Holy Crepe!

If any of you have ever been to France, you will know the beauty of the crepe. There they are pronounced "crepe" (rhymes with schlep), but I guess that sounded too much like a Frenchman saying "crap," and we pronounce them "crape."

The problem with crepes in the U.S. is that they come in two varieties. First there are the IHOP breakfast-style crepes that taste like they've been refrigerated for a week and are filled with cream cheese and a filling that is berry-like only because it resembles the same color as berries.

The other variety are authentic and usually very good. The problem is, they are also expensive. The sweet crepes are traditional and have nutella or jam fillings. The savory crepes are often very gourmet and are filled with things like "goat cheese, sage, duck and fig." They are good, but don't seem authentic. From my experience in France, crepes are street food and are usually simple. The savory crepes are hardy and filled with ham and cheese.

The problem with the authentic crepes, is that they're usually expensive. You splurge and pay $4-5 per crepe (at a cheap place) and usually can't fill up on two.

I found this recipe in the joy of cooking. It seemed perfect for the hardy, savory crepes I remember from France. This was a total home run. We did ours with some ham we had frozen after Easter and Jarlsberg cheese. We couldn't believe how good these were and it was so nice to just keep eating them.

Here's the recipe:

1/2 cup buckwheat flour (I bought this at Whole Foods in the bulk food section, it was surprisingly cheap)

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1 cup milk

3/4 cup water

3 large eggs

2 tbsp. vegetable oil

1 teaspoon salt

Blend everything together, make sure it's mixed well. Let stand for an hour, according to the recipe, this is very important.

When you cook the crepes, butter the pan each time and pour 1/4 cup batter and spread around the pan. Even though these are thin, they cook longer than you think. When it starts to curl on the edges, it's ready to flip and it should be easy to flip if it's done.

Once it's flipped, put the ham and cheese inside. When the cheese is melted, fold it over.

This may be a little unorthodox, but we put it in the microwave for 10 seconds out of the pan. The crepe stayed crispy, but the ham and cheese were the perfect temperature.