Crepe Cravings

Not wanting to deal with a pile of dishes from some complicated dinner, I decided to satisfy a craving for crepes instead. Crepes have been my Dad's breakfast specialty, since I was little. They would always be the special occasion breakfast, a request on birthday mornings, and sometimes we'd be lucky enough to get them on an average weekend, creating an extraordinary start to Sunday. So crepes, to me, are a little piece of home, and a love my Dad gave to me when I was a little girl. They always seem to make an ordinary meal unexpectedly special.

Crepes are also something that I've had in many different cultures. Walking through the crowded, brightly colored shops in Japanese malls, you will almost always find a crepe shop with options as delicious as bananas, whipped cream, and chocolate, to crepes as unimaginable as hot dog with ketchup and lettuce. In Japan, they serve you the crepe in a paper cone which holds in all of the goodies wrapped in the wonderful golden crepe. I've also had crepes in Amsterdam which were served in huge portions, crepes as big as serving platters, grilled flat with thinly sliced apples and cinnamon or spinach and melted brie.

Part of the magic of crepes is that no matter what you put in them, they almost always taste amazing, whether as simple as butter or a pile of fresh veggies and decadent cheese. Growing up, we'd always pile the inside of the crepe high with fresh sliced strawberries and whipped cream, and my Dad taught me that the simple combination of lemon and powdered sugar was unbeatable.

Tonight, I used what I had in my fridge which included pre-shredded "Mexican mix" cheese from Trader Joes, sliced ham, and fresh chopped parsley. I made enough for about 4 medium crepes that were a little thicker than normal, but had to make more batter to make enough for dessert crepes. Yum! I used the Joy of Cooking's "Sweet Crepe" recipe for this concoction that, despite the name, works just as well for savory crepes.

Joy of Cooking's "Sweet Crepes"
Recipe makes 4-6 medium crepes depending on thickness (with my toppings, it made 4)

You will need:
-1/2 cup flour
-1/2 cup milk
-1/4 cup lukewarm water
-2 Tablespoons melted butter
-2 eggs
-1 1/2 teaspoon sugar
-pinch of salt

-various fillings/toppings including shredded cheese, ham, herbs, parsley, etc (for savory) or thinly sliced apples, sugar, butter, cinnamon, etc. (for sweet)

1. Mix all crepe ingredients together (obviously not including the toppings) in one bowl with a whisk, combining well (it can be a little clumpy, but smooth as possible)


2. Spray a small/medium sized pan with non-stick spray or spread a small amount of butter, just to cover the pan. Heat for about a minute on medium low heat.

3. Pour about 1/4 cup batter into the pan while holding the pan in the air and simultaneously tipping the pan side to side and around to spread the batter, evenly as possible, in a thin layer around the pan. (This is the hardest part! Don't get discouraged if you get it wrong the first couple times. My Dad is the master at this and taught me well, but I used to get frustrated when the crepe would cook too fast for me to spread it around or I created holes in the layer. If this happens, just add a little more batter and swirl around over the missing parts.)

4. Depending on the type of crepe you're making, you can add toppings into the wet batter on the top side of the crepe. Tonight I added cheese, ham, and parsley into the batter. This would be the time to add any items you want coked into the crepe rather than sitting on top.

5. Check the bottom of the crepe carefully with a spatula (try not to break it). Some people like their crepes dark, but I like my crepes on the light-brown side. So when they're looking like this, I slip the spatula under the crepe and in one fluid motion, flip it over! Let it cook until the color is to your liking.

6. Slip the crepe carefully from the pan onto a plate. You can add any other toppings you want at this point. For example, if you made a dessert crepe, you may choose to cover your crepe with a dollop of whip cream or a sprinkle of powdered sugar. As a fun option for a group of people, you can serve a pile of plain crepes in a big stack with bowls of various ingredients for people to help themselves. SERVE and enjoy!

I hope you try making crepes and remember: be creative! These are quick and simple and perfect for making a memorable Sunday morning (or night!)


Happy cooking!

-Kristin

Rainy Day Oyakodon

Although it's a very dreary day, the cold weather inspires me to make a warm cozy dish for lunch. With my last class of the day canceled, my weekend begins early with this wonderful, homey, Japanese dish. Last summer I traveled to Japan with a jazz band and choir and stayed in two different Japanese homes where I lived in their shoes for a few days, eating the food, sleeping on cots, spending afternoons trying to communicate to each other about our lives. It was an experience of a lifetime, one-of-a-kind state of being. You learn that it doesn't matter what language you speak or what background you have, there is always something to talk about, and always something to eat.

When you think of Japanese food here in America, usually the food that comes to most people's minds is sushi and teriyaki. However, Japan is rich in delicious food: different flavored broths with of ramen-noodles filled with shitake mushrooms and deliciously cooked meats, cooked root vegetables from the mountains full of nutrients, wonderfully soft breads filled with melon flavored cream, cold soba (buckwheat noodles) for a hot day with fresh green onions in soba sauce, large cabbage pancakes with bacon and shrimp topped with a special sauce and one-of-a-kind Japanese mayonnaise, panko-breaded pork and pickled ginger, cute bento boxes filled with various treats like potato salads, and rice balls filled and wrapped in nori (a kind of dried seaweed). And of course with everything (including breakfast) is the most decadent white rice most likely grown in the backyard and a steaming bowl of miso soup. Oh, and the sushi in Japan is amazing.

Although I had an endless list of delicious food in Japan, I didn't actually try today's recipe until a Japanese friend from school cooked it up for lunch one day. Cooked in a savory-sweet broth with onions, chicken, and egg and served over hot rice, this is sure to lift your spirits and leave you completely full and satisfied.

A Note about chicken in college: Since it's not always easy to plan ahead when buying food, especially in school when all you're thinking about is the next class, I buy big bags of pre-frozen chicken. This can sound pretty sketchy, but I buy mine from Trader Joe's, a store a trust completely to do things the healthy, right way. They claim that they freeze it right away as to make sure it's good to eat when you throw it in your oven. It saves me a ton of money and brain power. So I can have chicken when I want without worrying about buying chicken and using it when it's fresh. It's not the ultimate, of course, but it is a real helper.

Also, if you don't like to buy chicken broth in a can/box and worry about it going bad, Trader Joe's carries a chicken broth flavor concentrate which comes in a box of small packets. 1 packet=1 cup hot water. Again, not ideal, but it does the job and is a load off my mind.

As far as the other ingredients in this recipe, they are basic, use-over-time ingredients which I use in many recipes and love to have around including yellow onions (you can buy in big bags from TJ's) and soy sauce.

This recipe serves about 2-3 people.


Oyakodon
(adapted from Setsuko Yoshizuka from About.com)
  
You will need:
-1 cup of white rice and 2 cups of water (rice cooker/stove top)
-2 chicken breasts (either frozen or raw or left-over)
-1 yellow onion
-1 2/3 cups of chicken broth
-7 Tablespoon of soy sauce
-3 Tablespoon of sugar
-4 eggs

1. Cook your rice with the water either in a rice-cooker or on the stove, covered in a saucepan. (Bring to a boil and then reduce to low heat and continue cooking for 10-15 min.)

2. If your chicken breasts are frozen... Bake in the oven at 400 degrees from 20 min. until almost thoroughly cooked.
If your chicken breasts are raw... Bake in oven for 350 degrees for 30 min. or until almost thoroughly cooked.
If your chicken breasts are left over: go to next step.

3. Cut your chicken into bite size pieces, set aside. Slice onion in half and then into thin strips, set aside. Crack your eggs into a bowl and mix them slightly, until yolks are broken and partially mixed in (do not whisk thoroughly), set aside.

4. Add chicken broth, soy sauce, and sugar in a medium sized frying pan or small sauce pan. Bring to a simmer. Add the chicken and continue to simmer for a few minutes. Add onion and cook for a few more minutes.

5. Now, bring to a boil. Pour your eggs over the chicken and onion, cover with a lid, reduce to a medium-low heat and cook until your desired egg consistency. (I like mine almost completely cooked through, but you can have some yolk running in there-cook to your liking!)

6. Serve over hot rice in bowls and perhaps with some yummy bok choy and miso soup! Enjoy!!!


I hope you love this very easy and delicious dish! It'll make you feel like everything is right in the world. :D

Good Luck and Happy Cooking!

-Kristin