"crepes" news and stories

Grapes on the vine. Photo: roblisameehan, Flickr.

• Baking a grape tranforms its taste and texture in a variety of recipes.
• The USDA has announced a new "Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food" initiative, connecting consumers with local and regional food networks.
• Considering kids' lunch the night before can save them from the oft-banned PB&J.
• Rum isn't just good for cocktails -- it gives chicken a whole new island twist with Rum Chica Rum skewers.
• The color purple: picking and cooking purple produce, such as luscious basil and bell peppers.
• With ready-made crepes, dinner can come together in half an hour, with a recipe for Chicken Dijon Crepes.

Prosciutto, brie and fig preserves crepe. Photo: Sarah LeTrent

Few of us want to make a complicated lasagna for solo dining -- by day six, you'll never want to see lasagna again! In this series, AOL Food staffer Sarah LeTrent taste-tests simple recipes suitable for a "table for one."

As the last days of August draw near and summertime dwindles away, it's hard not to become a touch depressed. For many, this time of year means the end of vacation season and the renewal of daily routine of alarm clocks and venti, non-fat, extra hot lattes. But summer vacation doesn't need to be over -- not yet.

Crêpes, basically really thin French pancakes, are a delicious escape to France from the daily grind. That's the beauty of food: One bite can instantly transport you to a different time or place.

While a pancake might elicit murmurs of approval, if you throw some crêpes down on the table, you're sure to impress. The above video from Cooking with Alia easily outlines just how to make the crêpe, and gives you a few basic and simple suggestions for filling it.

But I say forget about the classics and get creative. (Or, at the very least, explore the possibilities!) Personally, I disliked crêpes for a long time because I was always given the sweet versions, and they weren't my thing. Once I had some savory crêpes at Art Square Cafe, however, I was a convert. Mayan chocolate with grilled chicken, tuna with cheese, eggs, Mediterranean -- they're all delicious!

For some added pep -- make the edges of the crepe a bit crisp -- the crunch is a nice addition to the usual creamy chewiness.

Ah, where to begin with my long-lasting love affair with the crêpe, the delicately thin French pancake? I think it started with a photo my parents showed me of them eating crêpes with my older sister in Paris. Perhaps, it was the toppings that attracted me. Since I have such an insatiable sweet tooth, it didn't take long for me to get hooked.

I recently crafted some crêpes with just a few different berries, raspberry coulis, and lemon curd. It was the first time I used raspberry coulis in a crêpe. It was perfect. Raspberry coulis is a fruit sauce made from puréed raspberries. It's often used on desserts. The sweetness and tartness added just the right amount of flavor to the crepe without making it overwhelmingly sweet. Although, I have to admit that it takes a lot of sugar to overpower my palate.

And, the addition of lemon curd was superb! It not only enhanced the creaminess, but it also created an exquisite looking crêpe. As if I hadn't already added enough sweetness to the crêpe, I sifted sugar over it for the finale. The recipe I used to make the lemon curd and other dishes that call for lemon curd can be found after the jump.

Click on the gallery below to see the beautiful colorful process I was fortunate to experience in order to decorate and flavor the crêpe.

I like to make sure that I offer up a good balance of new and old cookbooks in this (mostly) daily post. I love to flip through all the glossy new cookbooks that are hitting shelves these days, but sometimes I find myself turning to the old, the known and the comforting. Today's book, Crepe Cookery, isn't a volume I grew up with, but as it's one of those light-weight, magazine-sized editions that was once sold in grocery stores, it feels familiar and as if it was something that was always at hand.

Written by Mable Hoffman (who also wrote Crockery Cookery, our April 1st Cookbook of the Day) and printed in 1976, this cookbook was the first exposure that a lot of people had to making crepes at home (if they weren't ambitious enough to make them from Mastering the Art of French Cooking). It offers helpful, step-by-step pictures on how cook crepes using either the upside down (dipping the crepe pan into the batter) or right side up (ladling the batter into the pan) methods. There are also lots of pictures demonstrating the varied ways you can fill, fold and serve your crepes.

There are five all-purpose crepe batter recipes in this book, as well as recipes that incorporate graham crackers, mashed potato, wheat germ, beer, yogurt, cornmeal and chocolate. She also devotes 15 pages to the various pans you can use to cook crepes, how to season them if purchasing a new one and their pluses and minuses. It's a surprisingly relevant section, considering that the book is more than 30 years old.

If you like making crepes, or are looking for a good introductory book to help you learn, this might just be a good book for you. There are multiple copies selling on Amazon for a penny (plus shipping), so it won't cost you much to check it out if you're intrigued. c

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