Given my love for corny, it should be no surprise to hear me say that you have no idea how perfectly perfect it was to sit down to breakfast this morning on the back deck. Crips skyes, warming sun, pups by my side, all wrapped up in comfy blanket, a hot cup of coffee and a gluten free crepe filled with lavender roasted persimmons.
**STOP** Let’s keep this real shall we? It was 6am. It was downright nippy cold. The pups started barking at the squirrels and I ended up spilling my coffee on the cozy blanket. But, let’s face it… my positive disposition is more inclined to wipe off the coffee and become deaf to the sound of two crazy wild beasts barking their heads off just for the sake of waxing poetic about crepes.
That’s what I like about writing and photography. Any form of artistic expressions actually. It’s yours to do whatever you want and give to people. Some will get it, some won’t but a civilization honored with that name will let you be and say and play.
I for one, decided this morning to look on the bright side of things for so many other reasons than to depict a blissful image of something that was just not happening as I thought it would. If you have read my previous post about my hectic relationship with breakfast well, then you realize that my morning episode was a feat in itself. I was sitting to eat. Breakfast. That’s big.
I also quickly realize that I was as exactly as my husband likes to describe me: I have a real coeur d’artichaut. I fall in love easily and often in love. It’s not that I don’t know what I want, quite the opposite. I just don’t want to avoid emotions and sensations. How does that relate to crepes, persimmons and breakfast? I stubbornly and repeatedly try to fall in love with breakfast. And in that regard, I clearly lean towards breakfasts that pack a punch and awaken sensations versus the cereal and milk days of my childhood. Like with most things, it’s got to keep me entertained.
Crepes rank pretty high on my list of "entertaining breakfasts". I think I am seriously developing serious tastes for seriously stylish items in the morning. Chocolate tamaring cupcakes? Check? Crepes? Check? With en papillotes roasted persimmons? Ouuh la la! Add a touch of honey and a sprinkle of lavender buds and you are about to smack me on the head! I know! I would too if it weren’t for the fact that oh dear, the combination is so good, I hope you try it if you can.
I have no idea where, how, why I came up with that one, but the moment fuyu persimmons went on sale at the market, I knew I’d roast them with honey in little parchment paper pockets. That was that. The lavender? Well, if you haven’t figured it out yet, I’m more of a "why not?" kind of gal than anything so it was worth a try. Or it was simply the result of too much coffee on a bright sunny day…
You have no idea how giddy I am knowing that I finally nailed down a gluten free recipe for crepe that we all like and behaves exactly like its gluten counterpart. Crepe parties! Been way too long since I had a warm sugar crepe and a cup of tea on a chilly Autumn day. Well, no more!
Roasting fruits or vegetables in parchment paper is a fun little technique to optimize and concentrate flavor as well as minimize cleanup. Always thinking about efficiency…Do not worry about how neat or pretty the packages are as long as they are tightly sealed. Feel free to use another seasonal fruit such as pears or apples, or stone fruits and berries if it’s Summer where you live. There is no wrong way to go about it just tons of possibilities.
This brings me to a little big news to share with you. Back in June, I forwarded an email to B. asking him to "please stop pulling my leg with pranks like this. It’s just not funny dude". He replied "honey, I did not." and I went "Oh shoot". It was from Wiley Publishing. Yeas. "The" Wiley Publishing. They asked if I would be interested in writing a food photography book. In my voice. In my words. To share with budding photographers and food bloggers wanting to keep learning, the fundamentals of taking photographs for their blogs, or their products.
It’s not just photography, and it’s not just styling. It’s not just natural light and it’s not just artificial. It’s not just about what to do to get the shot and it’s not just about workflow and editing. It’s not a definite how-to. It can’t be such a book in photography as this world constantly evolves with people and subjects. It’s meant to be a resource book for your to learn from, grow with and pass on to someone who might need it.
Yes. It’s meant to share information and tools and let you use what you need/want from it. It’s not meant to tell you what to do but to give you options to enjoy taking photographs . It comes without any other pretensions.
The manuscript is due in February and the book is scheduled to be released in May 2011. So yes….I am writing. And photographing to illustrate ideas and points. And working with Carrie Vitt on a dessert cookbook for next year as well my other clients in the meantime (gotta keep the electricity on – I hear it’s really important and all!!).
As I said last week: send chocolates. And coffee. And some bourbon. I think…
In the meantime, it’s Friday evening and we’re having a crepe party at the house! Have a great weekend!
Gluten Free Crepes With Honey Lavender Roasted Persimmons:
Makes 12 crepes
For the crepes:
125gr potato flour (about 3/4 cup) (I use Ener-g Potato Starch Flour)
125gr millet flour (about 3/4 cup)
pinch of salt
2 cups whole milk
3 eggs
1 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted and cooled
pinch of salt
1/2 cup light beer (or club soda or cider)
For the roasted persimmons:
6 Fuyu persimmons
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
6 tablespoons honey
1 tablespoon lavender buds
Apricot jam
whipped cream or vanilla yogurt
Prepare the crepes:
In a blender or food processor, combine all the ingredients and pulse until fully incorporated and no lumps remain.
If you decide to do it by hand: combine the flours and salt in a bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk together the milk, eggs and melted butter. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and slowly add the liquids. When all is in, add the beer or club soda.
No matter what method you used, strain the batter if necessary. Refrigerate, covered for an hour or overnight.
In a saute pan (8 to 10 inches round) set over medium high heat, laddle 1/3 cup batter (depending on the size of your pan) and cook 2 minutes on each side.
Prepare the fruit:
Cut twenty four 7-inch square pieces of parchment paper and set aside.
Preheat oven to 375F and position a rack in the middle.
Peel and core the persimmons as you would apples cut in half. Cut each half into thirds or quarters (depends on size of fruit). Place six to eight pieces of fruit in the middle of one parchment paper square, top with one tablespoon of butter, one tablespoon of honey and a teaspoon of lavender. Place a second piece of parchment on top and seal the edges over themselves to close the package.
Repeat the procedure until you run out of fruit.
Place on two baking sheets and roast for about 20-30 minutes.
Let cool 5 minutes before cutting the packages open. Be careful of the steam!
To assemble, layer some apricot jam at the bottom of each crepe, top with some roasted persimmons, add some whipped cream if desired and close. And eat. Of course.
