Crepes and Galettes - Le Cordon Bleu, Paris - Thursday 14 January 2010

Course number three, you would think by now that I would have graduated to a normal public transport person, but no .... I did make it to Le Cordon Bleu okay, but on the way home, given that it was about 8:30pm, there weren't as many people on the bus so it didn't stop as often ... when my stop was announced over the speaker ... I didn't recognise it.  So the bus came to the last stop and the driver told me I had to get off!!  Luckily, it wasn't that far away and I figured the walk would do me good!!  I think by tomorrow I should have it all sorted ... but I will by finding my original schedule so I can burn the name of the bus stop into my dopey brain!!

I wasn't sure whether Crepes were something I really wanted to know a lot about.  I watched Crepe Suzette being prepared on a cooking series by contestants ... but I can't remember if it was Hell's Kitchen or Master Chef?? I've never been one to order them at restaurants and really don't know a lot about them.  One of my girlfriends always orders a seafood crepe when we go out if they are available, but I've never ventured in that direction.  Needless to say, I am now a convert, they are delicious!!!



Galette, in crepe terms is used for savoury crepes.

Our chef was Patric Caals, he was the youngest chef so far and a bit of a spunk!! I remember him from the first day I was there because he bought in a delicious passion fruit and raspberry tart for us to try!  Other chefs often pop in and out of the classes to say hello or do something funny!  Leanne was back as a translator - she has a wonderful way of translating everything while adding humour at the same time.

Chef Patric liked a neat workspace and we were told that if we didn't keep it "just so" pieces of our equipment would disappear until we had only our fingers as tools!!  I burned my wooden spoon (which was supposed to resting on the bowl with the butter) ... but luckily he didn't see!

Chef demonstrated the making of the batter, this is done to save time and I think they are assuming that we are able to follow a recipe such as this fairly simply .... or one would hope.

In this course we made sweet, savoury and buckwheat pancakes.


My technique was pretty bad ... or as we were saying I was making "crappy crepes!!"  Getting the batter into the hot pan (which is HEAVY) and covering the whole thing in a thin layer before it sets is something I was as good at as I am at catching buses.  Eventually I got the hang of, but not before making some hillarious looking editions and putting two in the poubelle (bin)!! It didn't help being between two Brazillians who make them regularly and were turning out perfect editions every time!!

The buckwheat were the hardest and the first few where chunky looking things that looked very unappetising!! But I managed to get a couple made that could be used.

Crepes for the Aperitif!! Tomato Compote, Eggplant Caviar and Zucchini with Mint (La Crepe en Amuse-Bouche!! Fondu De Tomates, Caviar D`Aubergine Et Courgette Menthe)



Crepe Batter - White Savoury 
100g flour
1 pinch salt
3 eggs
200ml milk
30g butter (melted to nut brown and strained to remove any grit)
Add the flour, salt and sugar together in a bowl, make a well in the centre, add the eggs and using a hand whisk press on yolks to break them. Gently mix together, bringing in the flour from the sides of the bowl.  As the mixture gets thicker, add the milk and whisk briskly.  If the mixture is too lumpy at this stage, use a strainer.  Last to be added is the melted butter.  Batter can be kept in the fridge until it is needed.

When making crepes, have a piece of cold, unsalted butter on a fork in a bowl, this allows for easing greasing of the pan. 

Heat a pan (with the base the size of the crepe you require), ours was approximately 25cm, and was made of cast iron.  One of the students used a lighter, non-stick pan and here crepes were perfect every time (I know what I'll be using when I get home - bugger the tuckshop arms!!)

Remove pan from heat, so the butter doesn't burn, quickly run butter over base and then add a ladle of batter, swirling around so that the pan is covered.  Putting pan back on heat you are watching for the edges to start colouring and to notice a "smell", if you are worried at any stage, just remove pan from heat.  We used a wooden spook to turn the crepe, you slide it under the middle of the crepe and flip over.  The crepe should be nicely browned, no "blonde" looking crepes!!  The first side that the crepe is cooked on is the "best" side and this is the one that should be face down when you are rolling your crepes.



You keep continuing like this until all your batter is gone or you've had enough!!  The chef and Leanne told us that they both get their partners to make crepes ... hmmmm.

The crepes stack nicely together and don't stick ... this is due to the butter both in and on them.  Of the sweet, savoury and buckwheat, the buckwheat were the most difficult to make ... it doesn't spread as easily.  It also helps keep them moist if they are a little dry.  The crepes will keep in the fridge for 48 hours, but are best eaten within the first 24.  I think they can also be frozen ... but don't quote me on that!!  The rest of my crepes were used to make dinner tonight.


Tomato Compote
6 tomatoes
salt, sugar
1 tbsp olive oil
1 sprig thyme
1 garlic clove


Tomatoes are blanched and peeled, then quartered and pulp removed.  Tomatoes are then placed in a bowl with the thyme sprig, olive oil, smashed garlic clove, salt, sugar and pepper. Toss to coat thoroughly and then spread onto a tray with baking paper and roast at approximately 90°C, half way through, turn them over.  This process takes as long as it takes, depending on how well done you like your tomatoes.

Eggplant Caviar

2 eggplants
1 garlic clove
thyme
olive oil
salt, pepper



Eggplant is cut in 1/2 and sprinkled with salt to remove excess liquid, set aside for an hour or so (you will see liquid start to bead on top of the eggplant).  Rub off excess salt, score eggplant in a criss-cross pattern quite deeply, add thyme and garlic slivers into the slits.  Place eggplant on a tray, top side up and brush liberally with olive oil, bake for 40 minutes at 170°C.  Remove eggplant, brush with olive oil again, turn over and return to oven for approximately 10 minutes.  When done, spoon flesh from the skin and chop finely, include garlic and thyme (removing stalks if any).


Zucchini with mint (sorry, no pictures ... this class had me in a bit of a dither)

1 zucchini
olive oil
salt, pepper
balsamic vinegar
3 sprigs mint


Zucchini is cut lengthways with a mandolin, sprinkled with salt to remove excess liquid and set aside.  After an hour or so, wipe off salt, and cook lightly in a pan with oil, balsamic vinegar and a few torn basil leaves.

For assembly, spread some eggplant caviar on the base of the crepe, then top with zucchini and and tomato (sorry no picture, batteries had died by this stage). This crepe is rolled very tightly, then rolled in cling film, you hold the ends of the clingfilm and roll, which twists the ends and creates a "crepe sausage".  This is then kept in the fridge until it is chilled and set - at least an hour.  It can then be cut into bite sized pieces and secured with a toothpick and served with drinks.

Fillings

Picardy Ham and Mushroom Crepes (Ficelle Picarde)


6 slices of York ham
100 Emmental cheese grated
400g cultivated mushrooms (button)
60g shallot finely chopped
1/2 small bunch flat leaf parsley
40g heavy cream (In France this is a thickened cream with the texture of sour cream in Australia.  I think sour cream would work well too.

70g grated cheese
30g butter
nutmeg


- - - - - - -

10g butter
80g grated cheese
150ml heavy cream
salt, pepper and nutmeg
10g butter

Saute finely chopped olive oil in 10g butter, making sure the butter does not colour.

Remove the stalk from the mushrooms and finely slice, add the mushrooms to the shallot mixture and sweat until all the moisture has been cooked out. Set aside to cool. Add parsley. 

To assemble crepe, place crepe on bench or board, spread cream over the crepe leaving a 1cm border, sprinkle with mushrooms, some grated cheese and a slice of ham.  You can either fold the crepe in half or fold in the left and right sides and roll.  Top the crepe with more cream and some cheese, bake in moderate oven until heated through and the cheese is golden brown. 

The cooked crepes below are from this evening's dinner, heated in very classy tin foil container, the darker one is a buckwheat crepe :)

Buckwheat Crepe with Salmon, Wild Rocket and Langoustine (Gallette Saumon, Riquette Et Langoustine)



Batter
250g buckwheat flour
1 egg
salt
500ml water
2 tbsp oil or lard
50ml beer


Langoustine
12 langoutine (scampi or prawns) green (uncooked)

2 shallots
olive oil
30g butter
2 garlic cloves
3 sprigs thyme
2 plum tomatoes, peeled, seeded and diced
500ml white chicken stock


Sauce
30g flour
30g butter
500ml fish stock

60g heavy cream
salt and pepper


Garnish
100g Wild Rocket 
30g butter
6 slices smoked salmon


Crepes are made as per normal crepes, dry ingredients, egg, then liquids.


For the langoustine, we did not use all ingredients here, we simply peeled our langoustine, then seared them in olive oil on both sides so they were still slightly translucent.  


The sauce is a bechemal sauce, made by melting the butter in a saucepan, adding the flour and cooking until you can see a white foam appearing in the mixture - this means the flour has been cooked out.  Then you add fish stock slowly, mixing as you go, finally the cream, salt and pepper.

To assemble, spread some bechemel sauce on the pancake, then top with some smoked salmon, the langoustine and wild rocket, roll as for the ham and mushroom crepes.  You can top with a little sauce and bake until golden.