Crepe Suzette

Another of my favorite Breakfast/Dessert/Snack dish. I modified a version from the Savoy's cookbook, which has great tasting and wonderful looking recipes. The Savoy Restaurant was opened by French Chef Escoffier at the Savoy Hotel in 1890 (founded by the founder of Ritz Hotels). It's an excellent book that reinvents many grand classics such as the Pêche Melba and Veal Holstein.

Crêpes Suzettes

1cup plain flour
Pinch of salt
2 eggs
8 tbsp sugar
1 ¼ cups milk
3 tbsp unsalted butter (or half salted)

Sauce

1 ¼ cups orange juice
Zest of 2 oranges
1/2 tsp Vanilla Extract
¼ cup Grand Marnier
Lemon Juice
Vanilla Ice Cream, to serve


To make the crepes:

• sift the flour and salt into a large bowl, then add the eggs, half the sugar, and about a quarter of the milk.
  
• Mix to a thick batter, then gradually whisk in the rest of the milk. Melt the butter in a pan until it begins to froth and mix half into the batter.
• Heat a non-stick frying pan. Brush the inside with a little of the remaining butter, and ladle in enough batter to cover the base of the pan in a thin layer, tilting the pan gently to spread it evenly. I usually take the pan off the heat when I do this, to ensure that the whole surface is covered by a runny batter.
  
• Cook for 30 seconds, turn the crepe over, and cook for another 30 seconds. The crepe should be evenly browned on both sides. Take it out of the pan, and continue to make more crepes in the same way, greasing the pan with a paper towel dipped in melted butter.
  

To make the sauce:

• Heat the remaining sugar in a wide pan, stirring constantly until amber colored.
  
• Add the orange juice and vanilla extract. Simmer the sauce until thickened to your taste.

*I like to add pieces of mandarin in my sauce, to make less sweet and more fruity. Another variant is to make the crêpes and fill them with jam (cherry jam works very well) instead of adding the sauce. It makes an easy snack.

To serve:

• Heat 4 plates in your oven. Take a crepe, lay it in the sauce, then turn it and fold it in half, then into half again.
  
• Arrange all the crepe like this in the pan, squeeze on a little lemon juice, and add the Grand Marnier.
  
• Leave to infuse for 1 minute, then serve 2 crepes on each plate. At the last moment, top with the vanilla ice cream, which will melt deliciously over the hot crepes.

*You can also flambé the Grand Marnier with a torch while on the plates. You can also skip the Grand Marnier and just serve the Crêpes alcohol free :)

Buttermilk Biscuits

Here's one of my favorite low-sugar cookies. It's some kind of mix between a scone and bread - it's chewy and melts in your mouth. I will post a picture as soon as I can get my hands on some buttermilk (I usually end up drinking it all hehe).

Ingredients:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons maple sugar (you can replace by brown sugar if you don't mind losing the maple flavour)
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• 6 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
• ¾ cup buttermilk

Preparation:

• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper/aluminum foil and set aside.
• In a large bowl, stir together the flour, maple sugar, baking powder, salt and baking soda until well combined.
• Work in the butter with a fork (or 2 knifes) and then add the buttermilk. Stir just until the dough comes together.
• Pat the dough out into a 6-inch circle and cut it into 6 pie-shaped wedges (It can easily be cut with a pair of clean scissors).
• Transfer them to the baking sheet and bake for about 12 min, or until light golden (Don't overbake or it will not be chewy).

* If adding ingredients like berries or chocolate chips, add them at the very end before cutting the dough in wedges, otherwise they will loose their juices (especially frozen berries) or melt into the dough.

Here are pictures of some biscuits I made in a mini oven. The top is a bit too dark to my taste, but it is crunchy, while the inside is soft. Notice how much the biscuits expand; make sure you space them on the baking sheet!