Wednesday, July 13, 2011

Crab Crepes

     A galley just isn't the sort of place I can keep my usual stocks of baking ingredients.  However, a nice little container of self-rising flour and another of sugar can expand your cooking horizons.
    Or, if you forget - or get a bright idea - a small packet of pancake mix can solve the same problems.  Look for one that has only flour, baking powder/soda and maybe buttermilk.  Avoid anything that has fat (an oil of some sort) and sugar (anything ending in "-ose").  This limits your options.

Crab Crepes
(the leavening will make these puffier than a standard crepe.  If you have plain flour - lucky you!  Use it.)



crepes:
1 C self-rising flour or pancake mix
1 egg
1 Tbs oil
1 C milk
+ about 1 more C milk or water

Mix the egg, oil and first Cup of milk.
Stir this into the Cup of flour.
Stir the extra liquid in, until you have a thin batter that will spread around the pan just by rotating the pan.  If you can, let the batter sit for about an hour - this is a help, but not essential.

Heat a tsp of butter or oil in a skillet or flat bottomed wok.  Test with a drop of batter - when it sizzles the pan is ready.  Pour in just enough batter to barely cover the bottom of the pan (or make the crepe size you want).  as the batter starts to firm up, shake the pan to loosen the crepe.  As soon as the crepe has a little color on the bottom, and is sturdy enough, flip the crepe with a spatula.
Let the crepe get a little brown on the bottom, and stack on a plate.
Make all the crepes you need for breakfast.
After breakfast, use up the rest of the batter to make crepes for quesadillas later.

fillings:

Crab & Cheese - A small handful of body meat, and some swiss cheese.  Roll into a finished crepe, heat gently to warm the meat and melt the cheese.

Crab & Tart Stone Fruit - Crab season and stone fruit season start together.  If you happen to hit a farmers market just before, or during your cruise, pick up a nectarine, pluot, plum or even a peach.  If there is some fresh goat cheese, grab that as well.
Cut up the fruit into bite size chunks, and stir about a tsp of sugar in with it.  Let that sit and get juicy (macerate) while you are making the crepes.
Fill your crepes with a small handful of body meat, a large spoonful of the fruit, (and if you got your hands on it, a bit of the goat cheese) roll up the crepe, and heat gently to warm the ingredients.

If crab for breakfast is too much for any of the crew, a little butter and sugar is nice too - or just some of the fruit.

Note:
If your batter is too thick, it is easy to thin.  If you added too much liquid, stir in a little more flour/pancake mix.  Crepe batter is quite thin and runny, so try a small crepe before you despair.

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