Crêpes at Chez Teresa

We have had some great people in for lunch at Chez Teresa today including a Dutch/Israeli Family the girls of the family were delightful and the Mother who is Israeli said that she hoped for peace in her life time and a French chap who said that his slice of Tarte au Citron was the best that he had tasted in a long while....The children had crêpes with bananas and melted chocolate.   Next we had a lovely gay couple in from North London for full lunches who plan to stay with us in the future and also a Scottish couple who shared some Scottish and Irish recipes over a pot of tea and some scones with me.  I just love the cultural diversity of those who come through our doors and feel very lucky that we are able to meet with so many different people on a daily basis.  Of course the Abbaye Royale is the draw, but we are grateful for our visitors who come to see us either before or after their visit for a taste d'Angleterre....

Mid afternoon I had a Dutch couple in asking for Crêpes a la flambé in Grand Marnier to boot..Honestly am I being silly here in so far as we offer crêpes throughout the day but my recipe is simple but effective, but no Grand Marnier and flambé does not really figure and certainly not during the afternoon as one of our take aways.   We might offer it as an evening treat to be served in our dining room. Anyway the aforementioned left sans crêpe.  It was 16hrs and quite frankly where in France could you expect to be able to enjoy a crêpes a la flambé ?  At such an hour I would like to know.    Still they were on their velos and I guess they needed to be sustained.  "Au revoir" says I, "farewell and bonne route... "

When we first put crêpes on our menu I was a bit worried that our French customers would not like them, but this has proved far from the case and we have received many compliments and tips.   It is like serving pasta dishes to Italians you tremble a little bit as you serve it, but as the summer has progressed I am beginning to feel more and more confident serving crêpes.
 

Here is my recipe for crêpes with some suggested fillings and yes you could even flambé the crêpes with Grand Marnier

125 ml du lait/full cream or semi du lait/ milk

350 gms farine de blé or semi complet if possible, or white or semi wholemeal will do

plus a pinch of sea salt and

4 l'oeufs/4 free range eggs as fresh as you can...

Suggested fillings are as follows:

Melted chocolate (a few cubes of 70% chocolate, with a noisette of butter and a little sugar) and some chopped bananas to add within the crêpes in the middle before you serve with a drizzle of chocolate on the top and a couple of pieces of fruit for decoration is particularly yummy.  Alternatively use freshly squeezed lemon and sugar within the crêpe then dust with sugar or what about honey and lemon or Maple syrup and a flourish of Chantilly cream?  Interestingly we have had many French customers in of late who just want a plain crêpe with lots and lots of sucre.

This is a very versatile mix that you can add savoury ingredients to especially if you choose to make the crépe with semi complet/wholemeal flour as it gives the crêpe a delicious nutty texture...  If I am going down the savoury route I tend to fill the pancakes with buttery leeks in a cheese sauce, or smoked salmon and cream cheese, spinach and ricotta cheese, or a spicy vegetable filling..

Enjoy...

T. xx