I first tried to make them when I was in high school - maybe fourteen years old. I actually made manicotti - a crepe variation that is close to an Italian pasta. Let me just say it was not a roaring success. I really didn't know what a manicotti or crepe either one was, so I didn't quite get that mine were not fabulous. Until I looked out the kitchen window and saw my brother throwing a few frisbee style across the yard to our incredibly fat mutt - the one that ate everything and looked like a full tick about to pop. The dog was returning them to my brother.
I had another massive failure in college - this time destroying every piece of equipment in the kitchen and requiring two days of clean up. I quit trying - assigning crepes to the realm of things just not worth making - like croissants say.
I decided to give it another go - mainly because I haven't been grocery shopping and I'm now down to very little to play with. I also hate, hate, hate thinking a dish has 'gotten' me. Like hell. I did my standard method search online - what I always do when looking up a new trick or technique. I found the same base recipe everywhere - a little milk, flour, water and either salt and sugar. However, the technique was all over the place. I saw all kinds of pans, none of which I had, calls for a huge temperature range, and preaching on all kinds of no-nos. Hmmm. I don't think so.
As far as the filling - (wow, am I telling on myself in this post) - when I was little my poor mother and granny let me cook and experiment to my heart's content. I had nothing to go on but an occasional high-end meal curtesy of my Daddy, the knowlege of my mama and granny, and the handful of cookbooks in the Greene County Library. I was constantly coming across things I wanted to make, yet had no idea of what they really were. Not that it stopped me. I'd happily swing into the kitchen with big plans and vague ideas.
Such was the case with Bananas Foster. The real thing was invented at Brennan's in New Orleans in the 50's. When I was about 12 years old I heard of Bananas Foster somewhere (I read incessantly), and decided to make it. Unfortunately, there was no recipe in the library, and Mama wasn't sure what went in it. I decided for some reason that it involved caramel and pecans (no), ice cream (yes) and bananas (yes again.) I missed every other major ingredient. However, this is what I came up with, and frankly, I'm rather glad. I used the base stuff I invented at 12 to do the butter pecan sauce for this filling. I've had Bananas Foster since, and it's a delightful, ethereal thing. This is the country cousin of Bananas Foster. Call it Bananas Franklin. Brennen named his after a friend - I'll do the same after a few of mine.
So I did what I normally did. I thought through the ingredients going into the finished product, thought about what I wanted to end up with and did my own thing. I used Alton Brown's excellent recipe as a jumping off point. Here's how to do it...
For the crepes...
3/4 cup of whole milk (I actually used a mix of half and half and skim milk)
1 cup flour
1 pinch salt
2 eggs
1/2 cup water
2-3 tbl butter
3 tbl sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla
For the filling....
2 sticks butter
2 2/3 cups light brown sugar
1 1/2 cups pecans - I had whole and thought they were pretty, but chopped would be fine
2 tbl corn syrup
3-4 bananas, diced
1 tbl vanilla
2 tbl Grand Marnier
1/4 cup cream or half and half
1. In the bowl of a mixer, food processor or blender, mix together milk, flour, salt, eggs, sugar and vanilla. Blend, process or whisk to combine well, then park it in the fridge for at least half an hour, and up to two days. Don't skip this - it allows the flour to absorb the liquid, and your crepes will be easier to handle.
2. Every recipe I read called for a small nonstick pan. I don't have one. I have a small standard skillet - a 10 inch. Not a non-stick, not an omelette pan, not a saucier. Just a skillet. Eggs can be cranky, but I figured what would work for an omelette would work for a crepe - and I was right. Keep the pan on medium low heat, and make sure it's brushed well with butter from a basting brush, including the corners and up the edges. You want the thinnest possible layer of butter on the pan. The butter should just foam.
3. I do have an odd 1/5 cup measure - it came in a set and is almost useless. But it turned out to be the perfect size for this. So a very scant 1/4 would work just as well. You want only enough batter to give a very thin coat on the skillet. You'll need to work quickly - but only at this one point. And it's not even tricky after the first one. Scoop up your measure full of batter, and take the handle of the skillet in one hand. Holding the skillet at a slight angle, pour in the batter at one edge, and immediately swirl the skillet so that a very thin, even coat covers the bottom. This sounds difficult - it's not!
4. Be prepared to mess up the first couple, until you figure out just how much batter works with your own pan. Once you got that down, you can crank these out like crazy. Many of the recipes I saw called for flipping the crepes in a matter of seconds. This may be because they all called for non-stick pans, and probably used a higher cooking temperature, and the crepes set more quickly. We're keeping it low and slow, so we have time to operate. The crepes cook for a couple of minutes on the first side. Just like a plain ol' pancake, they'll bubble slightly, and turn dry. Gently ease the edges with a spatula, shake the pan, and flip it over. Give it a minute on the second side. When you shake the pan and it moves - it's ready. It tells on itself. Turn it onto a rack or paper towel, and repeat.
5. Mine didn't last long enough for this, but apparently they'll keep in the fridge for several days, or freeze for a couple of months. Just reheat in a slow oven (that's mountain talk for a low-temperature oven - about 200) for a few minutes.
Make the Bananas Franklin:
3-4 bananas, diced
1 tbl vanilla
2 tbl Grand Marnier
1/4 cup cream or half and half
1. This makes a ton - enough for all 12 crepes I made above to have a generous amount of filling, with sauce over the top and more on ice cream. If you're stingy, cut it in half.
2. In a large skillet, melt together butter and brown sugar, stirring well to combine. Bring mixture up to a simmer. Add pecans and corn syrup, and simmer for about 3-4 minutes. Sauce should be nearly smooth, and shiny at this point. Add bananas and cook for just another minute or two - they'll nearly melt into the sauce. Pull from heat and add vanilla, Grand Marnier and half and half. Stir well to combine. The sauce should be silky and seriously decadent.
To assemble the crepes, place a couple tablespoons of the pecan/banana mixture on one quarter of a crepe, and fold over into little triangles. I seperate the solids some at this point, letting the pecans and bananas dominate the center of the crepe, and using the saucy part to drizzle over the top of the crepe triangle, and again a little over any ice cream that might find its way mysteriously on top of the crepe.
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