Soft Taco Crepes

Sometimes you might be in the mood for a crunchy taco, sometimes you might want a soft taco.  The only problem with the latter is that it’s hard to find Qualitarian soft taco shells — the majority of the store-bought ones have all kinds of chemicals in them to keep them soft and supple.  And even though I love making my own tortillas, they fall more into the “crispy”  category than into the ” soft”  one.

Enter an elegant and practical solution: French crepes.  Because these thin, easily-rolled pancakes are not dependent upon gluten to make them work, you can use whatever flour you’d like when making them…such as corn.  Or rice, or potato, or chickpea, or whatever flavor you’d like to use to accent the filling.  (Corn = Mexican, rice = Asian, chickpea = Indian, etc.  Buckwheat flour is traditionally used to make Russian blinis.  You get the idea.)  Leftover crepes can be used to make a round PB&J, or you could fill them with hummus and slivered raw veggies for a quick lunch.  Or fill the crepes with fruit and drizzle them with maple syrup for breakfast.  Once you’ve made them once or twice, you’ll love the versatility and flexibility of one of the world’s most delicious flatbreads.

Soft Taco Crepes

The crepe recipe makes about a dozen crepes; top them with as much filling as you’d like.  Just remember that if you add too much filling, you won’t be able to roll up the crepe!

Canned black beans, drained, or freshly-made dried beans (Eden beans are canned in BPA-free cans)
Corn kernels, fresh and simmered for 3 minutes or frozen and thawed
Freshly-chopped cilantro
Crepes (see “Mastering Crepes the Easy Way” for recipe)
Fresh-style salsa (Garden Fresh is my favorite)
A sharp dry-ish cheese, such as sheep’s-milk Feta, crumbled or grated
Chopped avocado

Mix equal proportions of beans and corn in a bowl. Add as much cilantro as you like (or leave it out if you’re not a cilantro fan). Lay out crepes and top them with the corn and beans. Spoon salsa over that, then sprinkle on cheese. Finish by topping with chopped avocado.

Roll up your taco (if you haven’t overstuffed it the way I always do) and enjoy!

Note: to make these into fish tacos, just include some cooked mild-tasting fish in the filling.  You could even use canned albacore.

Brie & Pear Quesadilla

What do you get when you cross a French cheese with a corn tortilla?  A crispy, creamy lunch or snack.  How do you make it even better?  Add a freshly-sliced pear!  The only trick to making this quick-but-classy meal is not scorching the tortillas, an easy feat as long as you keep the heat at medium-low.  (Having two pans also comes in handy, although that’s not a requirement.)  And it doesn’t have to be a pear, either, or specifically Brie — you could try this idea with apples and Cheddar, or peaches and Havarti.  The idea is simply to pair a sturdy, sweet fruit — one that won’t fall apart with the heat — and a salty, easily-melted cheese.  The resulting sweet/salty sandwich wins out over a standard grilled cheese any day!

Brie & Pear Quesadilla

Have a small, six-inch crepe pan ready on the stove (if you have two, even better).  Cut Brie into meltable chunks/slices and set aside, then cut pear into long, somewhat-thin strips so that it will soften as quickly as the cheese will melt.

Heat tortillas in a bit of butter or coconut oil over medium-low heat, shaking pans to distribute oil evenly over the surfaces.  This works best if you have one tortilla in each pan, but you could use a single large pan, too.

Once tortillas are warm to the touch, carefully layer on cheese and then pears.  If you have a lot of one or the other — or both — you might want to layer them on both tortillas; if you don’t have as much filling, just stack one.  Cook for another 2 or 3 minutes or until cheese is melted and tortillas are golden brown.

Slide onto a waiting plate and use a spatula to carefully flip one of the tortillas onto the top of the other one.  This dish is best enjoyed eaten piping hot and with your bare hands.

Enjoy!

Mirepoix Marinara

Mirepoix is a French culinary term for three basic vegetables (carrots, celery, and onions) that are chopped or diced and then used as the base to create sauces and soups/stocks. (The Spanish version is sofrito–it includes onion, garlic, and red pepper.)  In this case, I added mushrooms, red pepper, tomato sauce and herbs to create a chunky marinara sauce.  You could make the sauce “saucier” by increasing the amount of tomato sauce or adding chicken broth, or you could serve this chunky marinara as a dip for hearty bread or as a warm salsa alongside chicken or fish.  If you like your sauces to have a bit of a kick, feel free to add a splash of deep red wine (such as Port) instead of balsamic vinegar.  (Note:  Assuming that you don’t add the chicken broth and you use egg-less noodles, this would make a nice dish to serve your vegan friends/family over the holidays.)

Mirepoix Marinara

(recipe makes enough for 4 medium-sized servings)

4 stalks of celery, chopped
1 large or 2 small onions, chopped
1 red pepper, chopped
2 cups mushrooms, sliced
3-4 cloves of garlic, diced
1 cup tomato sauce OR 4 fresh tomatoes, chopped
Handful of fresh basil, finely chopped OR 1 tsp. dried basil
Sprinkling of sea salt
Dash of crushed red pepper
Splash of balsamic vinegar (about 1 T.), depending on your taste

Your choice of pasta (try a whole-wheat/whole-grain variety, preferably with flaxseed–not only is that a healthier choice, it has more flavor), enough to serve 4 people

Get the pasta water boiling while you chop the vegetables, then add the pasta to the boiling water when you begin to cook the sauce.

Sauteé mirepoix ingredients in a tablespoon of olive oil for about 5 minutes over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally.  Add mushrooms and garlic and continue to cook for another 5 minutes.  (By now, you’ll probably be able to drain the cooked pasta.)  Reduce heat to low and add tomato sauce/chopped tomatoes and basil.  Stir in salt, pepper, and vinegar and continue to cook for another 5 minutes to give the flavors a chance to marry.  At this point, you can either add the drained noodles to the sauce and mix it all together, or you can top the pasta with the sauce.

Garnishing options:  shaved Parmesan, whole black olives, and/or a sprig of fresh basil.  (If you’re keeping it vegan, don’t add the cheese!)

Enjoy!

PB& J Crepe

Crêpes are classy, versatile…and easy. You can make savory ones to use as a substitute for toast (spread them with natural nut butter and organic jam to make an adult version of PB&J) or as a stand-in for an English muffin (top them with eggs and breakfast sausage). Fill them with cheese and seafood and then bake them to make the most unique casserole dish your dinner guests will have ever seen. Or you can make them suitable for desserts simply by adding a few tablespoons of sugar. Sauté fruit, fold it into the crêpe, and drizzle honey over the top for a sublime dessert. If you’re really daring, you can attempt Crêpes Suzette in your own kitchen: the crêpes are bathed in orange juice and orange liqueur and then set on fire. Talk about a spectacle!

Crêpes can be used in an endless number of ways. First, though, you’ll need to whip up a quick batch to have on hand. (You can refrigerate them for up to a week.) Two things are critical for crêpe-making: a good six-inch crêpe pan and a heat-resistant, flexible spatula. Once you’ve gotten some experience under your belt, you can make larger crêpes (the larger ones are more difficult to work with) and you might be able to dispense with the spatula in favor of old-fashioned flipping, but at the beginning, make sure you have a small pan and a spatula that won’t melt in the heat. If you have more than one six-inch non-stick pan, try using them all — two seemingly-identical pans might not behave the same way when it comes to crêpes. One of mine is absolutely terrible and never cooks the damned crêpes while the other pan makes a perfect one every time and doesn’t even need any oil. (I’m guessing that the second one transfers heat better and has fewer microscopic nicks in its surface.)

Basic Crêpe Batter (makes about 10 crepes)

1 cup flour (since crepes do not rely upon gluten to hold their shape, you can use any combination of any whole-grain flour that works for you)*
2 T. sucanat (only use if you want sweet crêpes; omit for savory crêpes)
Pinch sea salt
2 eggs
1 1/4 cups milk (can be dairy, rice, coconut, or nut milk–whatever you prefer)
2 T. melted butter OR extra-virgin olive oil (plus more for oiling the pan)

Combine flour(s), sucanat (if using), and salt in a bowl. Make a well in the center and add the eggs. Add the milk and butter and whisk everything together, starting in the center of the well. If you’re using gluten-free flours, you can energetically whisk for as long as you like until you have a perfectly smooth batter. If you’re using wheat-based flours, whisk a bit more gently. (The longer you whisk/beat/stir a wheat-based batter or dough, the more the gluten component of it forms. More gluten formation = a tougher end product. Gluten-free cooks don’t have to worry about that.)

Heat the crêpe pan over medium heat and add a few drops of oil or a pat of butter. Add a scant 1/4 cup of the batter and quickly tilt the pan so that the batter runs all over the bottom of the pan. Let it cook for about a minute or until the edges begin to curl back from the pan and are faintly brown. Use the spatula to lift the edge, then peek underneath to see if it’s golden brown. (Purists might consider this cheating, but I say all’s fair when it comes to making crêpes.) If it is, slide the spatula underneath the crêpe and wiggle it around until the crêpe is free of the pan. Use the spatula to flip the crêpe. Cook for another 30 seconds, then check to see if the pan-side-down side is brown. If it is, promptly slide the crêpe out onto a wire rack and let cool.

As you cook the crêpes, you may have to adjust the level of heat and the amount of butter you put in the pan since you don’t want the ever-hotter pan to burn your crêpes. Also, if your pan is showing some signs of wear, it may require a bit more butter. The most important thing in the process is do not walk away from the cooking crêpes — they burn very quickly. Now is not the time to start cleaning the mixing bowl.

Store crêpes in a tightly-closed container in the refrigerator. They’re wonderful served chilled or reheated, and remember: your imagination is the limit when it comes to topping/filling them.

Enjoy!

* You may wish to base your flour selection on whether you’re going to use your crepes in a sweet or savory setting.  Bean flours, for example, are best for savory uses.  Grain flours can be sweet or savory.  Nut flours can be sweet or savory, but they’re probably not the best choice for making crepes because nut flours probably won’t be fine enough — crepes should be thin, delicate, and flexible (that makes them easier to flip and fill), so you want to use finely milled flours when making them.  Cornmeal, for example wouldn’t be the greatest choice, but whole-grain corn flour would.

Thyme has been used to flavor liqueurs and cheeses for centuries, and it is still one of the main ingredients of the classic French bouquet garni.  It is often used in Creole and Cajun cuisines–the latter employs it to make jerk seasoning.  Chicken dishes often feature both thyme and rosemary.

The fragrant honey used in Spain to make the honey-nougat turrón comes from rosemary blossoms, and the leaves are widely used in Mediterranean, French, and Portguese cooking.  I can’t imagine a better pairing than rosemary and lamb.   Add a little garlic and white wine vinegar and you have an easy, delicious meal!

Like cloves and black pepper, nutmeg originated in the famed Spice Islands.  Portugese merchants brought it back to Europe in the 1500s, and beginning in the 1600s, the Dutch monopolized the trade (along with cloves).  They retained control of it for 150 years, until the French broke their stranglehold by smuggling out nutmeg trees.

Nowadays, nutmeg is an essential ingredient in eggnog, fettucine alfredo, and creamed spinach.  It is also used in baked goods such as apple pies, and a little sprinkling of it is delicious on fresh fruit and French toast.  Both ground nutmeg and whole kernels are available–if you purchase the latter, be sure to purchase a small grater to use with it.

Bay leaves are especially popular in Spanish, Creole and French cooking, and are used to flavor soups, stews, and tomato sauces.  Be sure to use whole leaves and to pull them out before serving your dish.

Ingredients

1 can tuna

1 large tomato

1 avocado

1-2 hardboiled eggs

handful of fresh green beans

fresh basil, cut into thin strips (chiffonade)

thinly-sliced red onion for garnish

Balsamic vinegar

Olive or flaxseed oil

salt & pepper

Put the egg(s) into a pot of water and set it on the stove to boil.  When the water starts to bubble, turn the heat down to a simmer and set your timer for 5 minutes.  Snip off the stems of the green beans.  At the 5-minute mark, add the green beans and cook for another 5 minutes.

While the egg(s) and beans are simmering, mound the tuna in the center of the plate(s).  Chop or slice the tomato and arrange it along one side of the tuna.  Do the same with the avocado.  Slice the onion and basil and scatter them over the top of the tuna.

After the egg has cooked for a total of 10 minutes and the beans for 5, put the pot into your kitchen sink and run cold water into the pot.  This will stop the cooking process.  When the beans and egg are cool enough to handle, drain the beans, cut them into smaller pieces (or leave them whole) and arrange them alongside the tuna.  Chop the egg and sprinkle it over the top of everything.  Dribble on the vinegar, oil, salt and pepper, tasting along the way if necessary.  Bon appétit!