Wanted: Frenchman with Crepe Pan - for Feb. 2 Chandeleur

DATELINE – My kitchen. The Chandeleur, Feb. 2, is the day for making crepes in France. I’ve often seen the man of the household make and flip crepes. But where are these Frenchmen with crepe pans when you need them!

My first experience was in Fontainebleau in the kitchen of some friends and their three small children. Pierre donned the apron and flipped crepes. According to their tradition, you turn your back to the armoire, and with one hand, you flip the crepe on the top while holding a gold coin in the other hand. I think we bypassed that part of tradition because of the obvious mess (you leave the crepe on the armoire for a year) and the lack of a gold piece. Just making the crepes on that day must have brought prosperity.

Here is the recipe I use for making crepes. The first crepe is usually a mess. You do need to stand over a hot skill and watch the crepes carefully. It’s a little like making turbo-charged pancakes.

CREPES - 250 g. farine / approx. 2 cups of flour - 3 oeufs / 3 eggs - sel / pinch of salt - 2 tblps. Huile / 2 TBLSP. Oil - zeste de citron / zest of lemon (chopped) - 1 verre de lait / 1 cup of milk 1 verre d’eau / 1 cup of water Put the flour in a bowl. Add three beaten eggs and salt. Next, add the oil then very slowly, the milk and water. The lemon zest is optional (but improves the flavor for dessert crepes). Allow your mixture to rest at room temperature (covered with a towel) for two hours.

I left mine in the refrigerator overnight then put it at room temperature for two hours. Before you cook your crepes, add more water to make the batter a little thinner. The crepe pan should be shallow and also light (so you can flip the crepes). The oil needs to be hot. I usually add a little oil to the pan after every other crepe. When crepes are done, sprinkle with sugar and roll (while hot) or add chocolate or Nutella or just wait until they cool and add fruit. My batter came out a bit lumpy so I used a mixer on low speed. From the photo, you can see the crepes turned out a little thick. I should have added more water. But hey, they are still good.

Until I find the Frenchman with the crepe pan, I’ll have to use my own heavier skillet.