I still haven't had a chance to do a proper grocery shop yet, so I'm more-or-less running on whatever ingredients were in stock when I got here. I knew we had eggs and Reiver had put together a sourdough starter the week before I arrived, so I decided to give some sourdough crêpes a go. I had initially made some lemon curd to go in them, but then realized that we had ham, cheese, and an avocado that desperately needed to be used, so I changed tack and did some lovely savoury crêpes instead. (We still had some of the sweet ones afterward, but it was nice to be able to start with something savoury and a bit more substantial for breakfast.

Ham & Egg Crêpes

Ingredients

• 1 recipe sourdough crêpes (without any spices or sweeteners)
• 1 slice gouda or emmental per crêpe
• 2 slices black forest ham per crêpe
• 1 egg per crêpe
• 1 Tbsp. milk per egg
• salt and pepper, to taste
• 1-2 avocadoes, sliced
• drizzle of Kewpie mayo

Directions

1. Cook your crêpes.
2. Place a slice of cheese in the centre of each crêpe.
3. Place two slices of ham on top of the cheese.
4. Beat the eggs with the milk and season to taste with salt and pepper.
5. Cook over medium low heat, stirring occasionally, until just set.
6. Scoop a portion of eggs onto the ham, then fold the crêpe over to cover the eggs (first one side, then the other; like a letter).
7. Top with a few slices of avocado and a drizzle of Kewpie mayo and serve.

I think it's going to take me a few more attempts to get the knack for making these. I found they had a tendency to curl up and crease as I was trying to roll them out. This made them very difficult (usually impossible) to separate once cooked. I also had trouble dailing in the proper thickness and getting the sizes even. They were still good, just not very neat or particularly presentable. I think I could improve my technique with a bit more practice though.

Mandarin Pancakes

From Woks of Life

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 c. all-purpose flour
• 1/8 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 2/3 c. boiling water
• oil, for brushing

Directions

1. Combine the flour and salt and mix well.
2. Pour in the boiling water and mix -- with chopsticks or a spatula! -- to form a dough.
3. Once cool enough to handle, turn out onto a lightly floured surface and knead for 8 minutes.
4. Cover and allow to rest (at room temperature) for at least 1 hour.
5. Roll into a cylinder and divide into 12 equal portions.
6. Shape each portion into a ball and then flatten them into discs.
7. Brush the tops and sides of 6 of the discs with oil.
8. Place an un-oiled disc on top of each of the oiled discs.
9. Use an oiled rolling pin to roll each two-disc stack to a diameter of ~18cm (7").
10. Heat wok over medium-low heat.
11. Place a pancake (still composed of two discs rolled together) into the wok and cook for ~45 seconds. (Bubbles should start forming between the layers.)
12. Flip the pancake over and cook for another 30-45 seconds. (The bubbles should continue getting larger.)
13. Remove from wok and let cool for ~30 seconds, then peel the two layers apart.
14. Repeat the cooking process with the remaining pancakes.

I've been looking for a good way to use up an extra daikon and hit upon this recipe. It's a bit lacking in protein, so I made a simple picadillo (Filipino ground beef stew) to go with it. You could also cook up a few shrimp or maybe some tilapia or sole to go in the crêpes themselves if you wanted to add protien without having to make a separate dish.

Filipino-Style Salad-Crêpes

Slightly adapted from Food & Wine

Ingredients

Crêpes

• 1 large egg
• 1/4 tsp. coarse sea salt, ground
• 1 1/2 c. water
• 1 c. all-purpose flour
• 1 Tbsp. oil

Dressing

• 1/2 c. lite coconut milk
• 1/2 c. natural peanut butter (no added sugar or salt)
• 1 Tbsp. light soy sauce
• 1 tsp. cane or coconut vinegar
• 1 clove garlic, minced

Filling

• 1 c. julienned daikon
• 1 c. julienned carrot
• 1 c. julienned cucumber
• 1/2 c. julienned unripe (green) mango
• 1/4-1/2 c. chopped fresh mint
• 1/2 c. chopped fresh cilantro

Assembly

• 2-3 Tbsp. unsalted roasted peanuts, chopped
• butter lettuce, separated into leaves

Directions

Crêpes

1. Beat egg with salt and water.
2. Gradually whisk in flour.
3. Mix in oil.
4. Heat pan over medium heat and brush lightly with oil.
5. Pour a very thin layer of batter into the pan, swriling the pan around to spread the batter.
6. Cook until lightly browned on one side, then flip and cook until other side begins to brown.
7. Repeat cooking process with remaining batter.

Dressing

1. Combine all dressing components and mix well.

Filling

1. Combine all filling components and toss to mix.

Assembly

1. Place a crêpe on a plate and top with a lettuce leaf.
2. Pile some of the veggie filling onto the lettuce.
3. Top with chopped peanuts and dressing.

I made up a rye sour a little while back for tasty sourdough goodness. I haven't been making much use of it lately though. I like a good sourdough bread, but it's nice to mix it up sometimes too. I've had enough other bread recipes to try that the sour has kind of gone begging.

I'm gonna be taking another crack at the whole wheat sourdough tomorrow. But, in the meantime, I decided to try out some sourdough crêpes. They worked out very well! They're really quick and easy to throw together and all they really need is starter and eggs. There are, of course, lots of other things you can do to use starter/sours but, for sheer simplicity, I think this may become my go-to.

Delicious served warm and filled with Cheddar!

Sourdough Crêpes

Slightly adapted from Cultures for Health

Ingredients

• 4 eggs
• 1/2 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 1 c. sourdough starter OR rye sour
• 1/4 c. whole wheat bread (hard/strong/high grade) flour (optional)

Directions

1. Beat eggs with salt.
2. Whisk in starter and whole wheat flour (if using).
3. Preheat over medium-high heat. If the pan isn't well-seasoned, oil it lightly before you begin cooking.
4. Pour ~1/4 c. of batter into the pan and spread it very thin (either by using the back of a spoon or tilting the pan).
5. Flip when top looks mostly dry and full of bubbles.
6. Cook for another minute or so before removing from heat.
7. Serve with Cheddar or whatever toppings you prefer. (Spinach goes nicely.)

Crêpes

I have a whole bunch of recipes to catch up on -- including some new curries -- but, for now, I'm just going to quickly write up these crêpes.

Basic Crêpes
Slightly adapted from allrecipes.com
4 eggs
1 c. water
1 c. milk
1/4 c. butter, melted
1/2 tsp. salt (I totally forgot to add the salt to my batter!)
2 c. flour
1/2 c. icing sugar

1. Beat eggs with water, milk, and butter.
2. Sift in flour, salt, and sugar. (I forgot to add any salt to my batter, but the crêpes didn't seem to suffer any from the lack.)
3. Lightly grease a non-stick pan and pre-heat over medium heat.
4. Pour ~1/4 c. of batter into the pan and tilt the pan to get a thin, even layer.
5. Cook, shaking pan frequently. When the crêpe releases from the pan and slides around when shaken, it's done on that side. Flip and cook for an additional 30 seconds or so.
6. Fill crêpes as desired and serve.

We had a selection of fruits, cheeses, and spreads available to go with our crêpes. Suggestions below:

• Nutella
• Peanut butter and fresh raspberries 
• Strawberries and chocolate sauce
• Blueberry compote and brie
• Banana slices and Nutella
• Lemon juice and granulated sugar
• Apple pie filling (preferably home-made)
• Bananas in caramel sauce

Blueberry Compote
Frozen blueberries
Icing sugar
Maple syrup
Corn starch
(Lemon juice)

I was flying by the seat of my pants for this one, so I'm not sure of exact measurements or proportions. I think I used a bit over a cup of blueberries, ~1/4 c. each of sugar and syrup, and a Tbsp. or so of corn starch. It was pretty much just a case of mixing everything together in a pot and heating it until it thickened. It came out pretty well considering how haphazardly it was thrown together. I think I'd probably add ~1 Tbsp. of lemon juice and a few extra Tbsp. of maple syrup next time, but I'm pretty pleased with it overall.