The student media organization of California State University Northridge

Daily Sundial

The student media organization of California State University Northridge

Daily Sundial

The student media organization of California State University Northridge

Daily Sundial

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Say yes to crêpes!

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Crepes can be served with any assortment of fruit. Photo credit: Evgeniya Emolkina
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The more sugar you put in the batter, the browner crepes will be because of the caramelization of sugar. Photo credit: Evgeniya Emolkina

During school, it’s so easy to eat fast food. It’s cheap and convenient. However, there is a healthier alternative that can be made from the products that are already in your fridge! It’s cheap and not too time-consuming. This sweet or savory treat can be served as your breakfast, snack, lunch or dinner. I’m talking crêpes. Don’t be afraid; it’s actually pretty easy to make.

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All sorts of jellies and preserves work great with crepes but you can also eat them plain, just add a bit more sugar. Photo credit: Evgeniya Emolkina

Ingredients:

  • Flour-½ cup (100 grams/3.5 oz)
  • Eggs-2
  • Granulated sugar-1.5 tbsp
  • Oil-1 tbsp
  • Milk-1 ¼ cup (300ml/10 oz)
  • Pinch of salt
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As you can see, the use of organic products didn't raise the cost to the sky. Photo credit: Evgeniya Emolkina

Cooking time: approx. 25 min

Your cost per batch using organic products: approx. $2

Cooking Method:

  1. If the milk is cold, preheat it in the microwave for about 1 min, add sugar, salt and eggs to it.
  2. Whisk the mass until blended and foamy.
  3. Add the flour gradually to the mixture while whisking, so that no lumps remain.

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I find electric mixer the easiest to work with, but a whisk or even a fork can do the job just fine. Photo credit: Evgeniya Emolkina
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You have to gradually add flour while whisking, to eliminate any lumps. But if they do appear, don't worry, just use a strainer. Photo credit: Evgeniya Emolkina

How to Cook Your Crêpe:

  1. Pour the oil into the batter and stir well again (I use sunflower oil, but almost any can work).
  2. Grease your pan just a little. I usually pour about a tablespoon of oil onto it and wipe it off with the paper towel. This way you’ll get a nice thin coating.
  3. With the flame on med-high, heat the pan for a minute or two.
  4. Pour about ¼ cup of the batter on a hot pan and simultaneously rotate it around in a circle so that the batter covers the surface with an even thin layer.
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    When you'll make several crepes, you will understand how much batter should be in the ladle, so that it is enough for the entire surface of the pan. Photo credit: Evgeniya Emolkina
  5. Depending on the heat of your cooking zone, the time to fry one crêpe may vary. Then the top of your crêpe seems matte, ceases to be sticky and the edges begin to slightly darken, that’s when you need to flip.
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    When your crepe is ready to be flipped, the top will lose its shine. Photo credit: Evgeniya Emolkina
  6. Pry the crêpe with a spatula and gently turn it over to the other side. It does help sometimes to pick up the edge of the crêpe with your fingers.
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    If you decide to help yourself with fingers while flipping the crepe, be careful! It will be hot. Photo credit: Evgeniya Emolkina
  7. Cook the crêpe on the second side (usually around 15-25 seconds, depending on thickness). Raise the edge with the scapula to check that it doesn’t burn from the bottom.
  8. Slip it out of the pan onto a plate.
  9. Repeat steps 7-10 until all batter is gone.

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Fill your crepe with berries, bananas, and chocolate to satisfy your sweet craving. Photo credit: Evgeniya Emolkina

Tips:

  • If you have left over batter just cover it and leave it in the fridge. You can finish it the following day, just whisk it for 5 seconds and cook.
  • You don’t need a fancy crêpe griddle, almost any pan can work. Non-stick skillets are the easiest in my opinion.
  • Don’t forget to cover your crêpes when you’re done frying so that they don’t tryout and become stale.
  • Amount of crêpes will vary depends on the size of the pan.

Cost:

  • Eggs-$3.99 per 12. We need 2, so that’s around 70 cents
  • Milk-$4.99 per half a gallon. We need 300ml, that’s around 80 cents
  • Flour-$1.79 per 2 lb. We need 100 grams, that’s around 20 cents
  • Sugar-$2.99 per 4 lb. We need 1.5 tbsp, that’s around 3 cents
  • Sunflower oil-$4.99 per 16.9 oz. We need 2 tbsp that’s about 30 cents

Total: approx. $2. And that will cover your meal way better than any hamburger from any fast food place.

Fillings Can Include:

  • Ham and cheese
  • Turkey and cheese
  • Banana with Nutella
  • Cottage cheese with raisins
  • Meat with rice
  • Condensed milk
  • All sorts of jellies and spreads
  • Etc.

Ham and cheese:

  1. Slice ham or turkey to the preferable size.
  2. Sprinkle your crêpe with shredded cheese (I like mozzarella). Add ham/turkey.
  3. Fold the top of the crêpe over to the middle. Fold in the sides and roll to close.
  4. You can either fry it in the pan or microwave for about a minute until the cheese is melted.

Cottage cheese with raisins:

There’s no way to say how much of each product you will need for the number of crêpes you got, but for every 16 oz of cottage cheese, I use 2 tbsp. of granulated sugar, 2/3 cup of raisins and about 6 tbsp. of sour cream.

  1. Put raisins in a bowl, fill the bowl with hot water and leave for 15 minutes for raisins to swell.
  2. Mix cottage cheese, sugar, vanilla sugar and sour cream. Add drained raisins.
  3. Try the filling and if necessary add sugar to taste.
  4. Fill the crêpes.

Meat with rice:

For every pound of meat, I use ½ cup of uncooked rice, ½ onion and 1 middle-size carrot.

  1. Cook rice in a proportion 1:2 (for example, 1 of cup rice, 2 cups of water).
  2. Finely chopped onion and grated carrot fry in a pan with ground meat until cooked. Add salt and pepper.
  3. Add cooked rice.
  4. Fill the crêpes.

Enjoy!

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