HOW TO MAKE CRÊPES
Crêpes are the thin quickly cooked pancakes that should be, at least by purist rule, not browned but white. Of course, many of us like browned pancakes because they are more flavorful, so the choice on how colored you want your crêpes to be is up to you. Crêpes are made of a very basic sort of batter (mix of flour and water) that is enriched with eggs and milk. Depending on what kind of dish you make, the batter can also be flavored with some spices or roasted nuts. For soufflé crêpes you need to mix the egg yolks in the batter first, and then separately whisk the egg whites to soft peaks and then fold them into the batter before you are going to cook the crêpes. Otherwise, you follow the same recipe and proporion of ingredients.
Fillings for crêpes can be either sweet or savory. If you are making a dessert, of course you can fill the crêpes with fruits, cream, chocolate, nuts, and whatever you wish. A popular dessert is Crêpes Suzette, where the pancakes are served with a buttery orange sauce. If you want to serve crêpes for a main course or an appetizer, you can fill them with thinly sliced flavorful meat, chicken mousse, herbs, and any other combination of ingredients that suits your menu. There are endless possibilities to make crêpes a fine dining experience, and it is so easy to make them you just have to do them from time to time. Just make sure to serve them with enough flavorful liquid, e.g. sauce or some melted filling, just to make the pancakes feel smooth, against the crispy surface they have. At least, that's how I like them!
A basic crêpes batter, which you can spice up to your needs if necessary, is this:
For about 15 crêpes:
120 g/4 oz all-purpose flour
1 tsp salt
2 eggs
1 tbsp melted butter
300 mL/10 fl oz milk
peanut oil or other neutral oil for the pan
The simplest way to make the batter is to use a blender, but you can also use a mechanical whisker. Hand whisking is less recommended since you want to work fast with the batter so you don't incorporate too much air into it - after all, a pancake should be flat and thin. So, mix flour and salt first, then add the eggs, butter, and half of the milk. Mix to a smooth batter, then add rest of the milk and mix again. Now, the purists (once again!) say the batter should be left to rest in a refrigerator for 30 minutes, but this is not necessary since we have fine flours nowadays. Cook the crêpes in a non-stick pan that you have preheated on a hot stove, coated in oil, and wiped out the oil with a kitchen paper. Place the pan on a hot stove and pour a little crêpes batter into it and quickly distribute it over the pan surface (it may take some practice to find a good technique for that but you'll learn, I'm sure). The pancake should be thin and just coat the surface. Cook the crêpe until it's set then turn it around and cook for another moment. Cook for as long as you wish, depending on how browned you want the crêpe to be. If the crêpes stick to your pan then you need to grease it with oil from time to time. As you cook the crêpes, keep them warm and serve within moments of cooking or they will dry out (you can also wrap them in a bag and reheat them later).
A good pan for cooking crêpes, since they need good temperature, is a pan that conducts the heat and keeps the heat in a fine way. Cast-iron pans are good for this. They don't really have to be non-stick, as you can use oil coats to make it suitable for your cooking. Non-stick coat makes life easier though.