THE CHEFCHARETTE

Julia Child’s Crepes stacked with layers of Smitten Kitchen’s Mushroom sauce

Two cooks & ladies I love: Julia Child & SmittenKitchen. They inspired me to go a little crazy on making crepes. I’ve been making crepes every day because I am so… determined to master it. It bothers me that I cannot make a crepe in a perfect circle that is golden brown at the right places. I leave studio early because I want to get a head start on my next batch of crepe’s. It’s a huge blessing that I have not failed studio (yet)

I made about 15 thick, bitter ones at the Hoffmann’s with their 5 year old expired flour (lesson #1 NEVER use old flour), another 15 for father’s day,  another 15 to make more banana’s foster crepe’s for Henry & our friends, another 15 for other friends & coworkers… & am in the process of making 20 more. & honestly, out of the 60 that I had made, I was only able to keep & serve about 1/3…. or 20 crepe’s.

A crepe is a basic, thin French pancake that calls for few ingredients that we all (should) have: flour, eggs, milk, & butter (music to my ears) but it really takes a lot of practice & patience to properly make them. The first batches are almost always disastrous: oval shaped, punched with holes, lumps, uneven texture, too thick, burnt, too soggy/crispy…

But I love making crepes because it’s so exciting to hope that the next crepe will come out better, & (lesson #2) a great way to turn simple ingredients/ugly leftovers into a  beautiful presentation. So far, I’ve filled my crepe’s with proscuitto & figs, mushrooms/spinach/onions sauteed in garlic butter, pesto chicken & sundried tomatoes,  peaches with brown sugar & cinnamon, banana’s foster & ice cream.

& after so many attempts & learning from Julia Child, I have learned 4 tips to make decent crepes:

1. You must sift your flour before you mix it into your eggs/milk/water. This way, you won’t get these bubbly lumps of flour stuck in your batter
2. You must wait at least 2 hours (overnight is good) for the flour to expand, & batter to pour onto the pan with the right consistency
3.  When cooking, the pan should be fairly hot & you have to turn your pan very quickly for the crepe to form a circle. Your crepe should only take 1-2 minutes to cook on each side. If it takes longer, your pan is too cold.
4. Lay crepes out on a cooling rack immediately after they are done cooking. Do not leave them out for too long or they’ll dry out.

I know, I know, we like to skip steps. But if you want to present your friends/family with appealing crepe’s or even feed them with leftovers & still impress them by rolling them into crepe’s (OHHH fancy!) , you must be patient & willing to invest the time & energy to make them.

Since I had so… many crepe’s, I decided to stack all these Julia Child crepe’s with SmittenKitchen’s mushroom sauce. (butter piled over butter piled over butter……the best.) Fortunately, my friend Diana (a mushroom lover) came to visit & to taste-test. She & her mom finished  7/8 of it after they were “full.” Lovely.

Process

Exterior Perspective

Section

Interior Perspective

Function

Another goodbye dinner, that ends with Banana’s Foster Crepes

As I was whisking the eggs into the flour to make crepes, the man fixing the fridge became the fourth stranger who asked me if I was running a restaurant at the Gamble House…& suggested me to. I laughed. That would be lovely. I give him the “I can’t, I have studio” response that we’ve all used: “I can’t go to your party because I have studio…. I can’t sleep because I have studio… I can’t work out because I have studio…. I can’t read because I have studio… I can’t go home because I have studio…. I can’t go home for Thanksgiving because I have studio…. I can’t eat because I have studio.” Studio is the sad excuse from good things. & blame for everything that goes wrong…. “I’m sick because of studio.  I have high blood pressure because I have studio. I’m poor because I have studio. I have insomnia because I have studio. I have anxiety because of studio. I’m breaking out because I have studio. I’m fat & ugly because I have studio.”

My other arch alumni friend (& former Gensler employee) Henry, is leaving to Taiwan to serve. It definitely hurts to let this second all nighter partner go. I remember meeting him in my Freshman year when he was a 4th year.  Since then, he’s encouraged me when I had major designers block or was frustrated with Rhino-modeling or wanted to drop architecture. He’s even come to my old apartment to do Autocad drawings for me at 3AM…..Henry has been such a great older brother/mentor to me.

I will never forget that last night we joined Yulee & Leon’s “charette night” at the Gamble House two years ago.  Henry fell asleep almost immediately under the tables. What was supposed to be a productive all nighter/charette became a night of singing Falling Slowly/playing guitar, procrastination & 6 hour napping sleeping.

So before Henry moved out, he & some of our friends came over for a “goodbye Henry” dinner. Henry is such a gracious & humble man who has strange, but brilliant & hilarious things to say. We’re all going to miss his words & friendly, geeky face.

I asked Henry a few days ago what he’d like for his final dinner, & he asked me to cook the same dinner I cooked & brought to his studio for his very final charette before he graduated. so cute. what an honor. After we settled down the table & took the first bites of our dinner,  we both smiled, looked at each other, & said the same thing: the dishes have improved & are now more flavorful. Practice makes perfect.

Dinner Menu

• Peach ginger iced tea
• Mini fig, proscuitto, arugula & mini pesto pizza’s
• Trader Joe’s Mushroom risotto
• Sauteed garlic asparagus
• Parmesan Tilapia filets
• Banana’s Foster Crepes

I’m starting to realize that I shouldn’t post all my recipes on Tumblr, & must save some/many recipes in the actual cookbook. This banana’s foster crepe recipe has been a huge success among friends, family, & even their friends & family. It will certainly be included in TheChefCharette cookbook, which, is definitely making good progress. :) Feel free to come over to test/get a taste of what (could possibly) will be found in TheChefCharette.