Mardi Gras Banana Crepes
I love working in Louisiana. People really know how to enjoy themselves and appreciate their friends and family, and of course, there's nothing they like more than a reason to celebrate.
With Mardi Gras being celebrated this Tuesday I wanted to work on a dish that Chef Kyle at The Thermador Showroom introduced me to - Mardi Gras Bana Crepes. It's the perfect dish for brunch, dessert, or any time you want to show off a little even if you don't think you know how to cook.
The secret to making crepes is to have a non-stick pan that is flat and has as little of a side on it as possible so it's easy to flip the crepes. Another trick I learned last week from the Thermador chefs is if you wear latex disposable gloves it protects your hands from the heat so you can flip them with your hands or with a skillet.
This is one of our Lifestylist® To The Core recipes - once you master making the crepes which are so easy even the kids can help, you can change out the fillings and or toppings to make savory dishes, desserts, or anything that you are in the mood for.
TO THE CORE CREPES
I love mixing together my batter in my blender -it makes them smooth, keeps cleanup to a minimum and you can then pour the batter directly out of the blender jar into your pan.
INGREDIENTS:
3 Tablespoons butter, melted
2 eggs, room temperature
1/2 cup water
3/4 cup milk
1 cup flour
3 tablespoons butter, melted for pan
DIRECTIONS:
Put milk, water, and eggs into the blender and blend just until combined. Then add flour, pulse, then butter until thoroughly blended.
Melt another 3 tablespoons of butter and put aside.
Heat up a crepe pan or a shallow non-stick flat skillet over medium heat.
Using the melted butter, coat the pan lightly then pour in just enough batter to form your crepe. Swirl in the pan to make sure your crepe will be an even thickness, and when the crepe loses it's shiny appearance on top gently flip the crepe over in the pan. The crepe should have a nice lacy brown appearance on the surface - if not you may need to flip it again. Take crepes out of the skillet and layer them on a plate until you are ready to use. These can also be made ahead of time and refrigerated overnight. The recipe makes 6 8" in diameter crepes.
BROWN SUGAR BANANAS
INGREDIENTS:
2 bananas peeled and sliced
1 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup butter
Optional: 3 tables of dark rum
Directions:
In a wide saucepan over medium heat, combine brown sugar and butter, and stir until bubbling and the sauce has a glossy look. You want to be sure that you don't undercook (it will be grainy if sugar hasn't melted completely) or overcook (the mixture can become hard and chewy).
At this point, depending on how you like your bananas you can add them to the mixture and stir until they are cooked and soft, or you can take the mixture off of the heat, add the bananas and just coat them with the sauce.
For a more adult version, you can add the rum - take the mixture off of the heat and carefully add the rum. RUM HAS ALCOHOL which will ignite - be sure to keep away from an open flame.
LIFE STYLING
These work really well if you "quarter" the crepes - fold them in half, then fold them in half again. One is plenty for each serving, and I like to put the crepes on an individual plate and then drizzle the bananas and sauce on top.
These look really complicated, but they are actually very easy to make and the entire dish can be prepped and cooked in under 30 minutes.