October 16th
2007
Just when I thought the autumn sunshine couldn't get any brighter and I happily decided to not yet dig out my heavy Winter clothes and my so beloved collection of colorful woolen hats, the piles of work on my desk are ...well, piling up, what else. And so are my emails. Before I cut to the chase, let me assure you how much I love to receive emails, all kinds of emails. I do. Pictures from a newborn baby-girl (thank you, Sven), an update on a recent move (traveling again, Courtney?) or especially tempting recipes which will be moved to my to try-folder immediately (XOX, Claudia). But then, there are other mails. And I'm not talking about a regular business email or the you've-won-the-lottery (and worse) type spam.
Let's just call them "Thank you for asking" and "PR bummer": The latter group just doesn't seem to ever become extinct, we get strange offers every other day. And they seem to become increasingly stranger. Helpful information for PR companies on how to properly approach bloggers IS readily available, to those who make the effort google, yet old habits die hard. Most companies don't even bother to find out your actual name and as soon as I stumble across phrases like link exchange, with huge benefits for your site or will increase traffic tremendously, my index finger - already hovering over the delete button - starts weighing a ton.
And then there's: Thank you for asking. Maybe I missed the first omen, but since when have I become an omniscient guide book? Don't get me wrong, I feel flattered to be considered a reliable source of culinary knowledge, but, truth be told, I'm a food blogger, a passionate one indeed, but not a culinary dictionary or recipe book in standby mode. It's hard to think of a non-ironic response to someone who messed with a recipe, omitting three key ingredients and complaining about why it didn't work out. Better yet, inquiries about generic items well covered on the Net by people oblivious to Google or Wikipedia, but squeeze my brain for something as exotic as Ricotta. Ricotta what? Still, my favorites are the ones asking for complimentary support for their business, may it be a restaurant, online service or a coffee shop. I almost choked when I read one of the recent inquiries: 'Want to open up a coffee bar and am seeking for easy recipes. As I don't find any recipes online, maybe you could help me?
Recipes online? Really?! Who told you that crap?
On the bright side, when dear readers and friends suggest certain culinary topics or recipes they would like to see covered on delicious:days, I'm all ears. Sometimes I have to think about a topic for some time, but when Anja (happy "sneaker" and 24/7 busy business girl) asked for a speedy dinner option to not always have to give in to the same pasta creations, I told her about my latest fast food addiction: filled Crêpes, autumn-style.
Start with the batter: In a large bowl add the flour, the salt and the eggs, beat until combined (don't overdo it), then add the milk and blend well. Sticking to the described order will help to avoid annoying lumps. Let rest for 10 to 15 minutes, then add the chopped parsley.
Prepare the filling: Heat about a teaspoon of butter in a pan, then add the finely diced shallot as well as the pancetta. Fry on medium heat until everything has gained a nice golden color. Add the cleaned baby chanterelles ("Reherl"), season to taste with salt and freshly ground black pepper and sauté for a few more minutes before you add the chopped parsley. Keep warm on very low heat.
Heat a preferably non-stick pan (mine is 28 cm/11 inch diameter) over medium to high heat and add a teaspoon of clarified butter. If a drop of water thrown into the pan starts to sizzle, you can begin to bake your Crêpes.
Pour a ladle of batter in the middle of the pan and move it swiftly until the batter completely covers the bottom of the pan and forms a nice round shape. Flip as soon as the bottom side shows signs of golden brown spots, then sprinkle with some cheese (optional) and spread 2 to 3 tablespoons of the chanterelle filling in one quarter of the Crêpe. Fold over the empty crepe half and repeat. Voila, a folded and filled Crêpe! Serve immediately.
Add some more clarified butter to the pan and start over again until all of the batter is used up.
Crêpes, Autumn-style
Recipe source: own creation
Prep time: ~30 minutes
.
Ingredients (yields ~4 filled Crêpes):
.
chanterelle filling
(the filling can be adapted to your taste and pantry, you can also use bacon, zucchini, cherry tomatoes, different mushrooms, etc.)
1 tsp butter
1 small shallot, finely diced
6 slices of Pancetta, finely chopped
250g of baby Chanterelles
2 tbsp of fresh parsley, finely chopped
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
optional: ~ 50g Parmesan or Pecorino, grated
.
pancakes with parsley
125g all-purpose flour
two large eggs
a pinch of salt
250ml milk
4 tbsp of chopped parsley (or more)
clarified butter for the pan
those look incredible. I bought some lovely shitakes at the farmers' market on saturday and sauteed them with a generous handful of persillade. so danged good--wrapped in crepes would have been even tastier.
Chanterelles and some aged Italian cheese...folded into a crepe? This is the perfect embodiment of autumn, and definitely gives away your location (being just a few hours drive from both Italy and France). I'm afraid I'll have to "invest" in this particular experience and drop some cash at Whole Foods ($39.99/lb.) for a few good Chanterelles- the photo is irresistable.
I can feel your rage - I'm especially bemused by the 'we're opening a cafe but cannot think of any recipes' e-mail :)
I can see how the saffron milkcaps we picked last weekend would be excellent with your autumnal crepes (thanks indeed for a recipe idea!) Wonderful colours!!!
well, I suppose, that's the price for being famous.
I like your "fast food" suggestion since I'm big fan of not-sweet crepes and I find them ideal for experiments of any kind. With just a little of commonsense, they can hardly go wrong!
Yours "Crêpes, Autumn-style" sounds delicious! Wouldn't expect anything less from delicious:days!
I know what you mean - it never fails to amaze me the range of responses a new batch of emails can elicit!
The crepes look great - I bet that the parsley makes them taste lovely and fresh. Is the main reason for using clarified butter cosmetic - can you use regular butter without it all going horribly wrong?
Looks so good! Chanterelles are my favorite mushrooms, but we don't get them here very often. I might just buy some nice forest mushrooms and try my luck with them.
When I went to France recently, I couldn't get enough of the savoury crepes! Yum.
PS: My favorite email is: "Hi I was wondering if I could link to you on my blogroll?" Also, have you gotten one from "my girlfriend is too lazy, etc....can you give me the information?" That was a fave. Save the funny emails.
Oh what a bummer indeed! I'm sorry you feel inundated with this kind of stuff and there's no reason you shouldn't feel outraged. As for the chanterelles - they are my absolute favorite mushroom - I grew up eating a great deal of it in Russia where it was cheap and abundant. However, in the US, it's a rather pricey little fungus and I only sigh and I walk past it in gourmet markets. The crepes sound/look terrific, perhaps I should indulge and get some chanterelles - i don't think my boyfriend has ever had them like this!
We picked a basketfull of pfifferlinge, marronen, and steinpilze last week in the forest, and I sauteed each separately, adding only salt and pepper. Beaten eggs went into the marronen and steinpilze. They were all very good. Living in Germany, I've come to appreciate regional, seasonal food. It was never like this in Southern California!
Crepes? Are they like pancakes?
Hahaha. No, really, I hear you.
I'm getting a bit sick of hearing people on certain cooking shows asking: "What can I do with my used vanilla pod?"
Do you live in a cave? Put it in sugar, or something! Use your brain!
Nice folding skills, btw.
Crepes are a great easy standby. Be patient. There are many people on all sides of the learning curve :)
The price of prestige, I suppose...delicious-lookin' breakfast, either way!
Must one use a non-stick pan? Any suggestions if using cast iron or a regular stainless steel pan?
Wonderful blog, thank you! :)
Very autumnish too, and a little easier on the wallet: Cut three mushrooms into slices, place the slices side by side in a pan prepared with a spoon full of heated olive oil. Fry until the edges become brown and crispish, add a generous amount of fresh common sage leaves (the little ones taste more delicate and not as tangy as the larger leaves). Pour a large ladle of the pancake batter over everything and fry until the pancake gets brown on the underside. Flip the thing over and fry until ready. Serve with black pepper and some ground parmesan.
A simple salad of rucola/arugula, olive oil and balsamico is a perfect side dish.
These looked so good that right after reading your post I ran out and bought pancetta and chanterelles! A bit brash, but understandable with such yummy pictures.
Beautiful crepe...was thinking to make a sweet version of crepe, but salty or sweet, crepes are great stuff!
I did as you described, with minor alterings: I beat the eggs, added the flour, didn't have a pan and only one pot so I poured the lumpy mixture with the mushrooms and other ingredients in it. It took forever to get done, the texture was terrible and the taste, too. I am very disappointed with this recipe! I will give you one more chance: Waiting for a recipe for headcheese and make it quick, like this week, because I am planning to serve it to my guests this weekend.
PS: I used brown eggs, was that maybe the problem?
;-P
EDIT: Hande, You really got me with that one ;)))
just left winter here in OZ, but I will definitely be bookmarking this for next autumn...
I was once a short-lived member of a recipe site where someone once posted "Veal, isn't that some sort of pork?"
I weep for the future
mmm this looks so good I am almost tempted to forget about my allergies and eat one anyway! :P
It would be nice as it gets cooler in the season to see a nice Gulasch recipe.
Pancetta and chanterelles sounds like a marriage made in heaven!
Yumm... I haven´t been here for quite some time and am getting hungry by looking at your yummy food. Love crêpes too, kinda reminds me of the Malaysia "roti jala".. dun ask me why! haha...
I made this! Some of my crepes came out a bit soggy, but for the one's that didn't, they were quite tasty. I used regular chanterelles and I think i should have used babies as you suggested (chanterelles, that is). It was fun to make and a nice change in cooking. Thanks!
Oh! Looks delicious with these autumn colors! I'll try it. Thank you!
Ah, those lovely chanterelles make me home sick. We used (and my folks still do) walk out in the woods and pick our own when was in Sweden. These days I get a back of dried ones to enjoy.
A suggestion about cooking chanterelles is to first put them in pan on low heat without any butter or oil. Mushrooms contains a bunch of water and if you "cook off" the water before adding butter or oil, you'll get a richer flavor. It'll take a while but it's worth it. Something my Mom taught me and I think it's great. Just a suggestion.
Thanks
My goodness, I've never been blogged. I feel giddy with fame. Then again, maybe you know other Courtney's who have moved? Quite possible. You are tres popular! Funny you're doing crepes- they're everywhere in Belgium and I eat them for breakfast constantly- although I'd be remiss if I didn't say that I bought them... sigh. I am a good EATER, not a good cooker. I'll leave that to you! Love from your now neighbor. X.
Most of the time, we eat crêpes as dessert but I am sure everybody at home will be pleased to try these Chanterelle crêpes.
[...] the wonderful Autumn we have been having so far, dishes like “Crêpes, autumn-style”, can only add to its wonderfulness (via [...]
Of the things I miss most about Germany, Pfifferlinge are pretty high on the list. Those crepes look delectable!
Sophie, I tend to let my pan get a tad too hot when preparing crepes, while regular butter gets burned easily, leaving dark spots on your crepes, you can avoid this by using clarified butter.
Sara, I do! Always good for a laugh - in hindsight they're even funnier ;)
MJ, Great to hear you enjoyed German mushrooms! When I was a kid, my grandma went to the forest almost every day to pick fresh ones, I think I was spoiled concerning mushrooms ;)
Maryann, It's not the asking per se, it's more the way some of them do it ;) And if you answer their inquiry per email you likely won't hear back anymore...
Wendy, No, you don't need to use a non-stick pan, but I prefer to use one when making crepes. Once bitten, twice shy - a bad experience with a cast iron on my side ;)
Zyb, YUM! I don't recall ever using sage in combination with mushrooms, but I definitely will in the near future... Thanks for the tip!
Purple Goddess, OMG :)))
Maureen, I will try to dig out my favorite Gulasch soup recipe, maybe that could be something for you?
Parsnip, Glad you enjoyed them! Concerning the soggy ones, I try to eat them straight from the pan, so they don't have the time to absorb much of the mushrooms liquid.
Christina, Thank you for your tip, will try it with our next batch - provided I can still find some at the market - winter is approaching too fast!
Hi Court, Of course I was talking about you ;)
Mmmm yes! I love trying different Gulasch soup recipes!
Right on time. Hopefully I'll find some more mushrooms this year.
Yes. This is definitely something I want to try. I just need to find some time to buy the chanterelles :-)
Don't you just love photographing mushrooms? They give you so much to work with. These crepes look amazing! Can't wait to try them - wait - first I can't wait to make a successful crepe, then I'll make these.
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Mmmmmm, that looks simply irresistible! I think I'll end up doing it tomorrow if I can find fresh chanterelles.Can't remember the last time I ate chanterelles :( It's been so long, thanks for the recipe!
I saw this post nearly a month ago and have been wanting to try these. Chantrelles are so expensive here (Atlanta, GA). But, there I was in Whole Foods tonight and there was actually a special on chantrelles -- and I am home alone this weekend so this seemed perfect. They were delicous. A very delicate flavor. The parsley made them so lovely! I used a bit of parmesan cheese, but didn't use clarified butter. I didn't have a problem. Non-stick pan is the way to go IMHO. And, I had some German white wine -- also a special tonight at Whole Foods.
Hi Pat, When we visited our friends in Colorado Springs I couldn't trust my eyes when I spotted the price for fresh chanterelles! 'Glad your investment turned out great. Btw, during my time in Atlanta (roundabout '99), Whole Foods in Atlanta was our rescue, the only place where we could find marscarpone ;)
delicious! one little thing: euer rss feed lässt sich nicht abonnieren ;-(
EDIT: Ups, haben an der Seite gebastelt und vergessen eine Testanweisung rauszunehmen - jetzt geht's wieder. Merci für die Info :)