Lime glace glazed crepes with poached mission figs, Arak anise liquor cinnamon creme and cotija cheese!
This crepe entree has a nice combination of spice, fruit, sour, sweet and salty flavors. Flavor combinations like this are interesting, to say the least! Fine cafes that have gourmet chefs are where you will most likely find creative cuisine like this. In cafes, the focus is on flavor and the presentation naturally falls into place. Cafe chefs usually are not attracted to being in the limelight. The reason is because cafe chefs are far to busy to bask in fame. Cafe kitchens usually have only 5 or 6 employees to cover two shifts. A chef de cuisine, 2 sous chefs, 1 or 2 garde mange chefs and 2 plongeur (dishwashers). The sous chefs have wide open room for creativity. The chef approves or suggests the specials du jour. The chef manages the operation and usually only prepares fine desserts or fine entree specials during the dinner hours. The garde mange chef prepares desserts and cold items for the dinner hours early in the day and only acts as a garde manger line cook during the peak lunch hours. I have worked in that cafe kitchen personnel structure many times as a day chef or sous chef. The daytime hours are the busiest and I happen to be a very fast chef on a cooking line, so I almost always was assigned to cover the busy shift. Being able to cover the duties of a cooking line while going solo is no easy task. Many items have to be prepared ahead of time and only a limited amount of items can be cooked a la minute. A balance of the two styles of line cooking varies with business projections. On a peak day when there is a fashion show in the cafe, easy bake items are the key to keeping up with demand. Baked items like pot au feu, quiche, croques and roasted seafood or meats made the busy day much easier to accomplish. On slower easier pace days, more room for creativity came to place. Special du jours that were much more complex were marketed in order to create more customer interest in the cafe, therefore the special du jour entrees attracted more business in the following days. On a slower day, the entire special du jour board was a la minute cuisine and each item was very creative. Sweet and savory crepes entrees were always good for the days when you wanted customers to perform liquid advertising by telling coworkers and friends about the great lunch they had at the cafe! Crepes have been and always will be a popular cafe menu item. Savory for lunch, sweet for dessert or brunch is the basic rules for offering crepes. Sweet crepes with fruit and a savory item or sauce appeals all day long. Sweet crepes with fruit and a salty item like feta cheese or cotija cheese create a tasting experience that customers like to try! Fresh mission figs are in season and I happen to be a chef that likes to cook traditional seasonal food. I also like to create surprises for the season. At an American diner, during fresh tomato season, the most you can expect is a grilled cheese with tomato special du jour. In a French cafe, you never know what the aggressive cafe chefs have up their sleeves! You might say that this cafe style mission fig crepes special du jour recipe for today was an ace in my sleeve!
Crepe Batter Recipe: This recipe makes about 6 to 8 small 7" crepes! Place 2 eggs into a mixing bowl. Add 1/2 cup of milk. Add 2 tablespoons of cream Add 1 pinch of sea salt. Add 1 small pinch of nutmeg. Add 1/2 tablespoon of sugar. Add 4 or 5 drops of lemon juice. Add 1/2 tablespoon of melted unsalted butter. Add a little bit of flour at a time, while whisking, till a very thin batter is formed. The batter should barely coat the back of a spoon. Crepe batter should be much thinner than pancake batter. Crepes: Heat a non-stick pan over medium/medium low heat. Use a pastry brush to lightly coat the pan with melted unsalted butter. Pour just enough crepe batter into the hot pan to form a crepe that is 1/16" to 3/32" thick. (The crepe should be less than 1/8" thick! About 1 to 2 ounces of batter is good, depending on the size of the pan.) Tilt the pan, so the batter covers the pan with a very thin layer of batter. Tilt the pan to get the batter to form a round shape and to cover any holes in the crepe.) When the batter turns solid and is cooked firm, flip the crepe gently with a rubber spatula to color the other side with light golden colored highlights. Slide the crepe from the pan onto a counter top to cool. Repeat these steps to make as many crepes as you wish. (You can multiply the recipe to make a whole stack. Crepes do freeze very well. For home, t is best to freeze 2 to 4 portions per package.)
Poached Figs: Cinnamon and white wine flavor the poaching liquid for this recipe! Place 6 or 7 fresh mission figs in a small sauce pot. Add just enough water to cover the mission figs. Add 1/2 tablespoon of sugar. Add 2 ounces of dry white wine. Add 1 pinch of cinnamon. Place the pot over medium heat. Bring the liquid to a gentle boil. Poach the figs, till the become plump and tender. (About 8 minutes) Drain the liquid off of the figs. Let the figs cool to room temperature. Trim the stems off of the figs. Cut the figs in half from top to bottom. Set the poached fig halves aside.
Arak Cinnamon Creme: Arak is an Arabic anise liquor that is popular everywhere from Turkey and Armenia to Morocco. Gantous & Abouraad Arak is made in Lebanon and it is a very nice liquor. Arak is usually 100 or 120 proof, so it is a strong liquor. Arak is often used for flambe items in middle eastern quisine, but where strict religious rules apply, no fermented beverages of any kind are allowed. Arak is a strong white grape liquor that is infused with high quality anise. Place 1 1/2 ounces of Arak in a small sauce pot. Add 1/4 teaspoon of lemon juice. Add 1 small pinch of cinnamon. Add 1/2 cup of cream. Add 1/2 tablespoon of sugar. Place the sauce pot over medium/medium low heat. Bring the sauce to a gentle boil. Reduce the temperature to low heat. Simmer and reduce the sauce, till it becomes a thin cream sauce consistency. Keep the sauce warm over very low heat.
Crepes en Lima Glace and Poached Mission Figs with Arak Cinnamon Creme and Cotija: Heat a saute pan over medium heat. Add 2 1/2 tablespoons of sugar. Allow the sugar to melt and turn a yellow amber color. Add 1 ounce of dry white wine. Add 3 ounces of water. Add 1 tablespoon of lime juice. Sir the thin glace. Reduce the temperature to low heat. Simmer and reduce, till the glace becomes a very thin syrup consistency. Add 4 small crepes. Add the reserved poached figs. Gently toss the ingredients together, so they become warm and lightly glazed. Remove the pan from the heat. Place the crepes on a plate. Arrange the poached fig halves on top of the crepes. Spoon the Arak Cinnamon Creme over the figs and crepes. Sprinkle a little bit of crumbled cotija cheese over the crepes. Sprinkle a few very thin sliced petite lime wedges over the crepes.
Viola! A very nice tasting mission fig crepe special du jour recipe for the season! The combination of flavors in this crepe brunch entree will put a smile on anybody's face. Yum! ... Shawna
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