Culinary Creativity on the Cheap

February 24, 2009 1:12 pm

Anything fried in butter is my friend. However, in the interest of not weighing three hundred pounds, I try to limit my consumption of butter saturation to special occasions. So, when my formerly culinary challenged cousin said we were going to be making crêpes, instead of going out to eat, I realized this was a monumental occasion perfect for the indulgence of yummy buttery fatness.

In New York, a city with three restaurants on every block, dining out becomes a reflex, a perfect excuse to have a cocktail with a side of good conversation without having dirty dishes to clean up. While perusing a menu and trying new things are by far some of my favorite aspects about life, recent economic hardships have forced me, and most other New Yorkers, to cut back on the spending meaning that tipping is not in the budget right now.

I arrived at my cousin Michael's apartment on an empty stomach ready to begin the cooking process. I say "process," because never before have I seen Michael make anything except reservations, so I was unaware of exactly how the meal preparation would go. Snacking on dark chocolate covered edamame, while I waited for Mickey to collect himself after his jog, I checked out the fridge to get a better idea of what exactly we would be eating. Much to my surprise, Mickey's refrigerator was packed. Leeks, ricotta, cold cuts, Pellegrino, and far more condiments than can be found in my fridge all stunned me as I kind of expected that all I would find was left over Chinese and a half of bologna sandwich. Now I was both hungry and excited.

Mickey had just returned from a whirlwind trip through Europe, which has left him with a new lust for life and a sky-high love of food, as he is now cooking for himself for the first time. Having spent the majority of his vacation in France, crêpes seemed like the logical first meal for us to have together. He collected the crêpes, eggs, turkey breast, soy butter, Pecorino Romano, and leeks from his jam packed frige and lit up the burner. I washed and diced the leeks while he melted the butter and crisped the crêpes. In the blink of an eye, Mickey was tossing in the leeks, scrambling the eggs, and folding up the crêpe. I could not believe how quickly and seemingly effortlessly dinner was made.

The flakey, buttery crêpe is delicious enough all by itself, but once cheese is thrown into the mix, watch out! Since the crêpe is folded into itself, we tasted the salty turkey, earthy eggs, and delicate leeks in each bite, allowing all the flavors to meld together. The savory tastes were given a little pizzazz from the sour cream and mustard we were dipping our crêpes into. Mickey munched his crêpe down at lightning speed as I tried to relish in every forkful. By the time I was done with my dinner crêpe, Mickey was already at the stove melting the butter for dessert.

Crêpes are pretty simple in and of themselves, as you can either dress them up or down to fit your mood and level of hunger. Dessert crêpe, however, are super simple and super delicious. Mickey melted the butter, tossed in the crêpe, and dusted the top with brown sugar. Once the sugar caramelized, he carefully folded in the crêpe (unsuccessful as he burned his fingers in the process,) and topped it with fresh blackberries and a scope of vanilla ice cream. The blackberries brought flavorful juices into the mix, which were made creamy by the ice cream and sweetened by the sugar on the crêpe. It was a perfect balance of sweet and savory, as well as a pleasant indulgence but not to the point of regret. Just as before, Mickey was finished eating before me. He devoured his crêpe and the leftovers from mine, along with an extra scoop of ice cream.

Menu perusing may be one of the highlights of my life, but being able to eat dinner barefoot, sitting on a teal beanbag hassock at a coffee table with my darling Mickey is priceless.

Alexis Popov