I finally got a crepe pan!

I have been making crepes for my family for several years now, but always using my regular cooking pan.  However, my wonderful hubby recently purchased an everyday crepe pan which he purchased on Amazon for $25.  I was so happy to have one as it makes flipping the crepes much easier!   For those of you who may be thinking that crepes are too hard to make, you are wrong!  Yes, the first several crepes I made were not pretty, but still tasted good.  You get the hang of it the more crepes you make.  Personally, I love the versatility of using crepes.  Desert crepes, cheesey crepes, or even flavored crepes are all hits on my household.

My fridge was stocked full of fresh fruit after a visit to our local farmers market, so I choose to make homemade whipped creme and fruit filled crepes.

The crepe pan I am using is Cuisinart Model#623-24 10" pan.

To make a simple crepe mix, I use this recipe:
Ingredients
3/4 cup cold milk
3/4 cup cold water
3 eggs
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
5 tablespoons melted unsalted butter
2 1/2 tablespoons cooking oil

In a blender or mixing bowl with whisk, combine all ingredients except for the cooking oil till it's thin in consistency. Refrigerate the batter for at least 1 hour. Lightly brush the skillet with oil and place over medium-high heat. I make sure the pan is hot then simply pour about 1/4 cup of batter in the middle of the pan and quickly tilt the pan in all directions to evenly distribute the batter. You want the pan to be coated with the mixture, but thinly coated.  It should not be thick, like a pancake.  When slightly brown on the underside, turn the crepe with a spatula onto the other side and cook for a few seconds. Remove from pan by sliding it out gently onto a plate.

You can sprinkle the plate with some powered sugar, then place some fresh fruit or preserves on the inside.  Fold the crepe over and add more topping.

I included some fresh homemade whipped cream, but you can omit that if you prefer.  My filling was so simple.  I simply sliced up some fresh strawberries, added some lingonberry preserves which i microwaved for 30 seconds, then mixed them together.

Simple Pierogies with my pantry fancies

Tonight, I had no clue what we were going to have, but decided on a box of frozen periogies. I then realized, they could use some "fancy" added to them. In the sake of time, I looked to my pantry and found a few simple ingredients. So here is what the outcome was: Periogies with red onions, sweet roasted red peppers, and artichoke hearts.

Ingredients:

Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1/2 Red onion chopped into thin strips
1 can of artichoke hearts
1/2 small jar of sweet roasted red peppers which i diced up
1 tablespoon of fresh cilantro
1 frozen box of potatoe and cheese periogies
Paprika
I used my leftover chicken broth in the fridge, but if you don't have any left over, simply open a new can.
Salt & pepper

sour cream: optional

Boil the periogies in a combination of chicken broth and water until they start to float and immediately take them out of the water.

While the boiling is going on, I used my large wok to sautee the onions in a 2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil. After they were nice and soft, I sprinkled them with salt, pepper, and paprika. Add the artichoke hearts for aproximatley 2 minutes. Add the periogies. Sautee until the periogies get light brown in color. Add your diced up sweet roasted pepper and cilantro. Serve with a side of sour cream.

Easy to do and I aproximate this meal for 3 people cost me less than $8.00 total.