Sweet Ham and Gouda Crepes

Crepes are my kryptonite. I make homemade crepes once every 4 or 5 months, always on a weekend. And I eat those crepes for breakfast, lunch and dinner. For breakfast, I’ll top a stack of crepes with fresh strawberries or bananas and a hefty pour of maple syrup. For lunch and dinner, I’ll use crepes as a blanket in which to wrap savory things. For dessert, I’ll have crepes with maple syrup again, or Nutella if it’s on hand. 

 

I conveniently block out the fact that I’ve consumed a half a stick of butter in one weekend. Here’s my recipe for crepes with ham and gouda. I love the contrast of the sweet crepes and salty meat and cheese. Make sure to eat this with a salad to...you know...get some vegetables into your all butter diet.

RECIPE

Makes about 6 crepes

1/2 stick unsalted butter (scary, I know)
2 small eggs
1 cup milk
3/4 cup all purpose flour
1/4 cup sugar
Pinch of table salt
12 very thin slices of ham
3/4 cup grated gouda cheese

1. In a saucepan, melt the butter over very low heat then let it cool while you start the rest of the batter.  In a mixing bowl, whisk together the eggs and milk.  Add in the flour slowly while whisking until you have a smooth batter.  Add in the cooled, melted butter slowly while whisking.  Whisk in the sugar and salt and set the batter aside for 25 to 30 minutes. At this point, you can store the batter in the fridge for up to 24 hours if you want to make the crepes later or the next day.

2. Place an 8” sauté pan over medium heat and wait until it gets hot; the batter should make a hissing sound as it hits the pan.  Pour a small amount of batter into the pan while simultaneously tilting and gyrating the pan slowly (above the heat of the stove range) so that the full surface of the pan is thinly coated with batter, which will start to set immediately.  Keep rolling the pan around until any loose batter has set and then place the pan down over the heat and wait for the edges of the crepe start to brown slightly.  If it’s browning too quickly, turn down the heat; if it’s taking a long time to brown, turn up the heat a little bit.

3. Loosen the rim of the crepe with a spatula, then slide the spatula under the crepe and flip to the other side.  Immediately sprinkle 2 tablespoons of the gouda evenly over the crepe and  top with 2 pieces of ham, placed next to each other, overlapping if necessary. Once the cheese looks melty under the ham, fold the crepe over like a taco, press down gently on it with a spatula and transfer to a plate. Continue until all crepes are made. You can keep assembled crepes in a 250 degree oven to keep them warm for guests. Or to save them for later, wrap them in foil and store in the refrigerator; re-heat them in a pan over low heat.