Power Packed Crepes...

So, I have been absent for a little while due to an insane work schedule. I have gone from low budget pilot (although with an interesting story) to low budget movie (although with a good story), so my pancake writing escapades have dwindles somewhat.

However, back for round two is a brief recipe of something that I have been using on Kiera these last couple of months.

Here is what happened. I got a hankering for Crepes. Kiera is a fairly die hard pancake fan, and was more than a tad hesitant about this “crepe” concept. However, she has always been very good about trying things, so we have a rule: she has to try new things, but if she doesn’t like them, she doesn’t have to keep eating whatever it is. 

So I made Crepes, and did them up in the traditional way with fresh lemon juice and a sprinkling of sugar. That got her attention, because we limit the amount of sugar we allow her to have, so the idea of spreading it herself on pancakes was immensely appealing...

... the first bite...

...the quisical look...

...the smile! “I like it!” came the pronouncement, and we have been making them a great deal ever since. I then realized that, with a little adaptation, the traditional crepe recipe that I followed could be adapted to a quicker, slightly meatier (ie more nutritious), easily portable breakfast. (unlike many of you, of course, we invariably are rushing out of the door to get to school on time. The idea of something tasty, easy, and vaguely good for our little bugger, and that she could eat in the car, was therefore very appealing...)

So here goes:

1 egg

1/4 cup of flour

1/4 cup of milk

1/3 - 1/2 lemon

1 teaspoon sugar

Heat a large frying pan over medium high heat. Throw a teaspoon or so of butter in it, and spread it around (especially up the sides a little, as this tends to stick when you pour in the batter).

Beat together the egg, flour and milk with a fork, being sure to really mush the flour so there are no big lumps. You should end up with a smooth, fairly runny batter.

Once the butter in the pan is smoking slightly, pour in the batter, pick up the pan, and twist it around so that the batter covers it evenly, and runs up the sides as well. The trick is to get a uniform, fairly thin covering for the whole pan.

Once this is done, return it to the stove, and let it cook for about 1 1/2 minutes.

With a long spatula, make sure that the crepe is not sticking to the pan, then slide it almost to the middle of the crepe, and flip it over. Give it about 30 seconds, then switch off the heat, and allow the crepe to finish cooking n the residual in the frying pan.

After a minute, toss it deftly in the air (which doesn’t achieve anything taste-wise, but does make the process all the more entertaining for your little angels... especially when you mess it up and dump your freshly made crepe onto the floor for the dog to hoover up), and slide the crepe out onto a plate.

Squeeze the lemon out over it, being sure to hit as much of its surface as possible, sprinkle with the sugar (I advise monitoring this closely when letting you kids do this. Their hands have a tendency to slip - purely accidentally, of course - and they end up putting an amount more resembling a tablespoon than a teaspoon of sugar onto the crepe.)

Roll the end result up into a sausage, cut in half, and viola! A complete breakfast, with fresh lemon juice (lots of vitamins, anti-oxidents, and other good things), some carbs (from the flour), a good wack of protein (from the egg), and not too much (but still some, because kids need a bit) of fat. Portable, delicious, and nutritious. I gve you, the power packed crepe!

Until next time...