Bev’s not only giving us virtual yummies, she’s also come up with a fantasy setting. Let’s join her around the tiny table and watch Parisians stroll past. I think I’ll have some roasted kale and seared shrimp, and pretend the cream sauce.
HI BEV
Hello, Mona
Thank you for inviting me to brunch today. I’ll just sit here and drink my French Vanilla Cappuccino and have a few crackers and cheese.
My alter ego is sitting at a cafe in Paris enjoying the sights and lapping up all that French culture and creme. Just watching and listening to the Parisian people and the tourists from all over the world is giving me goosebumps. The coffee is hot and the men hotter.
Come join me. If cappuccino is not to your taste how about a demitasse of expresso. Company would be wonderful.
After Paris, I’m on to Tuscany, and later to the French Riviera to droll over the gorgeous French men in skimpy bathing suits. I’ll swoon as they speak one of the most romantic languages in the world.
Sure you don’t want to come. I’ve just ordered some delicious crepes. There’ll be enough to share, or maybe not.
Do you know the history behind Crepes Suzette? This delicacy evolved by accident. Fourteen year old French sous chef, Henri Charpentier accidentally set his crepe sauce on fire while he was serving the Prince of Wales, Britain’s future King Edward VII. When asked what he called his creation, Charpnetier replied, Crepes Princess but the prince asked if he would dedicate the dish to the daughter of one on his guests. Voila, Crepes Suzette was born.
Oh, la la, my order is coming now. Doesn’t it look delicious?
CREPES: 1 cup all purpose flour; 1 cup 2% milk; 1 teaspoon sugar; dash fine salt; 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted; 2 large eggs; 1/2 cup beer
ORANGE BUTTER: 1 orange, zested; 1/4 cup sugar; 3/4 cup unsalted butter; 1/3 cup fresh orange juice
CREPES SUZETTE: 2 tablespoons sugar; 1/4 cup cognac; 1/4 cup orange liqueur
DIRECTIONS: Crepes
- Whisk all ingredients but beer until smooth (or blend in food processor). Let batter rest for 30 minutes. Stir in beer.
- Heat an 8-inch crepe pan or non-stick pan over medium heat and grease lightly (you may have to play with your heat adjustments for the first few). Spoon about 2 Tbsp of crepe batter into center of pan and swirl to completely coat the bottom of the pan. Place back on the heat and let cook for about 2 minutes, until top of crepe loses its shine. Flip crepe with a spatula (or be daring and toss it in the air!) and cook 30 seconds more. Slide crepe onto a parchment-lined baking tray and continue making until all batter is used.
- If preparing crepes in advance, wrap in plastic and leave at room temperature or freeze (never in the fridge!)
Orange Butter
- For orange butter, pulse orange zest and sugar in a food processor, to extract the zest oils. Add butter and orange juice and blend until smooth. Transfer to a bowl or shape into a log and chill until form.
Crepes Suzette
- For Suzette, arrange a platter with crepes, a small bowl with the sugar, the orange butter and the cognac and orange liqueur already measured. Have a spatula, a carving fork and a ladle at hand. It’s performance time!
- Place a large sauté pan over medium heat and melt orange butter – let it bubble for up to 5 minutes – it will thicken and become syrupy. Reduce heat to low and lay in a crepe, flipping it over to coat both sides. Fold the crepe into quarters (a carving fork works best) and move to the side. Repeat with remaining crepes.
- Sprinkle sugar over completed crepes. Pour cognac into the ladle and over the crepes and do the same quickly with the orange liqueur. Carefully tilt the pan toward the flame (if you wish) to ignite – take care to keep back as the flames can come up quickly. With the ladle, spoon the flaming sauce over the crepes until the flames subside, about a minute. Serve the crepes, 2 per person and spoon sauce over.
Maybe I’ll come back for lunch and desert.
After strawberries have been chilled, drain and reserve juice. (If using thawed frozen berries, drain and reserve juice. Add enough water to make one cup of juice.)Mix sugar, water and lemon juice together until sugar dissolves. Pour over sliced berries and refrigerate for at least four hours. Stir at least twice to distribute juices. Note: For this step, you may substitute frozen, sweetened strawberries that have been thawed.
Melt butter in large skillet over medium heat. Stir in the juice, zest and liqueur. Stirring constantly, reduce sauce to ⅔ cup. Add reserved berries and stir to heat berries, no longer than 15 seconds so that berries remain whole.
Very delicately add each crepe to the pan—one at a time—and coat it in the sauce. (We used a fork rather than a spatula for this.) Fold each one in quarters, and arrange three on each plate, repeating until each crepe has been dipped and plated. You may overlap them or arrange in a circle as we did in the picture above, with a scoop of ice cream in the middle and extra sauce over the top. Scrap up the extra bits of lemon zest and add extra strawberries as your garnish.
Oh, dear, I really want to go to France. I have my make-up bag with the Eiffel Tower on it all packed, a journal with Paris, and again the Eiffel tower, (and on every page inside) ready to record my journey, now I just need the plane tickets and a place to lay my head. I guess money to pay for all this would help.
So I’m visualizing my books being my ticket there. Do you think I have a chance? Anyone want to come along.
Here’s me, but you won’t see me in one of those skimpy bikinis.
Award-winning author, Bev Irwin, lives in London, Ontario, with three assorted cats. One that hid in her car when she moved from the farm and two others dropped off by her daughter on two different occasions. Her three children have flown the coup, but her granddaughter, Jasmine, is a frequent visitor.
As a registered nurse, she likes to add a touch of medical to her romance and mystery novels. She writes YA, children’s, and poetry. She prefers spending time in her garden, writing, and reading to being in the kitchen.
Her debut novel, WHEN HEARTS COLLIDE, a contemporary romance, came out in December of 2011 with Soul Mate Publishing under the pen name of Kendra James. Her YA paranormal, GHOSTLY JUSTICE, will be released by Black Opal Books on April 14th, 2012. MISSING CLAYTON, a suspense novel, will also be published with Black Opal Books later this year.
He promised he’d be back by the full moon. But that was days ago and Jason Sharmon’s father hasn’t returned from his prospecting trip. Now the fourteen-year-old must battle the Ontario North and his own fears to find his father. He encounters several obstacles including a wolf encounter, a raging river, and a fall down a cliff. After finding and caring for his injured father, Jason learns to believe in himself and his own abilities. He and his father learn to accept their differences and mend a troubled relationship.
If you witnessed an accident on a lonely stretch of highway, would you stop or 
continue on your way? For nurse Molly Tanner the choice is clear. Risking her own life, she pulls the seriously injured driver and his young daughter from the car. When Pearce begs her to pose as his wife to keep Gracie from foster care, memories of her unhappy childhood rush back. But can Molly keep up the charade without her own secrets being discovered and her heart from being shattered?
Fifteen-year-old Daria Brennan doesn’t want to hear people’s thoughts. She doesn’t want to see ghosts or talk to dead people. And she definitely doesn’t 
want to help Amanda solve herforty-year old murder. But Amanda wants revenge, and Daria is the first human contact she’s had since the day she died. Now the killer is after Daria and her friends. Can they solve this Amanda’s murder in time, or will they become the next victims?
COMING SOON! Release date April 14, 2012
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Mona Karel Author 