Thanks to David Liebovitz (fabulous author and blogger on all things food and France) I found out just in time that today is World Nutella Day. Who knew? I guess nothing should really surprise me after the discovery of National Hot Tea Month. Frankly, Nutella always weirded me out a little bit growing up. I always just got the vibe that it was what hippie moms fed to their kids instead of peanut butter because they were afraid of the nitrate levels or something (no offense…) I wish someone would have converted me sooner because this stuff is amazing.
If you’ve never had Nutella, it’s a chocolate hazelnut spread that tastes basically like a straight shot of the filling from those Ferrer Rocher gold-wrapped truffles. Times ten. The jar advertises that you can spread it on everything from whole wheat bread, to bagels, waffles and English muffins. But if you’ve ever been to France or had the good fortune to discover a crêperie in your neighborhood, you know that Nutella’s true culinary soul mate is the crêpe. Corner crêpe stands in Paris are kind of like hot dog carts in the U.S.; ubiquitous and somewhere you can always get a decent snack for under $3. Also like the hot dog cart, each crêperie window will also have a menu of standards. Rather than half-smokes, brats and chips these always include the crêpe with butter and sugar (beurre et sucre), the ham and butter (jambon beurre), and of course…the crêpe Nutella.
Like ice cream cones and cream puffs, homemade crêpes can never be as good as the real thing (unless you are French, and then I am convinced that you are born with innate crêpemaking abilities) but because crêpes and Nutella are forever linked in my mind, in honor of World Nutella Day I just had to give it a shot. You can buy an actual crêpe pan (which of course I do not own) but the recipe I used from my old standby, the Better Homes & Gardens Cookbook,actually makes mini crêpes and calls for a 6” skillet. You could certainly use a larger skillet if that’s all you have and simply add more batter. Also, if you’re like me and crêpeing alone, don’t worry; although the recipe makes at least 12 crêpes you can just freeze the leftovers to eat later. Overall I was pretty thrilled with these. But, then again, I can’t think of much that wouldn’t taste amazing slathered in chocolate hazelnut sauce.
Crêpes
2 eggs, beaten
1 ½ cups milk
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 Tbsp cooking oil
¼ tsp salt
Combine all ingredients in a bowl and beat until combined (recommend a hand mixer). Heat a lightly greased 6” skillet; remove from heat. Spoon in 2 tablespoons batter; lift and tilt skillet to spread batter. Return to heat; brown on 1 side only (approximately 1 minute on med-high heat). Invert onto paper towels; remove crêpe. Repeat with remaining batter, greasing skillet occasionally.
As you may know today, July 14th, is the French national holiday. Typically referred to by Anglophones as "Bastille Day," in France the celebration is usually known as Fête Nationale or le quatorze juillet ("14 July"). Bastille Day commemorates the storming of the Bastille prison by the French people in 1789. Although the Bastille held only seven prisoners at the time of the rebellion, the symbolic fall of the power of Louis XVI was followed by the end of feudalism, the Declaration of the Rights of Man, the rolling of a few heads and, well, you know the rest. Bastille Day is one of my favorite holidays to celebrate for several reasons: I love France; I'm a firm believer that we could seriously use some more excuses to party between the 4th of July and Labor Day; and you can never have enough crêpes or champagne. This year I celebrated with just those two tasty treats. While I would have loved to entertain my friends with some homemade crêpes, I know by now that this is one speciality best left to the professionals. While I had intended to grace this blog with a picture of my gorgeous crêpe aux bananes et chocolat paired with a crisp glass of champagne à la vanille unfortunately, before I even realized, this was all that was left. It was that good. Bonne fête à tous!
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