In my house, necessity often the mother of "why did I think THAT was a good idea?" But it always amazes me how often the crazy things I try actually work.In this case, I wanted to make crepes. I had a lovely crepe pan from Anolon, and I wanted to use it. I had the book Crepes by Martha Holmberg, so I figured I could use one of the recipes for the crepe batter. And then it all went sideways, because I didn't have nearly enough milk. Feh.
But I still wanted to make crepes. Without going to the store. So I started to think about what I could use instead of milk - juice? water?
Aha! Heavy cream! I had that in the refrigerator!
But I knew that would be way too heavy, so I figure that if I mixed the cream with water and didn't use any other butter or fat, I might have something I could work with. So I cobbled together a recipe.
I used the instructions from the book for technique and the basic ratio of liquid to flour, but the rest is my own strange invention. And it worked. Perfectly. I was sooooo happy!
Well, sort of. Because, you see, this post is for World Diabetes Day and it's sponsored by Anolon and Microplane. I don't know that much about cooking for diabetics. but Shelby from Diabetic Foodie passed along some tips. My filling follows her rules, with lowfat turkey and vegetables, (although it also has a roux base) ... but those crepes ... well, they've got the heavy cream and the white flour. But on the other hand, they've got white wheat flour which is a whole grain and ther's a lot of eggs, and those are a good protein.
And then I also made a salad. Mmmmmm.... salad.
Wow, I felt like I was trying to get a good grade there. But I don't have a lot of practice cooking for diabetics. It's a bit of a challenge.
Obviously I'm not your go-to source for all things diabetic, but it's not about me, it's about spreading the word. More on that in a bit.
And a GIVEAWAY courtesy of Anolon and Microplane. Isn't that awesome?
But first, the recipe.
Crepes
Makes 16
1 cup water3/4 cup heavy cream
4 eggs
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup all purpose flour
3/4 cup white wheat flour
Blitz the water, cream, eggs, and salt in a blender. You're just looking to mix it up, not make a smoothie. Add the flours (I'm thinking this could have been all white whole wheat, but I didn't want to push my luck on the first try) and blend until there are no bits or lumps of flour. Scrape down the sides of the blender if you need to, and blend again.
Let the mixture sit at least 5 minutes for the flour to hydrate, or up to 30 minutes at room temperature. You can make this well in advance - just refrigerate it. But really, it takes no time at all to blend, so it's not like you need to have a vat of it stored somewhere for emergencies.
Heat a crepe pan on medium heat. You can make crepes in different sort of pan, but let's assume you own a crepe pan, hmmmm? The pan should be warm enough so a bit of butter sizzles but it doesn't immediately brown or burn. Use a teeny bit of butter and wipe it with a paper towel. Olive oil would also work, I guess, but butter is traditional. I used probably a teaspoon of butter for all 16 crepes.
The batter should be the consistency of heavy cream - not as thick as pancake batter. If it's too thick, add water to thin it. After you've sizzled the butter on (or just wipe with an oiled/buttered paper towel, take the pan off the heat and pour the batter - eyeball about a quarter cup - into the center of the pan while you start swirling the pan to coat the whole bottom of the pan. If you have too much batter, pour it out. If you have holes, you can add a bit more batter or just deal with the fact that you've got some lacy edges. No big deal.
Put the pan back on the heat and let the crepe cook until the bottom is nicely browned. At that point, the top view will show you that the edges are looking dry and sort of lifting from the pan. If you shake the pan, the crepe will release and slide around. If it's not releasing, it needs more cooking.Check for brownness underneath, then flip the crepe over. I found that the most foolproof way was to slide the crepe until it was peeking over the edge of the pan, then I grabbed that edge with my fingertips and flipped the crepe over. Easy peasy. The crepe cooked on the second side for maybe 30 seconds.
The first side had prettier browning and the second side was spotty looking. See, the one on the left is a little spotty. That's what the second side looks like after it's cooked.
Then, as the crepes are cooked, just pile them up on a pan or a wire rack. They can be refrigerated if you're making them in advance, or fill them right away.
Crepes can also be frozen.
Turkey Filling
Makes about a quart
2 tablespoons butter1/4 cup flour
2 cups turkey stock
2 cups mixed frozen vegetables
1 small onion, diced
1 teaspoon poultry seasoning
1 cup julienned zucchini
2 cups cooked turkey breast, medium dice
Salt, to taste
Yes, I have left over turkey already. And it's wonderful. The turkey stock I used was from the turkey carcass, but you could certainly use chicken stock and chicken breasts for this recipe.
Normally, I have a lot of vegetables left over from Thanksgiving dinner that I use for soup and other dishes, but I didn't have much on hand, so I used frozen mixed vegetables along with fresh zucchini and onion.
I julienned the zucchini because I was having fun with the Microplane Slicer that I got. I reviewed it here. It's a handy little devil since it slices and it's got a julienne blade. Even better, the blade stores attached to the slicer in a safe place, so you don't have to keep track of it (I'm prone to mis-placing small parts of things) and the hand guard also attaches to the slicer for storage.
I also used the slicer when I made salad - but more on that later.
So, melt the butter in a saucepan, then add the flour and stir it around and let it cook a minute or two. Add the stock, stirring to get rid of any lumps. Bring to a boil and let it cook for a minute. Add the frozen vegetables, onions, and poultry seasoning. This time when it comes back to a boil, reduce it to a simmer and let it cook until the onions and vegetables are cooked to your liking. Add the zucchini and turkey and cook just long enough to warm them.
Taste for seasoning, and add salt, if desired. If your turkey stock was seasoned, you might not need any at all.
To make the crepes:
Put 1/4 to 1/2 cup of the turkey mixture and roll up - you can tuck in the ends like a burrito, or leave them open - whatever you like. I garnished mine with a dollop of Greek yogurt. If you fill with 1/2 cup, you'll have fatter crepes, but you'll only be able to fill 8 of the 16. If you use 1/4 cup of filling, you'll use up all the crepes. It's up to you.
And ... lets talk about pots and pans a second, shall we?
When I was a kid, my mother wasn't really into this whole "presentation" thing. She was more likely to put a cooking pot on the table than she was to put food in a pretty bowl and serve it. That's just how it was. So that's something that I purposely don't do.
But as part of this Virtual Potluck event, I got this sweet Nouvelle Copper Stainless Steel 9.5 inch covered skillet with two side handles. It's pretty. It's really pretty. It's so pretty that I almost don't want to cook in it. Which is also something I don't do. I use my cooking equipment, I don't display it.
But this pot is really pretty. Oooooh shiny.
And I have one that I'm going to GIVE AWAY. Yuppers, I'm gonna give you one. AND something else.
So, let's talk about salad a second, hmmmm...?
So, to make this little meal just a teeny bit healthier, I made a salad. When it comes to salad, I don't eat them because they're good for me or because I feel like I have to. I actually like salad.Yeah, I'm weird.
So this one is a mix of butter lettuce, topped with sliced cucumbers, zucchini, and red bell pepper, all sliced on the Microplane slicer.
I didn't use a mixed dressing. Instead, I sprinkled the salad with some Greek spice mix, then squeezed on lemon juice, drizzled with a bit of sherry vinegar, then finished with a chive olive oil. It was really good.
OH! And I'm giving away a Microplane slicer, too! Wheeee!
It's like an early Christmas!
More About Diabetes and why we're posting
* Walgreens and the American Diabetes Association have teamed up to do a pin pad donation campaign. From now until Nov. 30, participate at your local Walgreens by donating $1, $2, $5 or $10 when you use a debit or credit card, and help raise critical funds for resources and educational programs in local communities.
* More than 371 million people have diabetes
* Half of people with diabetes don't know they have it
* Half of the people who die from diabetes are under the age of 60
* In 2012, 4.8 million people died from and 471 billion USD was spent on diabetes
* More facts & figures here.
Now, for a GIVEAWAY!!!
I've got one Microplane Slicer and one Anolon Nouvelle Copper Stainless Steel 9.5 inch covered skillet with two side handles to give away to one lucky winner.
To enter - comments must be left here on the blog, on this post.
1. Leave a comment telling me what your favorite leftover Thanksgiving meal is - this is your mandatory entry. For additional entries:
2. Follow Cookistry on Facebook, then leave a comment telling me you've followed.
3. Follow Microplane on Facebook, them leave a comment telling me you've followed.
4. Follow Anolon on Facebook, then leave a comment telling me you've followed.
Contest is open to US residents only, 18 and older. Winners will be chosen randomly and prizes will be shipped directly by the manufacturer to the winner. Contest ends at midnight, mountain time on Friday, November 22. All usual contest rules apply.
Disclaimer: I received products from both Anolon and Microplane for the purpose of this post.
Other members of Virtual potluck also have giveaways. Go visit Shelby at Diabetic Foodie for a Advanced 3.5 qt Covered Straining Saucepan and a Microplane Slicer; Milisa at Miss in the Kitchen has an Advanced Bronze 5.25 qt Covered Sauteuse and a Microplane slider; Matt at Thyme in Our Kitchen is giving away a Nouvelle Copper Stainless Steel 12 inch skillet and a Microplane slicer; Theresa from Foodhunter's Guide has a Nouvelle Copper Stainless Steel 3 quart covered saute with helper handle and a Microplane slicer; and Susan from 30AEats is giving away an Advanced 5 qt covered saute with helper handle and a Microplane slicer.
