Crêpe Fear – the fear of making something outside of your comfort zone for the first time. And having it be perfect and delicious.
Also, the fear of being terrorized by maniacal and vengeful French pastries.
This recipe was another great find from Saveur – I am thoroughly enjoying finding new things to make from their website. This one was actually suggested to me and at first I didn’t want to. Crêpes seemed complicated and inaccessible. Fussy and fragile. But after looking over the recipe a couple of times, it started to seem somewhat manageable. At least on paper.
Finally, I figured what the heck – the ingredients were common enough and I decided to give it a whirl on a Sunday afternoon. If it ended in disaster, there was still time to figure out something else to have. And if they turned out well, then, hey! Crêpe-tastic Sunday!
Rest assured, this was easy and delicious from start to finish. I made the batter by combining some flour, milk, lager (fun!), eggs, water and salt and pepper. Then I prepared the filling ingredients – the recipe called for spinach, and mushrooms, some gruyère cheese and a fried egg.
Don’t those ingredients sound great together?
I’m sure this lends well to any number of your favorite ingredients as well. But you KNOW, anything with a fried egg is gonna be that much more fantastic.
So next, I started making the actual crêpes. I followed the recipe to a tee and it executed perfectly. I realized that part of why the recipe worked so well was the amount of batter I added for each crêpe. I measured out exactly 1/3 cup of batter for each one and it was just enough to cover the bottom of the pan and make a perfectly thin, nice-sized crêpe.
The process goes fast, so in no time at all, I was making one delicious crêpe after another – it made for an awesome Sunday afternoon treat.
Plus, it doesn’t require using the stove for very long – a big plus as summer still marches on for the majority of us.
I also added some diced tomatoes – Surprise!
And that, my friends, is how I overcame my own personal Crêpe Fear. Enjoy!
Ingredients
- 2 cups flour
- 1 cup milk
- ¾ cup cold lager
- 2 eggs
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 2 cups sautéed sliced mushrooms
- 1 cup grated gruyère cheese
- 4 cups spinach
- 8 fried eggs
Directions
Combine flour, milk, lager, eggs, salt and pepper, and ¾ cup cold water in a blender and blend until smooth; this will be your batter – cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours. While the batter is in the fridge, this is when you can sautée the spinach and mushrooms, as well as prepare the fried eggs. I fried the eggs, 2-3 at a time and stacked them separately on a plate and set aside.
Heat a 12″ nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Pour about 1⁄3 cup batter into skillet, tilting skillet to let batter cover bottom completely; sprinkle ¼ cup mushrooms, 2 tbsp. gruyère , and ½ cup spinach over batter and season with salt and pepper. Cook until crêpe is lightly browned on the bottom, about 4 minutes; top the filling with a fried egg and fold crêpe in half over everything.
Serve immediately, and repeat with remaining batter, mushrooms, gruyère, spinach, and fried eggs to make 8 crêpe sandwiches total.
Gorgeous! My mom bought me a French crepe pan for my birthday and it’s so much fun to make a big pile of crepes and start filling them with all sorts of goodies. Never made a beer batter crepe though. I’m going to try it.
You totally should – you’ll love it!
Those look awesome. Never made crepes, not that I’m um scared!
They were so quick and easy to make – you’ll love them!
Wow, you make that seem SO easy, Bill. I am very afraid of crepes. Very afraid. But, yes! Those ingredients sound sooooo good that I’m willing to try. I think, lol. Way to go on yours! They’re beautiful!
I LOVE the plates!! Great pictures, Bill.
Thank you, Sarah! They were surprisingly very easy – and quick – to make and they were sooo delicious!
The French often add a teaspoon of sugar into the batter even if it’s for a savoury dish, which I thought a little strange. My Mom’s recipe consisted of just flour, eggs and soda water, she claimed that the soda water allowed the crêpes to be paper thin (she often joked that you should be able to read a newspaper through them).
Your crêpes look lovely Bill and the filling does indeed sound incredible and tasty. I usually like to make a béchamel sauce to go with my savoury crêpes, but adding the gruyère sounds like a wonderful idea.
Thank you so much!
Haha, great title! Great recipe! I love savory crepes, and you can’t go wrong with spinach & mushrooms.
Thanks so much!
Beautiful crepes Bill!! And the filling looks delish. My two faves, spinach and mushrooms… and Cheese.
I’ve never feared making crepes but I do say, I’ve never put beer in the batter! How interesting! I could imagine the flavor would blend so nicely with the woody mushroom taste. Great recipe!
Thank you very much!
Beautiful crepes!
Thank you very kindly!