Crepe Part 3

After back to back crepe days, I've gained new insight into this recipe.

First of all, I didn't know tablespoon was such a small measure. When I used a regualr spoon to scoup out flour, I probably used 2 tablespoons full, not 1.

Secondly, Water is better for thinning out the mix than milk. Unless you use skim milk, I guess.

Use plenty of oil to coat the pan, but you don't need to keep adding oil for each crepe. The pan should be nice and coated from earlier.

The trick is all in the smoothness of the batter (use a big whisk! borrow your roommate's, buy one at Target, it really makes a difference!) Another thing is you need to use your wrist to swirl the mix around in the pan. This is key for making a perfectly round crepe, and to ensure its thinness.

Nutella spreads easier than my Noisella. But both taste great. Try it with banana slices for filling, very yummy.

I finally had crepes with vanilla ice cream (vanilla and orange sherbet on second day). Amazing!
Nothing like having dessert in place of lunch. Thanks for everyone who helped out with dishes, too!

Strawberry Noisella Crepe

Part of your amazing Sunday breakfast menu. Makes 1 serving. Takes less than 15 min.

ingredients
-2 generous tablespoons of flour
-2 tablespoons of sugar (optional)
-1 egg
-half a mug of milk. I think it measures to be a cup or so.
-cooking oil

filling
-strawberries (sliced)
-noisella (nutella, other chocolate sauce)

directions
1. mix first four items under ingredients together
2. heat up pan and add cooking oil to coat
3. pour mixture carefully into pan, swirl around to make the edges round, cook until there's no more liquid mix visible
4. use spatula to flip crepe and cook the other side (did you coat your pan with oil? If so, this shouldn't be too difficult)
5. Spread crepe on a plate and add filling
6. Fold in half if desired
7. Yum!

notes
1. you can probably use honey if you don't have any chocolate sauce.
2. Noisella needs heat to spread evenly, so I scouped out a glob and waited for the heat of the crepe to soften it. Then it was very easy to spread.
3. easy recipe, delicious results, impress your parents/friends!
4. Somewhat related is my mango crepe recipe. It's funny that no matter how many times I've made crepes, I still have days where I just don't get the proportions or they turn out crispy brown. Practices makes perfect though.
5. The reason sugar is optional is because the noisella will make your teeth rot by itself. However, if you love sweet things (I do!), you'd better put sugar in the crepe mix so the crepe itself is sweet, too. This is especially important if you end up not having any items to fill the crepe.
6. For presentation, add some strawberries to the side with mint leaves. (not pictured)

Mango Crepe Recipe

Mango Crepe (Makes 3 servings)

Ingredients:
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 egg
2/3 cup milk
pinch salt
some sugar (vary depending on taste)
oil or butter for greasing the pan
1 or 2 mangos (diced)

Other (optional):
1 banana
small amount of honey

Directions:
Whisk together flour, egg, salt, and sugar, adding milk to help it form consistency. Set aside for later.
Note on dicing mangos, cut 2 large pieces around the mango core, then put in criss-cross cuts to the two pieces, flip the mango peel and cut out the diced cubes.

Heat up pan, adding oil/butter, then pour batter slowly into the pan, swirling it around to make the crepe as thin as possible.
When batter hardens, use spatula to test the edges, then flip crepe over to cook the other side.

Take crepe out carefully and spread out on a plate.
Put mango cubes inside, and fold the crepe over once, forming a nice semi-circle.

Garnish it with bananas slices and honey for sweetness. Coconut flavored ice cream would be ideal, to complete the tropical flavor mix. Vanilla will do as well, so would lemon sorbet. This makes a tastey and refreshing breakfast or snack food, to be eaten with hot coffee or dark dark tea.

Edit: For variation on thick/thin crepes, vary the amount of flour and milk. The thinner the batter, the faster it cookes, so watch out!
For a sweet surprise, use coconut milk instead of milk.

Cafe Bonaparte

Located across from Thomas Sweet on Wisconsin.

Bob and I went there for a coffee and afternoon sweets.
The espresso macchiato (expresso with frothed milk foam) and viennese espresso (espresso with vanilla and cinnamon) are sooooo good. It'll wake you up and leave a nice aftertaste in your mouth. I'd recommend the former if you're into good expresso that is dark, deep, and very fragrant. Just remember to drink it hot! The latter is not too sweet, but you really notice the vanilla and cinnamon notes in the flavor. The presentation in a thick clear glass goblet should win an award.
menu descriptions-
Espresso Macchiato: Espresso & frothed milk….for the true connoisseur $2.75
Viennese Espresso: Cinnamon, vanilla…true passion $3.25

They have the best crepes ever. Here are what we had:
Martinique- crepe filled with mangos, served with the smoothest lemon sorbet. the pistachio bits helped as well. It was so exotic. Citrus and tropical at the same time.
menu description: Caramelized mango slices topped with lemon sorbet & pistachio sprinkles $7.95
Moulin Rouge- crepe filled with peaches, garnished with berry and chocolate sauce. served with vanilla ice cream. The red and black does remind me of Moulin Rouge. Very flashy presentation. I saw the person next to me order the same thing 10 minutes after I finished mine.
menu description: Caramelized peaches with vanilla ice cream, chocolate and berry melba sauce
$7.95

Needless to say, I was very impressed. I have to thank Amanda, a friend from work, who recommended the place. Next time I'll definitely try their cafe au lait, since they serve those with a small piece of dark chocolate. Since I sat at the bar, I've seen the bartender prepare so many mimosas that I'm tempted to try that as well. Basically, fill a champagne glass 3/4 with bubbling champagne, then fill to top with orange juice. It was a gorgeous looking drink and VERY popular with the brunch crowd.

The decor is very Parisian, according to Bob, who's been to cafes in Paris. The ceiling was a gorgeously patterned silver. My favorite part is the menu and all the neat names for dishes. Where else can you find Monet/Mozart/Napoleon as dish names?

Find out more about this place at http://www.cafebonaparte.com/