Friday, February 17, 2012

Teff-full Crepe and LOVE

Valentine’s Day 2012 is over, I KNOW…but I have to share my thoughts and recipe for a yummy and special meal. It was SOOOOO good and sometimes the “it” factor is needed, even for meals other than Valentine’s Day. This is “IT”!! A little time consuming, but a special thing to serve for the one or ones you love. FIRST…some background as to how this recipe came to BE! I have discovered a new grain for my culinary pleasure. It is a grain with an ancient history. The grain is called teff…LOVE it!!! It is nutty when cooked, with the reminiscent taste of my childhood…cream of wheat. EXCEPT it is wheat free and has a reddish brown color…burnt sienna...to all you pigment people. Teff is really high in protein, iron, zinc, and calcium…best thing…it tastes good! I purchased the teff grain at our local grocery store, so I feel sure it is now easy to find. What I used is the Bob’s Red Mill brand of teff, but that is just what our local store carries. You won’t believe how small the grains are….LOOK!


Told ya!!! 


Teff, comes from the Ethiopian word…teffa, meaning lost (read this in my Vegetarian Times magazine). Yep… drop this on the floor and you could NEVER find all the little grains!!! I did some reading about this Ethiopian grain and found out that it is known as lovegrass and related to the weeping lovegrass growing on the hillside near our house. Lost….love…weeping….hmmmmm…


Well…I couldn’t let that go…lovegrass…Valentine’s Day meal?????? 
Yep…had to go down this road!!!! So, I figured out how to do a lovely 
teff crepe for our special meal. I am calling this Teff-Full Love Crepes.

Teff-Full Love Crepe Recipe:
(Makes 6 to 8 crepes…depending on the size of skillet used.)

Teff grains cook very quickly…15 minutes. Cooking the teff needs to be done before making the crepe batter. You could also make some porridge in the morning and have some leftover and make these from leftover teff porridge. 
(I seem to always finish all my porridge!!! ;-D)
In a small sauce pan:
1 cup water
Pinch of salt
Bring the water to a boil and stream in:
¼ cup teff grain
Stir well…


Cover the pan and lower heat to simmer for 15 minutes…
stir occasionally as needed.



Teff is thickened to a porridge consistency with the small grains absorbing all the water. In measuring the cooked teff, you will have approximately ¾ cup…
in case you are using leftovers…hahaa!!

Place cooked teff in bowl of food processor. Allow teff to cool a few minutes while getting out the ingredients to make the crepe batter.

Combine:
1 T. ground flaxseed
3 T. water


Look….a heart friend…perfect for a Love meal!!!! 
Allow flax meal to get gooey with the water (technical term).

Melt:
¼ cup of Earth Balance vegan spread…I do this in microwave…15 seconds…COVER WITH A PAPER…less spatters to clean…FYI


Add the flax meal, and melted Earth Balance to the teff in processor… Add:
1 cup unflavored almond milk
½ cup water (plus additional as needed later when cooking crepes)



Process the wet ingredients a few seconds to incorporate the teff with all of the liquids.

Now combine the dry ingredients:
½ cup whole-wheat pastry flour
¾ cup unbleached all purpose flour
¼ tsp. salt

Add dry ingredients to the wet and again…process for a smooth batter.

The batter should look like heavy cream with specks.


Most crepe recipes have you refrigerate the batter for at least 30 minutes or longer before using…I simply cleaned up my batter making utensils and processor bowl/blade…readied my crepe making at the stove…and started in making crepes. I think the grain makes it a little sturdier and easier to begin quickly making crepes. Heat a NON-STICK skillet. I used an 8” skillet because I wanted larger “dinner-sized” crepes. I cooked the crepes on a medium heat as you want them to cook quickly, but not brown much…the setting was between a 3 and 4 on my electric cook-top, but you will get a feel for it as you cook the crepes on your stove.

Lightly oil the skillet (spray or brush with olive oil)




Once the skillet sizzles when a bead of water is dropped onto the surface…crepe making begins…
It is really FUN!! Don’t be scared!!!

Lift oiled skillet off heat and pour a scant ½ cup of batter into the center of the pan. Immediately begin tipping and rolling the skillet…making the circle of batter larger and larger…until the batter has been rolled all across the bottom of the skillet and even a little up the edge. The batter should just thinly coat the skillet surface…


Place skillet back on heat and cook the first side of the crepe approximately 2 minutes…may take longer on the first crepe. Don’t worry if the first one is bound for the trashcan…it sometimes happens. 
Cook the crepe until the edge looks dry (you will see a change in color).


Lift the edge of the crepe with the tip of a table knife or metal spatula…then…simply using your hands…FLIP. 
(I flip front to back…but you may find it easier to flip back to front…
probably is a right brain, left brain thing….????)



The cooked side of crepe will be dry, but not really browned.

Cook the second side... again about 2 minutes…maybe a little less. 
Flip the cooked crepe out onto a plate.



Re-oil the skillet and do it again and again…until the batter is used up. 

(Should the batter be too thick for easy rolling…happens as it sits…
add 1 T. of water at a time…stir…and then make additional crepes.)

Place wax paper between the crepes and stack.



(At this point…you could stop…allow the crepes to cool completely…place in a ziplock bag…and have the crepes ready to go for the next day. I only filled four crepes, so I stored the rest for another meal. The crepes “keep” well in the refrigerator for a few days. Stuffed with tofu scramble for breakfast….YUM!)

Now here is the filling I used inside the teff crepes for our “LOVE MEAL” on Valentine’s Day.

Spinach and Mushroom Filling Recipe:
(This fills four 8” crepes…increase accordingly)

Into a hot skillet place:
2 T. of olive oil
1 8 oz. package of cremini mushrooms (FINELY chopped)



Allow the mushrooms to get seared and browned.

Add:
1 tsp. of dried basil
¼ tsp. ground poultry seasoning
¼ to ½ tsp. red pepper flakes…depending on your spice preference
1/3 cup FINELY chopped onion
2 cup (measured frozen) chopped spinach…defrost…squeeze dry



Add:
1 cup unflavored almond milk
¼ cup vegan cream cheese (Follow Your Heart brand...appropriate;-))
½ cup mozzarella veggie shreds (Galaxy brand)
½ cup FINELY chopped walnuts…(plus additional ¼ cup for topping)

Stir well…allowing the vegan cream cheese and shreds to melt.




Add:
¼ tsp. of salt…or to your liking…taste and adjust to your preference.

Remove skillet from heat and make white sauce for topping.

White Sauce:
(Enough sauce to cover four 8” crepes…increase accordingly)


Into a small sauce pan place:
2 T. of Earth Balance vegan spread




Anyone see a heart????

Melt Earth Balance over medium high heat and add:
2 T. of unbleached all purpose flour



Whisk the flour into the Earth Balance and allow the flour
 a minute or two to cook…now slowly whisk in:
1 cup of unflavored almond milk



Add:
¼ cup vegan cream cheese (Follow your Heart)
½ cup mozzarella veggie shreds (Galaxy brand)



Whisk until all is melted and smooth.

Grate some fresh whole nutmeg.



Add seasoning to almond milk mixture:
1 T. of nutritional yeast
¼ tsp. garlic powder
¼ tsp. of salt…or to taste
Pinch of cayenne pepper
Pinch of freshly grated nutmeg



All the parts of the crepes are completed…so now…FILL  CREPES 
AND BAKE!!!
Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees…lightly oil a square 9” baking dish.

Lay one of the cooled crepes on a flat surface. Down the middle of the crepe, place about ½ cup of the mushroom/spinach filling.




Fold over both sides to the center over the filling.



Place the crepe seam side down into the lightly oiled 9” baking dish. Repeat this process for the other crepes.



Pour white sauce over the crepes. 


Sprinkle with:
¼ cup of FINELY chopped walnuts
Dash of paprika



Bake crepes In a 350 degree oven for 25 minutes...or until bubbling 
and hot.

Allow the baked crepes a few minutes to “set” before trying to serve…otherwise it will be difficult to keep the crepe whole for a nice presentation on the plate.


(I steamed some asparagus during this “crepe resting time” ;-))

OK…deep breath…serve carefully... supporting the crepe out of the baking dish with your serving spatula…
TA….DAH!!!!



LOVE ON A PLATE!!!!

Candles lit, music playing, fireplace blazing…yes, it was a LOVELY MEAL... 
if I DO say so myself. Quite a special meal for a Tuesday!!!


We cleaned our plates and then exchanged cards.



Those who know us well, know how much we love our pugs!!
Well…here’s the Avanti card I gave Jim…



Jim’s card to me…much more elegant…a Hallmark card...



As we remembered the Valentine Days of the past (you do this as you get older…) we remembered Valentine’s Day three years ago. My father was dying. Jim, our son, and I had gone back to the nursing center where Dad was being cared for... just to check in on him for the night. We found him, sitting up in bed, being fed a small spoonful of sherbet by the young aide. Clear as can be, he asked if I would see that my mom receive a Valentine’s Day card. The remarkable thing was that Dad had not been really lucid about anything in the days prior to or after THIS brief moment in time. (It was a Grace Moment…as Jim calls them!) I assured him, Mom, would receive a card from him and we had our final two-way conversation with Dad in those brief minutes before tucking him in and saying goodnight. Not being able to find a card that would begin to say what I thought needed to be said…
I purchased a blank card and hand-wrote these words of scripture after they caught my eye.
(A framed paper cutting hanging on my wall.)



The only words that seemed to sum up the love of a 50-year marriage were these words.


Three years ago today…on the February 17, 2008 my father was gone…but love not lost…only out of sight. I’ve thought a lot about that time over the last three years. I lost the physical presence of my dad, my business, and a sense of my orientation during that week of Valentine’s Day 2008. It made me appreciate the parables in the Bible about the lost in a way that I never had before. These are the parables about the lost sheep... lost coin... and the lost son...  I gained a new understanding. 
(Look in the 15th Chapter of Luke if you are curious.) 

What is lost...is pursued by LOVE! 
That is what brought me comfort and hope. The knowledge... that no matter what... LOVE…NEVER fails…even when everything in life seems to fail. 
Even when lovegrass is weeping…



The scattered grains of love are not lost…only out of sight.

Grace (our black mutt) and I walk by this grass daily…I see this grass differently this week.



While walking…I’ve been listening to down-loaded new single on my phone that I’ve fallin’ in LOVE with…by Jason Mraz…”I Won’t Give Up”. 
One of the song’s lines says...” we didn’t break, didn’t burn, we had to learn how to bend without the world cavin’ in”…”I won’t give up…we’ve got a lot to learn…God knows we’re worth it…even if the skies get rough, I’m givin’ you all my love…I’m still lookin’ up”…

Nothing is LOST…only out of our sight…
LOVE finds us, holds us, sustains us…LOVE NEVER FAILS!



In memory and thanksgiving of the love of Charles L. Williams Jr.



This teff crepe is a special recipe…the crepe holds all of the “stuff”… the filling…the heart of the recipe... a warm enfolding, comfort food…the perfect meal for the ONE you love and for remembering the ONES you love. 
Love meals are needed more frequently than once a year on Valentine’s Day, SO… make some crepes:-).



Or hold a pug and remember…
LOVE pursues you... it will NOT LET YOU GO!!!!



Thoughtful Living Moment Today: EVERY small grain of love is gathered into our hearts, so not even ONE is ever LOST! 
Keep Looking Up!




























4 comments:

Gina said...

Love this whole post <3

Unknown said...
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