The making of a crepe in Paris

Back in August I flew Air France to India which meant flying through Charles de Gaulle airport. It also meant a lengthy layover in a less than optimal airport terminal. On my way back home I had five hours to kill and there is very little in the way of food or entertainment in CDG. Fortunately I had a business trip to Paris last April and learned my way around the city in the few short days I was there. My luggage was checked through to Boston so when I landed in Paris, I got another stamp on my passport and bought myself a rail ticket for the RER into the city for some breakfast.

Thirty minutes later I hopped off the train at the Châtelet Les Halles stop, walked a few blocks to the river Seine, and crossed the bridge over to the Notre Dame de Paris. Having been here in the spring, I knew there were plenty of crepe stands in the shadow of the cathedral, and I was on the hunt for an egg and cheese crepe. At the end of Rue du Cloître Notre Dame, behind the cathedral, I found Brasserie Esmeralda. It had just opened for the day and I was the first customer. This meant I was able to see how the crepe griddle is prepared at the beginning of each day, and no crowds.

The first step in preparing the griddle for a day of crepe making is adding a small nob of butter to the griddle, allowing it to melt, and finally wiping it off with a clean paper towel. It's crepe making time!

Next, a ladle of batter is poured in the center of the griddle and spread around using a wooden batter spreader. If you watched Gordon Ramsay's Hell's Kitchen this past season, you may remember the crepe episode, this spreading of batter is no easy task for the inexperienced!

Once the batter has set, it is flipped ever so carefully with a long spatula, like the ones that are used for icing cakes. For my egg and cheese crepe one whole egg is cracked onto the crepe and gently scrambled.

Next, lots of shredded cheese is added (I forgot to ask what kind of cheese is used.)

Finally the crepe is folded in eighths, wrapped in paper, and handed over to me, to eat! This delicious egg and cheese crepe needed some more salt and pepper but otherwise was very good. Nice, light, perfectly cooked crepe, tasty egg, and delicious cheese. I can't wait to go back to Paris for more crepes! I can't think of a better way to spend a layover; not only was I not sitting around the airport, I was eating crepes in Paris!

Be the Pig!

On my drive to work this morning I heard something in a commercial that I want share with you. I guess the commercial failed since I don't remember what product it was for but I like what NFL coach Brian Billick had to say about commitment...

"In a bacon and egg breakfast, the chicken is involved, but the pig is committed! Be that pig!"

And in other news, Chinese are confused by Fortune Cookies!

Make Ahead French Toast Soufflé

Do you ever get sick of plain old French toast? Me neither, but this French toast soufflé will make all other French toasts green with envy. This is a super simple, make ahead French toast soufflé that is prepared the night before, giving you plenty of time to hang out with friends or family at a brunch or on a lazy Sunday morning.

My mother-in-law made this famous in our family, and now I make it when I'm entertaining friends for brunch. Like I said, it's super simple, and it's super delicious. The original recipe that I was given calls for a large loaf of Italian bread, but I've substituted a large loaf of challah. I use Cheryl Ann's but any good challah will do. Here's the recipe, enjoy!

Make Ahead French Toast Soufflé
1 large loaf of challah - sliced 1-inch thick
Butter or butter substitute - spread over both sides of the dry sliced bread
8 large eggs
2 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons Madagascar vanilla
3 cups low fat milk (Lactaid, plain soy milk or hemp milk okay)
1/8 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

Crack the eggs into a bowl and beat together with sugar, vanilla, milk and nutmeg. Spray a 9x12 baking dish with non-stick spray and arrange the buttered challah in the dish. Pour the egg mixture over the bread, cover, and refrigerate over night.

Next day, preheat the oven to 325 degrees.Take the baking dish out of the fridge and uncover. Carefully flip the pieces of bread trying not to break them. You want both sides of the bread to soak up the eggy goodness. Bake for 45 minutes or until browned and puffy. Serve with your favorite toppings like powdered confectioners sugar and maple syrup. Fresh berries compliment the sweet French toast very well. I like mine with fresh raspberries and blackberries.

Happy Eating!
Author's note: I'm raising money for the The Jimmy Fund and the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute to support my ride in the Pan-Massachusetts Challenge bike ride. Will you make a donation to support the advancement of cancer research and administration of life-saving cancer treatments?

Arugula and Goat Cheese Frittata

Eggs. They're almost as versatile as the chicken itself. I like mine over easy, scrambled, or poached. I like omelets and eggs Benedict. And when I'm having brunch at my house, I like frittatas! They are so simple and are always a hit with the crowds.

Just before the new year my wife had some girlfriends over for brunch - I was asked to make a frittata so I decided on arugula and goat cheese it was delicious. If you want to try this at home, it's super easy. Start with a good bunch of arugula, trimmed of the stems and washed very well. Where I buy my arugula, it seems like it's just been plucked from the ground, roots still intact, leaves and stems still full of earth. Once you've stemmed and washed the arugula, add a little olive oil and about a tablespoon of butter to a non-stick pan over medium-high heat and preheat the broiler.

Add the arugula to the pan with a pinch of kosher salt and a few turns on the pepper mill. While the arugula is wilting down, beat a dozen eggs in a mixing bowl until frothy - you can cheat and mix them in a blender, just don't blend them too much! When the arugula has wilted down, add a clove of garlic, minced, stir, and pour in the eggs. Turn the heat down to medium now, you don't want to burn the eggs before you get them in the oven. Let the eggs cook on the stovetop for a few minutes until the bottom sets and the top is still uncooked. At this point, cut the end of a 4-6oz. log of soft goat cheese and pinch little bits of the goat cheese all around the top of the eggs. When finished, place the pan under the broiler - make sure your pan is oven-proof and doesn't have a rubber handle!


Keep a close eye on the pan while it's under the broiler, you want the top to brown up and the eggs to set, but you don't want anything to burn. It may take about 5 minutes.

Once the top is brown and the eggs are set, take the pan out of the broiler and carefully slide the frittata onto a plate.

I use a serrated knife to cut the frittata into wedges.


Enjoy!

Omega-3 Eggs...

You may have noticed in the last year or so that you have more choices on the egg shelves. I'm not talking about more egg substitutes, although they probably exist as well. I'm talking about the influx of eggs sold as omega-3 eggs. That is, eggs enriched with higher levels of the omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid. The farms that breed chickens for these eggs replace 10-20% of the chicken feed with ground flax seed, a natural source of omega-3. By replacing 10% of the feed with ground flax seed, the amount of omega-3 contained in one egg can be as much as 10x the amount contained in a classic egg.

Sources:
Carmichael Training Systems - Essentials for Nutrition January 2007
Canadian Egg Marketing Agency