Welcome back to Cooking With the French Chef, in which I review episodes of Julia Child’s original show, cook out of the new edition of the French Chef Cookbook and share the results with you. Past posts can be found here.
We all know crepes are wonderful, whether sweet or savory. There are so many possibilities and so many ways to serve them that it’s almost dizzying. My favorite crepe filling is andouille-leek topped with sour cream and chives, my son likes shrimp curry, and my husband will take pretty much anything as long as there’s no broccoli or asparagus. We all like ham and cheese, though.
Naturally, it’s always fun finding new fillings, and when I saw Julia had a seafood crepe, which she called Crêpes Roulées et Farcies, I was totally there. Same thing with her Crêpes Florentine. Unlike my foray into Coquilles Saint-Jacques, however, I wasn’t naïve enough to attempt both recipes on the same night. It would have been a little too rich, in more ways than one. Instead, we’ll have three ingredient roundups and two glamour shots. What happens in between, though, is anyone’s guess.
Here’s the relevant crepe episode, which originally aired on June 17, 1963, the nineteenth installment in the first season:
Normally with crepes I usually default to my usual batter recipe from the wonderful Eric Ripert, which I’d share here but it isn’t online anywhere (This AllRecipes batter is very similar). In the interest of culinary and journalistic integrity, though, this time I went with with Julia’s recipe, just to see what her method is like.
All right, let’s do this! Buckle up, kids, because this post will have a LOT of images.
Here are the ingredients for the crepe batter:
And here’s the crepe batter. Julia mixed hers in a blender but I like using a whisk. Right after this photo was taken it went into the fridge for two hours to rest and let the flour particles swell, the idea being that the batter would produce a lighter crepe.
Danged right these crepes were light. So light, in fact, that I thought they were going to flip themselves. Oh, they were tasty, even without filling. Lacy, buttery, and melt-in-the-mouth.
The one thing Eric Ripert has on Julia is that Julia’s batter does separate a little bit towards the bottom of the bowl, probably because it has water in it and Ripert’s recipe doesn’t. It was no biggy, though. I just gave it a few more whips and tried my best to work against time.
Time to make the filling.
Just a few ingredients, well, practically none compared to Julia’s paella, but a nice showing, anyway. Prep time was blindingly quick. Grate the Swiss cheese, mince the shallot, then cook the shallot and seafood in a little bit of butter and vermouth. And yes, it smelled insanely good:
After making an equally fragrant white wine sauce and mixing half of it with the seafood, it was time to roll up these crepes. Here’s where the recipe started messing with my head, because Julia wanted these things rolled up and baked like enchiladas.
I shouldn’t have doubted, though, because they came out scrumptious. Here’s Glamour Shot Number One…
In hindsight, I should have taken a bite so that you all could see what the filling looked like inside, but once I started eating these things it was all downhill because, again, they were incredible. I think I’ll top them with minced parsley next time for a touch of green.
We’re not done yet, though. Julia’s French Crepe episode also had a recipe for Gâteau de Crêpes á la Florentine. Another day, more crepes. A lot more crepes. And more ingredients…
First thing was to cook the spinach, and I had a feeling I was going to need the whole bag, so in the whole bag went. Who else thinks it’s fun to watch greens cook down? It’s strangely soothing.
Next came the mushrooms, which cooked with some scallions in butter, and oh muh word they smelled divine.
Naturally, anything Florentine involves a white sauce, and Julia’s was pretty normal. Well, mostly. It was a bechamel cheese sauce. It’s kinda hard to show “Before” and “After” when something looks basically the same most of the time.
Next it was time to mix the sauce with the veg. I though everything would go together like a creamed spinach, but Julia wanted the spinach and mushrooms kept separate, so separate it was.
Time to assemble. Crepe, spinach, crepe, mushrooms, and repeat. The recipe called for twenty-four crepes, but I was running out of filling, so I figured I’d stop when I stopped.
As it was, with the remaining sauce the gateau looked like a layer cake that got frosted too soon, but it’s Julia’s world and we just live in it. Into the fridge it went for forty minutes, then into the oven until hot and bubbly.
We all know that the thing about Julia’s recipes is that each element is very purposeful, and we have time to notice because they’re often prepared separately. They don’t make as much sense on their own, although they might already taste good, but once they’re together it’s like an orchestra in full swing.
Julia’s gateau was no different–it was absolutely fabulous in most respects. It just needed a little spice, so we added some Tabasco which set things off. So, so good.
I’m so tired of crepes, though. I probably won’t eat them again until June. Maybe April. Ugh…
Another Club 15 post is on the way tomorrow, plus the On the Spot Blogathon is coming the day after that. Thanks for reading, all, and I hope to see you then…
The French Chef Cookbook, The French Chef, Volume One (DVD) and The French Chef, Volume 2 (DVD) are available to own from Amazon.
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This looks delicious. What has been your favourite of Julia’s dishes to make so far?
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Thanks, Maddy! I’m not sure yet–it’s a toss-up between Coquilles Saint-Jacques and Chocolate Mousse. I’ll do a recap post next month, so we’ll see what comes out on top. 🙂
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Classic moments from an iconic show…love your series!
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Thanks so much, John–glad you’re enjoying it!
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