Mastering the Art of Julia’s Crepes

Check me out mastering the art of french eating (apparently when I eat and drink I am really proud of the left side of my face, but this is beside the point).  These photographs are from my 2008 trip with The Croft Baguette couple, when the three of us corralled chaperoned a bunch of high school kids up and down the streets of Paris for a week.  And by “the three of us” I mean “the two of them,” because I just hung in the back and drank Bordeaux.  I don’t do discipline.

One of the things I love the most about the streets of France is the street food – especially the crepes.  Thin little tasty treats, stuffed with savory meats and cheeses or sweets, like bananas and Nutella.  Nothing I make could ever compare to these, but with Julia Child’s recipe, how could I go too wrong?

I got Mastering the Art of French Cooking by Julia Child in my Easter basket.  Her recipes are very long, and to be honest, I have better things to do than type them all out here.  So, I took pictures for you.

I made my crepe batter the night before.

To Make A Crepe:

You’ll need an iron skillet.  Julia recommends bacon fat or cooking oil to keep the crepe from sticking, but neither were needed with my quality nonstick pan.  Heat the pan until it is just smoking.  Immediately remove from heat and, holding the handle of pan in your right hand, pour with your left hand a scant 1/4 cup of batter into the middle of the pan.  Quickly tilt the pan in all directions to run the batter all over the bottom of the pan in a thin film. The whole operation takes 2 to 3 seconds.

Return the pan to heat for 60 to 80 seconds, or until it bubbles and unsticks from the pan with a spatula.  Loosen from the pan by jerking or spatula-ing.  Then flip it with the spatula, or with your skillz:

Yup. Me and my annoying laugh flipped that French pancake.  Sup.

Then for the filling:

… of custard with butter if you’re going to let it sit for a while to keep a film from forming on it. Which I didn’t do and my custard remained film-free.

I recommended pairing your crepes with some breakfast meat, strong mimosas, PJs, and your next door neighbors (especially helpful for filming your flip).