Crepes

Time for a new edition of the BREAKFAST CLUB.  Today I will be sharing the recipe of my favorite breakfast food: crepes.  I absolutely love thin crepes and can eat them for breakfast every single day.  I like to staff them with jam, tvorog (Russian ricotta cheese), Nutella, honey, fruits, or sugar with lemon juice (not all at the same time).

A lot of people find crepes difficult to make.  Although it is not a fast breakfast food, thin crepes require no magic and use simple ingredients.  Three basic ingredients you will need are: eggs, milk, and flour.  The easy way to remember the recipe is that the ratio for these ingredients is roughly 1:1:1.
Here is my version of a basic crepe dough and my mom's tips for a successful crepe-making.

What you need:

2 eggs
1 1/2 cups of milk (room temperature) + 1/2 cup water (for a total of 2 cups of liquid)
about 2 cups of flour
3-4 tbsp sugar
pinch of salt
2 tbsp butter (could be replaced by oil)
Vanilla extract (optional)
oil for frying

What to do:

• If using butter, melt it on a lower heat.  Be careful not to burn it.
• In a medium bowl beat eggs for 2-3 minutes.  Add sugar, salt, milk and water.  Mix thoroughly.
• Slowly add flour (about 1/4 cup at a time).  Make sure that your batter is clumps-free.  You might need less than 2 cups of flour!  Add just enough flour to get batter to the consistency of a liquid yogurt.
• Add butter or oil and mix well.  You can now let your mix rest for anywhere between 5-10 minutes to overnight.
• When ready, heat up your frying pan.  Once the pan is hot, grease it with a little bit of oil (use a piece of paper towel dipped in oil and wrapped around a fork).  Avoid pouring oil onto the pan - too much grease will interfere with proper crepe baking.
• For a 12' frying pan pour about 3/4 ladder of batter in the center and quickly spread it around, tilting the pan in a circular motion.  Another way of doing it is by pour batter on one side of a pan and letting it spread over by tilting the pan.
• Cook crepe for 1-1 1/2 minutes.  Ideally you want to let it cook for the first 30 seconds on high heat and then lower the heat to medium, this way the crepe will cook uniformly without burning.
• A thoroughly cooked crepe is easy to turn.  Try prying the edges of the crepe with a spatula.  Once they are loosen, use the spatula (and even your fingers, if necessary) to flip the crepe.
• Cook on the second side for 15-30 seconds.
• Re-grease the pan and continue.  You might also want to taste your crepe and adjust batter for sugar if necessary.

Notes:

• It is OK to use oil instead of butter.  In fact, my mom (who makes the best crepes ever) never uses butter in her recipe
• For a richer batter substitute 1/2 cup of milk with yogurt, sour cream, or buttermilk.  Adjust the flour quantity accordingly
• Crepe batter could be made beforehand and refrigerated over night.  In the morning, mix it thoroughly.
• A Russian saying goes: First crepe resembles a lump (first crepe rarely turns out good). 
  There is a lot of truth to this saying: the frying pan needs to be hot enough and greased enough for crepes to come out nice.  Also, it takes several attempts to adjust the amount of batter needed for one crepe.  Do not get discouraged if your first couple of crepes do not look good.

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