Week 49 - Hungarian style Crepes (Palascinta)

I've been holding on to this recipe for a while.  Growing up I loved eating these Hungarian Style Crepes.  And not just for breakfast, but as a snack, dessert, or lunch or dinner.  Once you get the basic crepe down you can fill it with virtually anything.

The fillings I grew up with primarily consisted of chocolate, apricot jelly, and a delicious cottage cheese filling.

The chocolate is so simple, all you do is give the crepe a good hefty sprinkle NesQuik.  The heat and moisture from the crepe melts it into this fantastic chocolatey syrup.  Then there's the apricot jelly, a staple of so many Hungarian dishes and desserts.  On this particular day I was running low on apricot jelly (and my husband isn't a huge fan), so I used Cherry Jam instead and it worked out just as well.  Again, very simple to do, you do nothing more than spread the jelly or jam on to the crepe and roll it up.  My favorite filling though, the cottage cheese requires a tiny bit more work.  I included the recipe at the bottom and as you will see, it's ridiculously simple!

Now there are several ways to fold a crepe I guess, but I always had them rolled up like cigars.  I think this method is very conducive to picking it up and eating by hand rather than bothering with any pesky forks or knives.  Some fancy places will fold the crepe in half, and then half again, making a quarter.  I guess there's nothing wrong with doing it this way.  But I like to stick with tradition, at least, the tradition I grew up with.

So here are a few of my tips for making perfect crepes.
1. Get everything set up before you start cooking.  These are very thin pancakes and thus cook very quickly!
2. Be prepared that there were will be a few "practice" crepes, meaning they will tear, burn, etc.  For some reason the first one always turns out bad, so no need to worry, just keep swirling and flipping and you will eventually get the hang of it.

First crepe = fail, not a perfect circle...

but it sure does taste good!

3. Get creative with fillings!  Below are a few of my favorites.
Jó étvágyat!

Palascinta
Ingredients:
3 cups milk
3 eggs
2 Tbsp Canola Oil
Pinch of salt
2 3/4 cups flour
1/2 cup club soda
Filling of your choice

Directions:
1. Combine all ingredients in a blender and blend on high until smooth.
2. Heat a skillet over medium heat, coat ever so lightly with canola oil.

Just a tiny bit of oil

3. Add a ladle of the batter to the pan and immediately begin swirling the batter around the pan until it coats the entire bottom of the pan.

4. Allow to cook over medium heat for 30-60 seconds.  You can use a thin spatula to peek underneath to see how cooked the crepe is.  It should have a slight golden brown color to it.  When it does, flip to cook the other side for another 30-60 seconds.  (Note these times are an estimate and my best guess.  Like I said before, these cook quickly and therefor I didn't have time to actually time myself.  Go based on doneness versus time.  Plus each stove top is slightly different.)

5. Once it is cooked, removed from the pan, lay flat on a plate and spread whatever filling you desire on to the crepe and then roll!

Chocolate crepes.  Just a tip, do not spread the filling all the way to the end.  It makes it easier to complete the roll.

Cherry Jam

Cottage Cheese Filling
Ingredients:
10 Tbsp cottage cheese
6 Tbsp sour cream
Handful of raisins
2 Tbsp sugar
Zest of 1/2 a lemon

Directions:
1.Combine all ingredients in a bowl.
2. Done! (Told you it was easy)

Roll baby, roll