Anyone who reads this blog routinely knows that I am not a great chef. I could be a passable short-order chef in a greasy spoon somewhere on the New Jersey Turnpike, but thats about it. Thats okay, because I don't have aspirations of chef-hood. I have simple desires. I'd like to be able to consistently make a decent hamburger. (Mine are usually dry. I know its got to do with how much fat is in the meat, and I suspect that its got something to do with how much the meat's been handled, and how cold the meat is, but there must be more -- some seasoning, perhaps?) I'd like to make a decent chocolate cake. (Mine come out on the dense side, and the icing - not good. More like an ad for melted chocolate chips than anything.) I can make a decent cup of coffee. Usually.
My current object of desire, which so far has eluded me: crepes.
I read articles which say that crepes are not all that difficult to make, and that the author can't understand why people have problems with them. After all, people make and sell passable ones from street-based stands, in Paris! How hard could it be? Yeah, well....My hunch is that I'm doing everything right, but I'm not doing it enough right. Take the pan, for example. I heat it until a drop of water beads up immediately, skitters for a bit, and vanishes in about four seconds. At first, I'd have a pan that was really hot -- a drop of water would pssss! and gone. Then I read something about how you'd get rubbery crepes if the pan was too hot, so I backed down -- now it's just barely hot enough for the reaction I mentioned. Perhaps that's not hot enough? The articles tend to say 'medium-high' for the heat; well, our electric range goes from 1 to 9, so I'd think medium-high would be somewhere around 6; thats where I got the pssss! reaction, before backing down to around 4. So, which is it? Or the batter -- I made another batch two days ago, and left it in the refrigerator. The notes I'm using say that you warm up the batter by putting the bowl over a pot of gently simmering water. Well, I did that -- though perhaps it was more 'gently boiling' than 'simmering'. Whatever, the result was that the batter went from cold and on the thick side (at least, on the bottom) to lumpy. What? Not to mention, how thick should it be? I've read 'like a heavy cream', which it was (at least,till I chilled it); was that right? I dunno.
Part of it is that I really don't know how a decent (let alone, exceptional) crepe ought to feel and taste. Its been years since I had one. I vaguely remember going to The Magic Pan restaurants; what I think they were like was thin, firm, but flexible enough to roll into a cylinder and hold its shape. What I create are relatively thin, limp, and flexible enough to tie a knot in. And they're a little on the damp side, too. That can't be right!
Guess I'll keep trying....
6 comments:
Fascinating. My family actually took a class by a European friend in making crepes. I wish that I had been as picky and detail oriented as you are and maybe I would have learned how to make them. Instead we just had fun giggling and cooking and eating! (Maybe that is the secret to enjoying them?) But still, you now have me wondering if I could make a good crepe.
Oh, anyone can make them -- they're easy!
Actually, I think you're onto something with the comment about having fun -- I suspect that once you know how they ought to look -- from batter to finished -- you can ease up a bit, not sweat the details. I just don't know enough to back off, yet. I have heard that an electric crepe pan makes it really easy, but I am in no way willing to go to that expense.
Finding many, many crepe references on the net, though....Somewhere, someone will at least say what the damn things ought to feel like when they're done!
Yo Bill,
I've learned the secret to making decent burgers with lean meat (even turkey meat) is not to work it too much when forming the patties. Just work it enough to get it into the basic shape and leave it a little loose. The more you work it, the tighter (and drier) everything ends up. We use a little Worcestershire sauce, salt and pepper. Good luck!
I've heard the same thing about handling the meat, but I wasn't sure if it *really* mattered. Good to hear that it does. And I like the idea of the sauce -- I like Worcestershire sauce, but I don't think about it for burgers -- despite the witty ads that A1 had, a few years ago.
It's like getting to Carnegie Hall: practice, practice, practice. But I feel you pain: my sopapillas are like crackers, ditto my flour tortillas, unlike my grandmother's cloud pillows.
Oh,good lord -- I haven't had a decent sopapilla in years, easily. Tortillas, I think I could do, though if your grandmother's can be described as 'cloud pillows', perhaps not! I'm wondering if they're essentially flatbreads? Those, I have done. Kind of fun, actually.
Wonder if I can find a sopapilla recipe? Hmmm......
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