Gluten Free Beer Batter Crepes ! ! !

Dear Shauna (@GlutenFreeGirl), props to you, the intrepid explorer of the gluten free foods domain. I’m so in love with Teff flour, which I only know about from your blog.

Last night was another of those, ”Lord, I’m so hungry and I don’t know what to eat” moments. Hubbers recently scratched red meat and cheese from his diet (we’ll see how long THAT lasts), so the chuck roast was off the menu because there was no time to slow roast all of the fat into a drip pan.

I started out thinking pancakes with chipped ham, but it began to look complicated in terms of proper gluten free recipes that mapped to our preferences. Along the way, I discovered a recipe for Injera from The Healthy Hedonist Holidays by Myra Kornfeld. This was published with permission online and showed up in several blogs.


Hmmm. Mr. Wonderful LOVES crepes and I’ve been longing for a recipe that we could share, one that doesn’t bump up against his “I don’t LIKE gluten-free” filter. With a couple of wee modifications, this could work! A fast and easy blender recipe that we might both enjoy! How exciting!

Read more to find out how I did it.




Thank God for Rosie’s organic boneless skinless chicken breasts, vacuum packed without Styrofoam (such an environmentally aware company). I had a package of these in the defrost tray of my fridge, so there was the basis for the filling in my dinner crepes. Wish I’d had some mushrooms but the frozen ones don’t work too well in food that is prepared quickly.

I pulled out the large cast iron Le Creuset skillet and set it over a medium flame to begin heating through. Meanwhile, I began assembling the crepe batter:

Ingredients:

1 Cup Teff flour

¼ Cup Tapioca Starch

¼ tsp baking soda

¼ tsp salt

2 TBS melted Earth Balance non-hydrogenated shortening

1 TBS apple cider vinegar

1 egg

12 oz (one bottle) Redbridge gluten-free beer

Process:

Pour gluten-free beer into the blender first, then add the eggs and the vinegar. (I don’t enjoy Redbridge as a beverage, but it is a fine ingredient for cooking, so my introductory six-pack will not go to waste.) Next, layer in the dry ingredients and add the warm melted shortening (or butter if you prefer) last of all so that it will not pre-cook your eggs. Whirl the whole lot on medium speed for about 1.5 minutes.

While the batter is blending, add some oil to the skillet. When heated to almost smoking, pour the first crepe into the pan. This batter was very thin, as a good crepe should be, and it held together beautifully. I soon learned NOT to tilt the pan to spread the batter more thinly, as this caused the crepe to break apart in the middle.

I cooked each crepe about 2 minutes on the first side, about 1 minute on the second. I made 5 crepes successfully (and a couple of duds in the beginning), each about 10” in diameter. I covered them with a glass (see-through) vented cover while the first side cooked, but left them uncovered to finish the second side. They flipped perfectly, the edges were just a little crispy, and after the cooking part was completed, they were easy to fill and fold without breaking up.

I lined a pizza pan with foil and turned the oven on to 250 degrees to keep them warm, separating each with a sheet of sandwich paper which I bought at a restaurant supply to use as microwave splatter guards.

While the crepes were in process, I cubed one chicken breast and ground it in the food processor. I added some curry powder, some cumin, and some saffron, along with a ½ tsp of Kathy Casey’s French Seasoning Salt. I heated a small dutch oven and added some walnut oil and some olive oil, then tossed in 2 TBS of diced shallot. When the shallot was cooked through, I added the ground chicken and cooked it off over medium high heat, deglazing the pan with a wonderful organic Malbec Rose’. To this, I added about 1/2 Cup of organic tomato sauce and a small handful of fresh lemon thyme, then simmered without a cover to reduce the liquid.

We spooned the hot filling into our crepes and I added a tiny portion of shredded Fontina cheese to mine. These crepes were so good that they disappeared before I even had a chance to photograph them! The Vida Organica Malbec Rose’ was a purr-fect pairing with the meal.

Try it and let us know what YOU think!