swirl around the pan quickly and evenly)

If you have a crepe pan of course you would use that but I just use small non-stick saute' pans and they work just as good and can be used for cooking lots of other foods as well! 

Pour the batter into the center of a hot buttered pan and swirl around to create a thin coating across the entire bottom of the pan. Cook for 20-30 seconds then flip over for about 10 seconds. Lay them out flat so they can cool while you continue cooking until all the batter is used. Once cooled the crepes can be stacked and refrigerated, frozen or used immediately. 

I like to whip cream cheese and spread a tablespoon worth in the middle of the crepe before folding the crepe over and drizzling with warm fruit sauce. 

Crepe batter during the first 20 seconds of cooking

The Crepe has been flipped and cooks for about 10 more seconds

I keep making the crepes until all the batter has been used then assemble them into the delicious meal they were destined to become. If you are entertaining you can make them and have people finish them with the fillings / toppings that they desire as they come out of the pan steaming hot but beware eating them one at a time never seems to fill the belly!

These truly are as good as they look -A light, creamy, sweet breakfast plate that the adults will enjoy as much as the kids provided you don't wait till they go to bed to make them!

Oh how I have missed the joy's of cooking...

     I honestly think one of the hardest parts of recovering from the surgery on my spine is the fact that I have been unable to spend time cooking for my family. While I am blessed with a wife who is an excellent cook the fact is I enjoy cooking food and feeding it to others more than I actually enjoy eating the food myself. Don't get me wrong, I love eating food but my love affair with food tends to be more with the act of preparing it.

     So here I am not quite 3 weeks post surgery and I am starting to endure more time on my feet and decided this weekend would be a good time to start cooking again. Last night I made a new potato recipe which ended up being a big hit with everyone so much so that I never took a picture of the finished product! I will give everyone the details next time I make it and have pictures to post which more than likely will be within the next week because everyone really enjoyed them.

     Earlier this week Rebecca picked me up a fresh pineapple so I decided to make my homemade teriyaki sauce, slice and grill the pineapple along with chicken breasts and slices of vidalia onions for dinner.

Not quite finished but visible is all the fresh garlic and ginger

     I love making teriyaki sauce rather than buying the bottled product in the store. It is not only quick and easy to prepare you can tailor the flavor to whatever you are cooking. In this batch I used fresh ginger, garlic, brown sugar, soy sauce, organic cider vinegar and a splash of white wine as well as ginger wine. I cooked it over high heat until the sugar melted then I whisked in some corn starch. I placed it back over high heat whisking constantly until it began to boil resulting in a thick shiny sauce. Total time including preparation of the fresh garlic and ginger - less than 10 minutes. Not only did I have plenty of sauce for the 6 plates tonight there was a pint left over for Rebecca to incorporate into meals later this week.

The finished sauce is thick, shiny and deep dark brown in color

     I started by grilling the chicken breasts, I like to pull them off the grill just before they are cooked through and let them finish cooking via their carry over heat by placing them all on a heavy plate covered with foil which results in a moist, perfectly cooked piece of chicken.

Moist, perfectly grilled chicken breast with a nice coating of teriyaki sauce

     While the chicken is resting I begin cooking the onion slices. I drizzle a little vegetable oil over the slices and rub it over both sides with helps prevent the rings from sticking to the grates. I flip the slices over once during the cooking process and like to take them off while they are still a little firm. I put the slices in a metal or heavy bowl and separate the rings before covering with a lid or foil to finish cooking through.

Delicious Sweet Onion rings, cooked through but with a pleasant firm texture for eating enjoyment!

     Once the chicken and onions are off the grill the last item to cook is the pineapple. Some times I will cut the fruit into spears which can be cooked with or without skewers. Tonight I decided to slice into rings and cut out the core. The trick to cooking pineapple is to have the grill really hot and clean. I place them onto the hot grates over direct / high heat. After about a minute I turn the slice to get the beautiful grill marks on one side. After another minute I flip the slices and let them cook until the fruit is heated all the way through before removing from the grill. I like to cook it just long enough to make it dry on the outside but still juicy sweet in the middle!

Food for Thought...

During the past two months I have been dealing with injuries from my automobile accident which has prevented me from doing much cooking. As you can imagine not feeling up to doing one of the things that brings me a great amount of joy has really bummed me out. I decided that the days I feel up to it I am going to spend them in the kitchen doing what I love - cooking. And so that you can all share in my favorite past time I always make sure to take pictures despite my kids complaining that I take too long and they are on the verge of dying from hunger. I'm not going to try to recall all the details of each meal but here are some of the dishes I have created over the past couple months

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