French Crepe Party Ideas

The happy problem with French crêpe party is that there is no limitations in terms of the type of fillings you can enjoy, and you end up eating more than everything.

The northwest region of France in Brittany is famous for their crêpes, but nowadays, you see French crêperies everywhere, even in Wellington. And they serve yummy crêpes!

The biggest difference between a French crêpe and an American pancake is their thickness. A French crêpe is so much thinner that you get to enjoy more, with different types of fillings, from savoury to sweet ones.

So, you can imagine that when we hold crêpe parties, there's more fillings than your stomach can hold. It's not a lot of work or pre-cooking, as we use basic ingredients like butter, sugar, nutella, bananas, strawberries, bacon, mushrooms, shredded cheese, walnuts, blue cheese, lemon juice, eggs, almonds, liquor, orange, cinnamon...

One problem with making crêpes is that, they are best enjoyed when they are hot. So if you're making crêpe on your frying pan, it makes serving everyone at the same time difficult. The French (or rather Tefal) have found a happy solution to this problem with the Multi Crêpe Party device. You basically plug it and put on your dining table, and everyone surrounds it like a steamboat and makes their own crêpe together. It makes 6 much smaller crêpes at the same time. It's fun, and useful even for parties of more than 10. Everyone just end up standing around the table, cooking and eating. However, this electronic device may be hard to find outside France, but they are widely available in stores like Carrefour or Darty in France (we actually went to the trouble of carrying one back from France).

Crêpe batter
Serves about six

250g flour
3 eggs
500ml milk
pinch of salt
about 1 teaspoon of melted butter
water

Mix flour and egg. The mixture gets very thick and dry. Add milk slowly until you get a smooth batter. Add butter and salt.

We find that the batter could be thinner, and usually add about half a cup of water and more milk, so that the crêpe spreads thinner.

Chill in fridge for about half an hour.

To cook, spread a thin layer, one at a time, on frying pan or use a multi crêpe party device.

To serve, add fillings, fold into half or quarter, or just simply roll up.



Simple Crêpe Fillings suggestions

Savoury
Bacon: This is always a winner. Fry them until they are crispy. Top with shredded cheese or mix with mushrooms.

Mushrooms: You can stir fry mixed button mushrooms (diced into small cubes) with olive oil, garlic and chopped fresh parsley (seasoned with salt and black pepper). Another alternative is to fry with bacon (and chopped onions), add some fresh cream, season with herbs, salt and black pepper).

Eggs: Beat an egg into the multi crêpe party, you get a perfect round sunny side up. Put it on top of the crêpe and add bacon and cheese if desired.

Blue cheese and Walnut: For the slightly more exotic taste buds. Popular with our crêpe party guests so far.

Sweet
Butter, sugar and cinnamon: My all time favourite! Melt them altogether on the crêpe and eat it while it's hot. Sinfully good.

Sugar with lemon juice: For some tangy punch, squeeze some lemon juice onto sugar.

Banana or strawberries with melted chocolate: Always pair well together.

Banana with milo: A great pair here too

Banana with orange: We tried cooking banana with orange juice/pulp. Something new for a change.

Banana and honey: Classic

Strawberries with sugar: Tried it yesterday and it's good.

Ice-cream: If you're fast to eat before it melts on the hot crêpe.

Liqueur: You can make a Crêpe Suzette by putting sugar and liqueur such as rum on it (with fruits like bananas), and setting it on fire. Sure to capture everyone's attention.

Jam: Or basically, just scour through your pantry for anything that you find suitable. It will ensure a successful crêpe party with a big spread of fillings to satisfy every palate.


note: Crêpes in pictures shown are made this morning with leftover batter from our crêpe party last night, using a normal frying pan.

Fresh Pasta with Prawns and Scallops

So what do you think I would do with the leftover fancy ingredients from the fancy Pre-Christmas dinner. Well, cook up another fancy meal the next day.

With leftover scallops and fresh lasagna sheets, we made another buttery seafood pasta. We had reckoned that a tomato or cream base would be too overpowering and mask the taste of the fresh scallops. It's very simple and fast, and can be done with dried pasta. Recipe has been adapted from my ultimate fish cookbook.

The dish also gives us the pleasure of using our fresh parsley from the pot, which is growing very well. Growing our own herbs doesn't actually save us any money, as we end up spending on soil, fertiliser, pots, even organic pesticide...but it gives us much pleasure to pluck them whenever we need them.

Fresh Pasta with Prawns and Scallops
Serves two

Pasta (quantity left out, as I find that different people have different portion size)
handful of prawns
handful of scallops
50g unsalted butter
2 garlic cloves, crushed
2 tablespoon fresh parsley, chopped
salt and ground black pepper

As we were using our lasagna sheets, we trim them into thin strips. Lasagna sheets give much flexibility, can try cutting heart shapes out of them for a valentine's dinner perhaps. :)

Cook pasta in large pan of lightly salted boiling water.

Melt butter in a large heavy pan with the garlic and parsley. Toss in the prawns and scallops and cook over medium heat for about 8 minutes, until the seafood are cooked.

Drain pasta thoroughly and rinse with boiling water to remove any starch.

Stir pasta into the prawn mixture. Season with salt and pepper and serve immediately.

Tiramisu in Chocolate Cups

The last fancy dish of the pre-Christmas dinner is Tiramisu.

We've made Tiramisu several times to pretty great success. Our friend Aure has a particularly good recipe which we liked.

This time, we tried a new recipe, partially from a newly acquired cookbook "The Chocolate and Coffee Bible". It's from the same publisher (Hermes House) as my ultimate fish book and contains a wealth of information about chocolate and coffee, from history, types, quality, brands to recipes and decoration tips.

Tiramisu always present a challenge when it comes to serving, as it's difficult to cut without collapsing. Such that it may be easier to make individual servings in glass.

Well, chocolate cups make even fancier serving dish than glass.

Tiramisu in Chocolate Cups
about 4 servings, depending on how generous you are with each portion

1 egg yolk
2 tablespoon brown sugar
a little vanilla essence
1 generous cup of mascarpone
1/2 cup strong black coffee
2 tablespoon coffee liqueur (or almond essence) - we forgot to add. still good.
sponge biscuits
cocoa powder for dusting

For the chocolate cups
150g dark chocolate
2 tablespoon unsalted butter

For the cups, cut out 4 rounds of baking paper. Melt chocolate with butter in a bowl set over a pan of simmering water. Stir until the mixture is smooth, then spread a spoonful over each circle to within 2 cm of the edge. Try to not spread too thin (about 1mm thick), otherwise it would be difficult to remove the paper without breaking the cups.

Lift each paper round and drape over an upturned teacup so that the edges curve into frills. Put into the fridge to set (it's faster this way). Then lift off and peel off the paper to reveal the chocolate cups.

It's the same for making chocolate leaves. Spread the melted chocolate onto, say a mint leaf and leave to set before peeling off the leaf.

Make the Tiramisu filling. Using an electric mixer, beat the egg yolk and sugar in a bowl until smooth, then stir in the vanilla essence.

Soften the mascarpone if necessary, then stir it into the egg yolk mixture. Beat until smooth. Set aside.

Mix coffee, liqueur. Break up the sponge biscuits roughly (1 inch length).

Place the chocolate cup on individual plates. Dip each piece of sponge biscuit very briefly into the coffee and place in the cup. Soaking the biscuits too long in the coffee will result in the Tiramisu becoming wet and soggy and losing its shape.

Put a layer of biscuits, then spoon over the mascarpone mixture, top with another layer of biscuits, followed by more mascarpone. Repeat for the other cups until you run out of either mascarpone mixture or sponge biscuits.

Chill for at least 30 minutes. Dust with cocoa powder before serving.

Open Ravioli with Parma Ham, Asparagus and Basil Butter

Wellington is known for its cafe culture. We have so far spent many a weekends exploring the diverse selection of cafes, each with its unique and individualistic character. Well, I don't really drink coffee, but always enjoy my brunch at a local cafe, each with a different menu and using the freshest local ingredients in season. Many times, at a place with a view to die for, be it by the wild coastline, in a valley, nested in a quiet suburb or by a busy street.

And some Italian cafes make you linger longer (and spend more) with their gourmet store alongside the cafe. Like this one, that we passed by, and ended up with a salami, mascarpone and Parma ham (all not quite local), after we said we are planning to prepare a nice dinner of ravioli and tiramisu, and looking for dried sausage for a camping trip. They certainly cost more, but the Parma ham is oh so good.

Well, it was supposed to be a fancy dinner, so we ended up with fancy ingredients. Very Italian too with recipe from my "easy Italian in minutes" cookbook, except that we replaced sage with basil. It's quite straightforward to prepare.

Open Ravioli with Parma ham, asparagus and basil butter
serves two

100g asparagus
125ml white wine
65g butter, cut into tiny cubes
half teaspoon white wine vinegar (we used red wine vinegar, I guess the deviation is not significant)
bunch of fresh basil, finely chopped (important to have fresh herbs for this)
Parma ham, cut into thin strips (recipe calls for 60g)
Parmesan, shaved
salt and pepper
125g fresh lasagna sheets (having fresh pasta really makes the difference)

Cook the asparagus gently with the tips out of the water for 3-4 minutes in boiling water until tender.

Heat the wine and reduce the liquid to 1 teaspoon, then slowly add the butter over low heat. Add vinegar and season to taste. Carefully fold in the chopped basil.

Cook the fresh lasagna sheets according to the pack instructions (we're not adventurous enough to make our own pasta yet).

Arrange one lasagna sheet on a plate and spread with a little herb butter, then place some of the cooked asparagus and strips of Parma ham on top. Layer up with more sheets of lasagna and filling. Repeat for the other portion.

Using a vegetable peeler, shave the Parmesan cheese and sprinkle over the pasta.

Parfait.

Scallop Ceviche

The Ceviche is a popular appetiser in Latin American countries. Each country from Mexico down to Chile have their own touch of individuality.

The dish basically involves marinating and cooking fish or seafood in citrus such as lime or lemon. Traditionally, you have to marinate for about 4 hours for the seafood to be 'cooked', but we cheated a bit by blanching our scallops with boiling water to save us some time.

Our resulting ceviche is 'created' after looking at several recipes and adapting them to what we have and like.

Scallop Ceviche
Serves two

100g scallops
1 yellow peppers
1 clove garlic
1 thumb size red chili
2 lemons (limes work better, being more acidic, but they were sold out in the supermarket)
half a grapefruit
Olive oil
Coriander leaves


Slice scallops horizontally.

Squeeze enough lemon or lime juice to submerge the scallops entirely in the juice and leave in fridge for 4 hours. If you're short of time, like us, blanch the scallops with boiling water first before marinating them in the citrus juice.

Chopped garlic and chili. Slice the yellow pepper thinly and cut the grapefruit flesh. Mix everything and add a little olive oil.

When the seafood is ready, add into the mixed fruit/vegetables. Garnish with coriander leaves and serve within 2-3 hours.

Our Pre-Christmas dinner

Since we may be stuck in some remote small town, or even in a tent in the South Island on Christmas, cooking instant noodles over a small camping stove, we thought we might as well have a nice dinner one week earlier.

Being in recession mode, and also for the pleasure of cooking something fancy, we decided against going to a fancy restaurant. Afterall, we've been dining out quite a lot recently.

Yet, being in festive mode, we spent some effort in gathering nice ingredients, and more time and energy in preparing it. After three intensive hours, the result was quite rewarding.

Starter came in the form of Scallop Ceviche, a Latin American dish. Main course was Open Ravioli with Parma Ham, Asparagus and Basil Butter. Dessert was Tiramisu presented in a delicately 'crafted' choclate cup. No extra space for aperitif, cheese or bread.

Will share recipes in upcoming posts.

Strawberry Tart with Crème Pâtissière

Strawberry season certainly rocks. With this deliciously seductive fruit in season in New Zealand now, we can't resist buying one pack after another, especially when they look so lusciously sweet and affordable. And of course, we have no more excuse not to make some strawberry dessert.

In Singapore, strawberries are not only pricey, they are also seldom sweet, being all imported and probably harvested before they are ready to be eaten to endure the long journey.

Originally torn between making a Strawberry Tart or a Strawberry Charlotte, Rémi couldn't wait to sink his mouth into his dessert and opted to make a tart (you need to chill a charlotte for at least a few hours).

French Pastry Cream (Crème Pâtissière) is used to line the sweet tart. To Rémi, the difference between a good pastry and a lousy pastry can be judged by the amount of cream used in the tart. Stingy pastry makers who are out to cut cost tend to use more cream than fruits.

Our cream recipe comes from Camille's classic French cookbook again. In her dessert section, she carries several types of dessert cream and sauces, including Crème Chantilly, Crème Anglaise, Coulis de Fruits Rouges, Sauce au Chocolat and Sauce au Caramel au Beurre Salé. Well, we shall see if we will try each and everyone of them.

French Pastry Cream (Crème Pâtissière)
makes slightly more than one tart

1 egg plus 1 egg yolk
15g flour
15g corn flour
65g sugar
25ml milk
vanilla essence

Bring milk with vanilla essence to boil, and let it stand for 10 minutes.

Whip the egg and yolk with the sugar until it has double in size and paled in colour. Then add the flour and corn flour, and add the warm milk gradually while continuing to whisk.

Put back onto fire and let the mixture thickened while beating continuously and strongly so that the cream does not stick to the bottom of the pot. Remove from heat and continue to whisk for 1 minute.


Strawberry Tart
Serves 4

1 sweet pastry dough (pâte sucrée)
enough strawberries to pack the size of your tart
strawberry jam

Make the sweet tart dough. Bake at preheated oven at 200C for about 10 minutes. Allow to cool.

Make one portion of crème pâtissière. Spread on the cooked tart. Halved the strawberries and line them on top of the cream.

Dilute the jam lightly with some water and use it as a glaze over the strawberries. Chill before serving.

Camille's Cheese Soufflé, just like mom did it

Rémi has the credit to this beautifully puffed up Cheese Soufflé. I've seen soufflé many times but not really tried it. So, no basis for comparison whether it tastes as good as real, but according to him, it is just as his mom did it. Pretty good. And the big ramekin was just bought yesterday specifically to satisfy his soufflé craving.

Recipe comes from the ever trusty Camille's classic French cookbook.

What I learned is that every soufflé is made from 2 basic components:
1. a French Creme patissiere base/flavored cream sauce or purée
2. Egg whites beaten to a soft peak meringue.

And other than cheese, soufflés can have chocolate, banana, lemon, jam and berries in its base.

Cheese Soufflé (Soufflé au Fromage)
Serves 2

20g butter
20g flour
200ml milk
2 eggs
70g gruyère cheese, cut into small pieces
ground nutmeg
salt, pepper

Preheat oven at 220C.

Melt butter on low fire. Add the flour and stir until evenly mixed.

Remove from fire, and add milk, a little at a time. Stir until the mixture thickens and becomes creamy.

Add the cut cheese and egg yolks. Separately, beat the egg whites until hard, and gently add the egg white into the first mixture.

Pour into soufflé mould, or big ramekin and bake at 220C for 20-25 minutes. Do not open the oven door during the cooking process, and serve immediately. Soufflé doesn't wait and will collapse very quickly. Luckily, we managed to grab a few snapshots.

Quick Sambal Ladies Fingers and Garlic Butter Prawns

My way of cooking the ladies fingers and prawns may not be the best in town, but it's my suggestion of what to do when short of time. Especially when I'm running late and have no time to defreeze meat (I don't believe in microwave oven).

I love ladies fingers. Strange name, isn't it? But the pods do look like it. I wonder if there's any plant name "men's toes". Must be round and very hairy.

Ladies fingers are also know as Okra. They are of African origins and well-loved in Singapore and Malaysian cooking (though I know of friends who would not eat them too). It's common in Yong Tau Foo soup noodles, and can be stuffed with fish paste, or just simply blanched in soup. It's also added into Assam Fish, together with brinjal (egg plant), tomatoes, pineapples...yummmmmy.

And ladies fingers are fantastic when cooked with sambal chilli, just like Kangkong (water spinach, it's another vegetable that deserves a separate entry).

If you go the traditional way of making the sambal chilli, you'll like have to take out the pestle and mortar and start pounding dried shrimps, belacan, shallots, chillies together (I remember using a blender during my school days, much quicker). But I'm suggesting my shortcut method here with ready made sambal chilli. And you can do the same for kangkong too.

Quick Sambal Ladies Fingers
Serves two

150g ladies fingers
1 big teaspoon of ready sambal chilli sauce, easily found in any Asian grocery store
1 shallot
1 garlic
1-2 teaspoons dried shrimps

Soak the dried shrimps in water to soften it. Use warm water if you're short of time.

Chopped shallot, garlic and dried shrimps. Mix with the sambal chilli sauce. You may like to squeeze a little lime juice into the paste if you have some.

Cut the ladies fingers diagonally.

Heat oil in frying pan. Add in the mixed sambal chilli paste and stir fry for a few minutes until fragrant, but without burning.

Add in the ladies fingers and mix well with the chilli paste. Add about half cup to a cup of water to prevent the chilli paste from burning. Fry for about 3-5 minutes and dish out.

Serve with rice.



Garlic Butter Prawns
Serves two, with the ladies fingers and rice

Prawns (number depending on how generous your portion is. I'm stingy, so have 4 small prawns per person, it's fair and equal and no one gets more)
Garlic (also according to taste, I love garlic, so use about 4-5 and still think not enough)
1 teaspoon butter (well, this would be according to your conscience too)
Sugar and salt
corn starch

Remove shells from prawns. If using frozen prawns like me, unfreeze under cold running water to save time. Coat with corn starch.

Chopped garlic.

Melt butter in frying pan, add garlic and fry for 1-2 minutes until lightly brown and fragrant. Add the prawns. Sprinkle sugar and a pinch of salt. Can consider garnishing with lemon slices too.

Serve with the above. Both dishes here are quick to prepare.

Getting to the heart of an Artichoke

I was introduced to the Artichoke by Rémi. Just like a Westerner may be baffled by a durian, I was stumped by how to eat this edible bud of a thistle that originates in the southern Europe around the Mediterranean.

I kind of consider this blog in part, a project to learn more about what goes through my mouth into my body (think our generation's obsession with highly processed food which greatly distorts the original look, taste and feel of many ingredient).

From what I find out, the main producers of artichokes are France, Italy and Spain, which is why it is a common starter to a French meal. In Chinese, it is 朝鲜蓟(ji)，or菊蓟、菜蓟、法国百合、荷花百合...but I do not recall this being commonly used in Chinese cuisine.

To eat it, you have to peel each leaf petal, one by one, dip in whatever dressing, and sip or chew the bottom (the side enjoining the stem) flesh off. I find this process truly unsatisfying, because the flesh is tender and tasty and leaves you craving for more. Yet, there's so little to suck off the leaves.

The joy comes when you reaches the heart. But before eating your heart out, you have to remove the "choke", which is the fine prickly hairy growth covering the heart of the artichoke. The heart of the artichoke is usually the most prized part that is used in restaurants (such that I may have tasted the artichoke many times without knowing how it looks like). Discard the leaves. The stem is said to be edible if well-cooked, but oops, I didn't know and threw it away.

To cook an artichoke, Rémi found that the fastest and easiest way is to steam for about 15 minutes. One can also boil it uncovered for about half an hour. Camille's French classic cookbook has also three artichoke recipes, all of which require more than an hour of baking or simmering. The tips of the leaves is quite sharp, which is why it is not uncommon to cut them off before cooking.

To make the dip, one suggestion is to combine olive oil, Dijon mustard and balsamic vinegar. Yummy.