Crepes

This was a Sunday night favorite when I was a missionary in France.

Ingredients:

4 Cups Milk
3 Cups Flour
Pinch of Salt
3 Large Egg
6 Tbsp Oil
1 Cup Sugar
2 Tbsp Vanilla

Usually I just mix this all together in a kitchen aid until blended. Best to add flour gradually to liquid so as to avoid clumps. You might need to add more or less sugar depending on your taste preferences.

Heat a skillet to medium high heat. Melt about 1 Tbsp of unsalted butter on the pan, add excess melted butter from pan to mixture and beat in. Ladle in enough batter to cover the entire pan, move the pan around to spread the mixture thinly over the entire pan. Should be slightly thinner than tortillas. Once the crepe begins to bubble pry the edge from the pan and with turner and flip crepe (about 15 seconds on a well heated pan). Cook second side briefly until begins to bubble (about 10 seconds on well heated pan).

If crepe sticks lower heat and add more butter to pan. It takes a few tries to get the technique down.

Serve with nutella, strawberries, and cream. Ice cream is also acceptable.

Bacon Garlic Roast

This is a variant on a Williams Sonoma "Savoring France" recipe that I absolutely love.

Ingredients:

3 1/2 lbs Rib Roast or Veal Loin
3 TBS Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 TSP Salt
1 TSP Freshly Ground Pepper
2-4 Bay Leaves
4 Fresh Thyme Sprigs
6-10 Slices Thick Sliced Bacon (depending on size of roast)
6 Heads Garlic
4 Chopped Garlic Cloves

Preheat an oven to 425 F

Rub the roast with 1 tablespoon olive oil followed by salt and pepper. Place bay leaves, chopped garlic cloves, and thyme springs on the top of the roast. Wrap roast with bacon slices, usually I lay the bacon along the longer dimension of the roast. Tie up bacon with kitchen string to hold bacon in place. Cut 1/4 inch off top of garlic heads. Rub the heads with the remaining oil. The roast bacon side up on a rack in a roasting pan. Wedge garlic heads around the roast.

Roast uncovered, basting roast and garlic with pan juices, until 145 F at thickest part (this will leave the center rare and the edges medium well) about 1 hour. Transfer roast and garlic to platter and cover loosely with foil. Let rest 10 minutes before carving.

Remove twine. Set aside pan juices for use as gravy. Smear garlic cloves from garlic heads on sliced meat for extra flavor. (The bacon is usually eaten by the carver as a special bonus.)

Fourth of July Fare

1lb. Organic, lean ground beef
Gorgonzola Cheese
Feta Cheese
Goat Cheese
1/4 of an onion
Worcestershire Sauce
A1
Williams Sonoma Slow Cooker sauce
Freshly ground pepper

Mix (in my case - got my hubby to do the hand mixing for me), and form into patties - I was able to make six patties total.

Cook the patties however you prefer - stove-top, grill, etc.

We used onion buns, romaine lettuce, tomatoes, pickles, ketchup and mustard.

Next time I make these burgers I'm going to sauté the onions with the mushrooms before adding them into the burger mixture.

I might add avocados and bacon if I think ahead of time...




For the corn - this is my hubby's creation.
I steam the corn for 7 min.
He butters them in unsalted butter.
Sprinkles freshly ground black pepper on them - we love pepper.
Grates parmesean cheese and covers the corn.
Grill.
Enjoy!