Making Crepes

I have been a pretty big fatty tonight. I stopped on the way home and got (gasp) a ready meal. I wouldn't normally do that, but the chicken tikka masala (it wasn't even a refined ready meal) jumped out and caught my eye. It literally screamed at me to eat it.

Straight after i ate that curry i had a craving. A craving for pancakes. Over here in the UK they're called pancakes, in Europe they're crepes. They're nothing like the thick, fluffy cake-like things eaten in the US for breakfast. Typically we eat these here on Shrove Tuesday, the day before Ash Wednesday (the beginning of lent) when the household was supposed to purge itself of rich foods like dairy before the fasting of lent begins. But it's not Shrove Tuesday, it's liz's craving day, so i made them anyway.

It takes about a second to make the batter if you do it the quick way (which this is) and you get the enjoyment of eating the freshly cooked pancake as you make the next one. It's a never ending treat for the tongue. Until the batter's used up of course.

Ingredients (makes about 10 pancakes depending on the size of pan):

7 heaped tablespoons of flour

2 medium (free range) eggs

about half a pint of milk

Toppings: Chocolate spread, strawberry jam, golden syrup (my favourite), maple syrup, lemon and brown sugar, cherry pie filling....whatever takes your fancy

1. Put the flour, eggs and half the milk into a bowl and whisk with a balloon whisk. Add more milk and continue whisking until the batter is the consistency of runny gloss paint.

2. Leave the batter to stand for approximately 20mins. This allows the gluten in the batter to do it's thing.

3. Meanwhile, heat a large frying pan and skim the top with an oily piece of kitchen paper. You do NOT want a pool of oil in the pan, just an extremely light coat. Use that cooking spray stuff if you don't want to use an oily piece of kitchen paper. Just a couple of spritzes.

4. Now make sure the pan is nice and hot, you'll get a soggy pancake otherwise. Pour a dollop in the centre of the pan with an inch or so to spare at the sides, lift up the pan and roll it around so the batter spreads right out to the edges. This will make the pancake nice and thin and it'll cook right through in no time.

5. Using a spatula or fish slice, check the bottom of the pancake after a minute, if it comes away freely and is slightly golden, it's read for a flippin. Either get your mad pan tossing skillz out, or just be sensible and flip it using the fish slice. No one needs a greasy pancake splat on the ceiling.

6. Cook for a further minute on the other side, turn out onto a plate and spread with your choice of topping. Roll it up and enjoy. YUUUUMMMMMMMY.