Day three of the World Tour:  France.

Well, you can only put off making something that intimidates you until you start to crave it and can’t stop thinking about it.  That’s how I finally got over my fear of making crepes.  I had always heard that they were super high-maintenance, basically just a pain in the *&#%.  So I was afraid.

Then I started seeing them everywhere.  In every magazine I picked up, on every blog I read, on every cooking show that came on, in my dreams.  Now, you know when that happens you have to take it as a sign, so off I went in search of an “easy” crepe recipe.  I ended up sort of making up my own recipe based on all the different recipes and cooking instructions I read, and ended up with this Crepes recipe that is easy and extra delicious.

What I discovered is that crepes are really not that hard to make at all, fairly low maintenance, to tell the truth.  It is recommended in most recipes to make the batter ahead of time, either the night before or at least 1-2 hours ahead.  And keeping them in a warm oven wrapped in foil is good, too, if you aren’t going to just cook-and-eat them.  Oh, and the rum, definitely not optional in my recipe.

Crepes

from Shortbread

makes about 10

Ingredients

• 1 cup all purpose flour
• pinch salt
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 cup milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 tablespoon light rum
• 2 eggs
• 2 tablespoons butter, melted
• additional melted butter for cooking crepes
• confectioner’s sugar for sprinkling
• lemon wedges, optional

Directions

1. Add first 9 ingredients to a blender and mix until smooth.  Cover and refrigerate batter for 1-2 hours, or up to 1 day.
2. Heat a crepe pan or non-stick skillet over medium-high heat.  Brush the pan lightly with butter.
3. Pour about 3 tablespoons of batter into the pan and tilt it around to coat the entire surface evenly.
4. Cook, on one side only, until the crepe is uniformly translucent and the surface no longer looks wet, 45 seconds to 1 minute.
5. Loosen the edges of the crepe with a firm spatula and invert it onto a piece of wax paper.  Roll up and place on a plate when slightly cool.
6. Repeat with the remaining batter, buttering the pan as necessary.
7. Sprinkle with confectioner’s sugar and a squeeze of lemon, if desired, and eat, or fill them with your choice of fillings.

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*There was no entry yesterday since high winds and rain caused a loss of cable and internet service and a tree to fall on my vehicle.  No kidding.  More on that subject tomorrow.

Today is about pancakes, one of my cooking obsessions.  I’m not sure when my obsession started, possibly when I got married and realized I would be making them every weekend forever.  Or it could have to do with my perfectionist tendencies and the fact that I can’t be satisfied with good or even great.  I need to hear “these are the best pancakes I’ve ever eaten!”

The problem lies with the fact that taste is personal and two (or three or four) people in a household could have totally different ideas on what makes a pancake the best.  Thick or thin, crispy edges or not, a little sweet or a lot.  But still I try, hoping to find the perfect combination that makes everyone exclaim those magic words.

So I was pleasantly surprised to see that the first recipe I would be making for the Barefoot Bloggers group would be Banana Sour Cream Pancakes, chosen by Karen of Something Sweet by Karen.  The group chooses two Ina Garten recipes a month for the members to make and blog about.  Ina’s recipe starts off like most basic pancake recipes and then adds sour cream along with the milk.  I use buttermilk often, and have used yogurt which is really good to, but this is the first time adding sour cream.  I did need to pour in a little more milk to make the batter thin enough to spread out onto the skillet.  It was still thick enough, however, to make fluffy pancakes and that suits my taste.  She also calls for cooking hers in butter, which gives a little bit of a crispy edge to the pancakes and yummy buttery flavor, and that suits the husband’s taste.  I also added the lemon zest (with a light hand, so no one groaned) which I would never have thought of doing, but they weren’t lemony at all, just very flavorful.

I added bananas to half of the pancakes and those were the ones I tried.  The kids ate the ones without them.  They were really delicious and I’m going to make them again without the bananas so I can try them with other fruits and additions.  I think I’m getting close!

Banana Sour Cream Pancakes

from Barefoot Contessa Family Style

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 3/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon milk
• 2 extra-large eggs
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
• Unsalted butter
• 2 ripe bananas, diced, plus extra for serving
• Pure maple syrup

Directions

Sift together the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. In a separate bowl, whisk together the sour cream, milk, eggs, vanilla, and lemon zest. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ones, mixing only until combined.

Melt 1 tablespoon of butter in a large skillet over medium-low heat until it bubbles. Ladle the pancake batter into the pan to make 3 or 4 pancakes. Distribute a rounded tablespoon of bananas on each pancake. Cook for 2 to 3 minutes, until bubbles appear on top and the underside is nicely browned. Flip the pancakes and then cook for another minute until browned. Wipe out the pan with a paper towel, add more butter to the pan, and continue cooking pancakes until all the batter is used. Serve with sliced bananas, butter and maple syrup.

Encouraging my children to be adventurous eaters and healthy eaters is important to me, too.  I try to cook new foods often and buy as much natural and organic food as I can.  This new year gives me a fresh start to share all the cooking, baking, and drinking going on in my kitchen as I explore my roots, my cookbooks, and continue my quest for the perfect pancake recipe.

Cheers!