(bright calming music)
- Hi, I'm Natasha from natashaskitchen.com,
and today I'm gonna show you how to make
the Russian version of crepes.
There's just something so special about crepes.
Did you know there are entire restaurants devoted
just to making crepes?
And crepes are probably one of the fanciest
breakfast you'll have.
And after watching this video,
I think you'll see that crepes aren't any more complicated
than making waffles.
Just think of them as really skinny pancakes.
So let's talk about the ingredients.
We're gonna start off with half a cup of lukewarm water,
one cup of milk, four large eggs,
four tablespoons of unsalted butter, melted,
one cup of all purpose flour,
two tablespoons of sugar and a pinch of salt.
For the filling,
we'll need an eight ounce package of cream cheese,
room temperature preferred,
a 16 ounce tub of cottage cheese,
a third cup of sugar and 3/4 cups of raisins or craisins.
What I love about this recipe
is you just put everything into a blender
and give it a whirl until it's well mixed.
It's easy.
I love easy.
Add everything in this order:
the water,
the milk and butter,
your four eggs,
one cup of flour,
your sugar,
and just a pinch of salt.
Put the lid on
and mix it just until it's all evenly blended.
(blender running noise)
And it's done.
These are the tools I use to make the crepes process easier.
I start with a really thin edged spatula,
and this really helps me get under crepes to flip them,
then a small ladle.
And if you don't have a small ladle,
go ahead and use an ice cream scoop.
And finally, you need a really good non-stick skillet.
I use the Circulon brand.
And make sure that the bottom is not scraped or scratched,
otherwise, your crepes will stick to the pan.
Heat your non-stick skillet over medium heat
and add just a small dab of butter.
Let that melt and just swirl it around the bottom
to coat it.
Then we're gonna ladle your batter into the skillet.
And as soon as you do that,
make sure that you swirl the pan right away.
Once you can easily get under the edge,
go ahead and flip it over.
And just saute for another 30 seconds or so.
You can tell when it's done
because it has a really nice golden top.
Transfer it to a cutting board to cool.
And don't stack them on top of each other
while they're hot, let them cool down a little bit.
Oh, my God!
I can see myself in the reflection of the lens
and this is really freaky. (laughs)
Okay. (laughs)
Oh, my goodness.
I had to eat it.
I have to eat one before they're done.
They're so good.
That's what's great about things.
This makes about 15 really soft and perfect crepes.
You're gonna love these.
Rinse your cottage cheese in a fine mesh colander.
And just continue rinsing it until the water runs clear.
Once it's done, drain the water well.
You'll see individual curds of cottage cheese.
Go ahead and transfer this to a flat bottom bowl.
Next, you're gonna add an eight ounce block of cream cheese
and 1/3 cup of sugar.
Mash everything together.
Once it's pretty well mashed together, it's done.
It's not gonna be smooth.
As you can see, it's still pretty lumpy
but that's okay.
Our crepes are ready.
The cheese filling is done.
Let's finish this up.
You're gonna start by putting a generous amount of cheese
right in the center and just spread it out to the edges.
Then top with about 10, 15, as many as you want, really.
I'm using craisins but you can also use raisins.
I've also used chunks of pineapple,
which was really good.
And just start rolling from the edge.
I like to cut them in half, you don't have to,
but I do.
And then just transfer them to a Pyrex dish.
Alright just finish these up.
This means crepes for breakfast for the next few days.
Yum. I can't wait.
Just cover them with plastic and put them in the fridge.
What we like to do is we saute it up
in a little bit of butter
just 'til it's a nice golden brown on the outside.
And then top it with whatever you like.
You can put fresh fruit or bread,
put some berry sauce.
I love it with sour cream.
Really anything you can think of.
I know you'll love this recipe.
(bright calming music)