Trader Vic's Crepes

My grandmother (Ga-Ga or Gladys) used to make these miraculous French pancakes for my family when we stayed over at her house. I remember her poised over the stove, the smell of sizzling butter filling the breakfast room. She'd put her home-made jam in the middle of the crepe while it was still in the pan. Then, she'd roll them up on the plate. A couple of practiced shakes of the powdered sugar box later, they were done. With the sun shining through bay window, the shining white plates and the smell of hot coffee... breakfast was a new revelation indeed. It wasn't just breakfast; it was a celebration!

This is a very easy crepe recipe is loosely based on one from "Trader Vic's Helluva Man's Cookbook". The options for fillings are many:  cooked sausages with slices of baked apples, crab with mornay sauce, chicken with a creamy mushroom sauce, scrambled eggs with Swiss cheese and pieces of bacon, or fresh strawberries mixed with a little sugar and topped with whupped cream. All good. You can try other fillings--get creative! Oh, and you really don't need a crepe pan-- a large frying pan will do. But a crepe pan does help them turn out a uniform size.

Ingredients:

3 eggs
6 T flour (I use 2/3 C flour.)
3/8 t salt
1 C milk
Butter
Your favorite filling or jam or jelly

Directions: Beat eggs slightly. Add flour, salt, and beat until smooth. Gradually add milk, beating until batter is smooth once again. If possible, cover and chill for 1 hour; then stir before using (I never do this). Heat butter (about 1/2 t for each crepe) over medium heat in a 7–8-inch crepe pan or skillet.

 Pour in about 3 T batter; quickly tilt and rotate pan so batter covers bottom. When lightly brown on bottom, turn and lightly brown on second side. Slip onto a plate or a clean towel. Fill with jam or filling of choice. Roll and serve immediately while still hot. My grandmother always sprinkled a bit of powdered sugar on top of crepes filled with jam. If you refrigerate filled crepes before serving, heat them at 250 degrees until just warm, not hot.

 Crepes are wonderful to freeze or refrigerate before using. Simply make them all at once, and as each one is done, place it on a paper plate until cool. Then, layer the paper plates (or pieces of wax paper) with the crepes and put in a plastic bag to refrigerate or freeze. As they have eggs, I wouldn't freeze them more than a week. Refrigerate about 24 hours at most, or they start getting rubbery.