Crepes and such

I discovered a pile of leftover buckwheat crepes that were slightly stale at the back of my fridge and eventhough they were a few days old (I made them on Bastille Day, not deliberately to celebrate the occasion though), I could not bring myself to toss them into the bin. Apart from the age-old saying, "think of all the starving children" as a constant reminder not to waste food, I do think most things can be salvaged and freshened up somehow to make a decent meal for one with the aid of some inventiveness. The only one exception is of course leftover cooked pasta for I believe no amount of salad cream or condiments can make a salad of cold pasta as appetising as its freshly-cooked counterpart but having said that, I have been known to (begrudgingly) eat day-old pasta.

Crepes are an incredibly versatile food. the type you can have anytime of the day, as a snack, meal or treat, as a sweet or savory item. The other great thing about crepes is that it is incredibly portable and can be eaten on the move, or you can dress it up to eaten in civilised fashion at a table with a pint of cider. Although buckwheat crepes are usually eaten with savoury fillings, I had some after dinner with a liberal spread of Nutella, slices of banana and toasted flaked almonds - yum. Many of my friends who love crepes hesitate at the thought of making the pancakes themselves because they find crepe-making a little difficult and often frustrating. The truth is, it does take some practice and confidence but once you have adjusted the heat of the pan and overcome the awkward twisting of your wrist to spread the batter evenly and thinly, you will be like a fish in water. (For further reading, check out Heidi Swanson's comprehensive entry on how to make sweet crepes and David Lebovitz's on how to make buckwheat crepes). Heck! you may even enjoy it.

Anyway, returning to what I did with my leftover crepes. I simply lined 2 holes of a Texas muffin tin with 2 crepes each (my crepes were very thin and delicate and I didn't want to risk seepage during baking), filled them with sauteed mushrooms and spinach, cracked a free-range egg over the top of each and baked them in a moderately hot oven for 4-5 minutes until the eggs were set but the yolks still runny.

It then struck me as I had my fork in one of my breakfast cupcrepes (I am rather pleased with this word I've coined) what a fabulous way to use up leftover crepes this is. The warm and wholesome savoury filling cradled by a pancake tender and moist with edges crisp, it was like eating a freshly cooked crepe at a creperie - well, almost!