Crepes! Forget The Sandwich
Making a batch of crepes is pretty easy after the first or second one and once you get the hang of it, you just have to go through the tedious motions until you’ve used all your batter. Crepes are a great alternative to many things….bread slices, pancakes, desserts. They can be made savory or sweet or something in between. They can be eggy or not. You can make a batch and save them for later and change up your fillings depending on what you’d like to serve. They can be served in a variety of sauces across a few different genres of cooking. The French are best known for them, but the Italians also make crepes.
This particular recipe is for ham and swiss crepes in a white cream sauce. You can play with the sauce and the fillings and make it your own, which is one of the most wonderful things about crepes. Serve it with a little side salad and it’s perfect.
Ham and Jarlsberg Crepes In Cream Sauce
Ingredients
For the crepes:
- 3 eggs room temperature
- 1 1/4 cups milk room temperature
- 1 cup sifted all purpose flour **See Note
- 1/4 cup butter barely melted
- 3 tablespoons sugar optional **See Note
- A pinch kosher salt
- 1 bunch spring onions sliced thin
For the creme sauce:
- 1 cup sweet white wine **See Note
- 2 cups heavy cream
- 1 half stick butter
- 1 shallot minced
- Kosher salt and pepper to taste
For the filling:
- Shaved ham off the bone about a pound or less
- Sliced or grated Jarlesberg cheese about a half pound or less
Instructions
- Start by making the crepes. In a stand mixer, whisk all the ingredients together except the spring onions and pour the batter into a pyrex measuring cup with a pour spout. It’s easier than trying to spoon batter out of your mixing bowl. Heat a nonstick skillet on medium low. For my stove top that’s level 3. You’ll have to find your proper heat level in your first one or two crepes. Have an empty plate reserved on the side for the finished crepes.
I often have butter clumping problems if the batter is cold. I don’t worry about it. I have a small whisk that I use to give the batter a quick whisk before pouring my next crepe.
To get started I use a dime sized piece of butter to judge the heat on my skillet. When it sizzles, I pour my first crepe. Pick up the skillet and turn it slowly in a round like manner to spread the batter evenly. You want to use the batter in scant amounts, much less than you would use for say pancakes. When the edges get golden brownish, flip the crepe over. I use a pancake spatula for this because I don’t have the flippy tossy skill you see on TV.
The whole process for each crepe should only take a couple of minutes. Fold the crepe in half like you would an omelette and slide it onto your reserved plate. Fold it over again to make a triangle. The crepes can be stacked in this way until you’re done. Repeat this process.
You won’t need to add any dollops of butter to the pan from here on out because there’s plenty of butter in the batter. How many crepes you get depends on the size you make. I get about a dozen that are about 8 inches in diameter. Ish. From here the crepes can be covered in saran wrap and put away in the fridge for later if you like. - In a saute pan, cook the minced shallot in a half stick of butter on medium high heat. When the butter starts to look oily, add the wine. When the wine has cooked down a bit, whisk in the cream and season it with salt pepper. Turn the heat down to low when you like the taste. This whole process should take about 15 minutes, giving it a whisk every few minutes to keep the cream from browning.
- Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350. Unfold the crepes. Fill the crepes with the cheese and the ham. Don’t overfill them or they’ll be unbalanced. It’s not a burrito supreme or a sub sandwich. I used cheese slices that were square so I folded each slice in half to make rectangles and placed two rectangles end to end in the center of the crepe and topped that with four shaved slices of ham.
Roll up the crepe and place it on a parchment lined cookie sheet. The crepe should look like it could easily fit inside a paper towel roll. Bake the crepes until the cheese has melted, put them on a plate, ladle the sauce over them, and garnish with the green onions. Voila!
Notes
**Note** If you don’t sift the flour, it can clump up. I used half the sugar for these crepes. You can use a dry white wine instead of sweet, but I like the flavors the sweet white imparts on the sauce and it works very well with the swiss cheese.