C is for Carnivál and for Crepes

Carnival is to Spain what Halloween is to the U.S, minus the overabundance of prevocative costumes. It's refreshing really, to see people young and old, from all walks of life, get dressed up and take the streets, hammered. My friends and I started drinking at 5PM dressed as people upside down.
See below

Not only was this costume hideous and only discernable from the front, but it also made pee'ing a huge hassle.

Anyhow, one of the other great things about Carnivál here in Galicia are filloas (fee-joe-ahs) which are really really thin, salty, crepes. While they aren't exactly the easiest things to make, they are incredibly DELICIOUS and worth a try.

Ingredients
1.5 cups flour
4 cups water (for more flavor add 1/3 cup of chicken stock or caldo as they have here in Spain)
4 eggs
pinch of salt
butter for the pan

Batter up
Pour the water (with stock or into the bowl.
Add flour and mix with a hand mixer.
Add the eggs and salt and blend.
Chill in the fridge for 40 minutes.

Heat a medium sized pan on medium and add a little butter.Take a ladle and pour a small amount into a non-stick pan and swirl it around. If it creates a thin layer covering the pan repeat, if not add more or less accordingly.
The batter should start to make bubbles and look like a sponge. Cook until it starts to come away from the edges of the pan. Once it starts to pull away, take your hands (BE CAREFUL not to burn yourself) and peel it from the pan, flipping it over.


(note: be prepared to throw the first few or in my case dozen away)
Stack them on top of each other and eat with honey, cream, chocolate or fruit :)

A Happy Accident

I cook because I can’t bake. I can’t follow directions, which is funny because I’m a teacher and spend most of my time telling students to follow directions.

Sadly, I’m also a terrible speller so I can’t even spell hypocrite (thank you autocorrect).



Lucky for me cooking is much more lenient to mistakes. Mess up a recipe for a dish and it’s innovation, mess up a baking recipe and its inedible.

My baking ineptitude has resulted in soupy cookies that run all over the tray and burn, spongy like your kitchen sponge cake, and baby quiches instead of popovers (this was probably the only thing close to salvageable). I suck at baking and I pity the people who let me use them as a Guinea pig. I really think I’m a baking villain with magical powers since something catastrophic always happens. Once I managed to set a flame retardant baking sheet on fire, beat that!

In truth, I’m just terrible at following directions. Like an idiot I find I always forget to include the butter. I am not a butter Nazi or cautious about weight. I love butter and believe it makes the world go round. Incidentally, this time my failure to follow directions lead me to a discovery!

I LOVE crepes. I love them sweet. I love them savory. I love to have them sweet and savory. When I woke up I knew I had to have one. I looked up a simple recipe and told myself, “You just saw a show on how to make crepes. This will be easy.” However, looking at my batter I knew something was wrong. It was too thick. I added tablespoon after tablespoon of water until I came up with the perfect consistency. I made my breakfast crepe and put bananas and strawberries inside. Proud of myself I sat down to eat. That’s when I saw it, the butter sitting by its lonesome self next to the microwave. I forgot to add the butter AGAIN. “That explains my problem with consistency” I thought.

Marveling at how I had done it again, I bit into my crepe and to my surprise it was perfect. Thin and soft while crispy on the outside, it was buttery, sweet, and had just the right amount of salt. I realized by adding the butter to the pan and not the batter, the crepe was still able to get the fat it needed yet I was able to control the amount. Needless to say, it is the best mistake I’ve made.

Here is my accidental crepe recipe:

½ cup milk
3/4 cup water
2 eggs
¼ tsp salt
1 cup all purpose flour
2 tbs butter (for the pan)

1) Mix all the wet ingredients in a large bowl.
2) Slowly sift in the flour and mix gently.
3) ADD a small amount of BUTTER to coat the pan.
4) Ladle about a ¼ cup into the pan or enough for a thin layer to cover the surface, swirling away from the center. Guide by swirling the pan in the air if necessary.
5) Flip when the bottom is golden brown. Add your stuffing. Fold in half and then into quarters.

(sugar and vanilla are optional if making sweet crepes)
For my lunch crepe : provolone, prosciutto, and pear. ☺ But as always be creative.