it is no secret that i have a black thumb, and while b is pretty exceptional at gardening he cannot take credit for this gigantic swiss chard jungle that has popped up in our front yard. when we first moved in we planted baby swiss chard plants and have basically ignored them until recently. swiss chard must love malibu soil because we haven't so much as watered the plants. extra bonus - the swiss chard jungle means b makes crepes with swiss chard and mushrooms (recipe below).
from b:
these crepes are a variation on my favorite dinner/breakfast/all purpose recipe from growing up. long before i had ever heard of crepes, or visited paris and tasted the glory of batter cooked thin and filled with gooey hot nutella, my grandad and grammy o would entertain our constant requests for irish pancakes.
i don't remember when they first introduced us to this favorite food group, but every time i eat these, i think of my grandad and grammy. my favorite memories are of them showing up at our house late at night, usually after an irish community function, and my siblings and i peppering them with requests to cook irish pancakes. being irish, they would put the kettle on boil first so they could get their cup of tea, and most times we were lucky enough to have them oblige us and make pancakes. we would stand in the kitchen next to them, because they always asked for a helper, and as grandad or grammy would cook the pancakes ("it's all in the wrist" - grandad), my brother, sister, or i, would fill the hot, thin pancakes with sugar, roll them up (unlike folding a crepe) and eat just about every other one.
whenever i'm at my grammy's house now, or she visits, i still pepper her to make irish pancakes, and she still needs a helper to sugar, roll, and of course, sample, the famous irish pancakes.
and the cool thing is, now that i'm "grown up," the batter works just as well for savory fillings, which we have plenty of with the overflow of chard form the garden. enjoy.
irish pancake batter:
1 cup flower
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1 pinch of salt
mix the batter until there are no clumps. unlike normal pancakes, you want to fully whisk this so it's light and pretty runny. i usually end up adding a little extra milk to get a nice, thin batter.
i use a crepe pan, or similar, add a little butter, and pour your batter out. tilt the pan around so you cover the entire bottom. don't be discouraged, i still have trouble sometimes, and the first one of every batch is almost always a dud. i usually undercook slightly if i'm going to be filling them. flip when browned, and remove to a plate when second side is done.
filling:
a couple cloves of garlic, diced, smashed, broken, however you like
1 serrano or jalapeno, to taste, diced
mushrooms, any will do, including regular old white buttons
swiss chard, chopped
olive oil
salt
pepper
grated cheese (gruyere, swiss, parmesan, some goat cheddar) anything you like the taste of and that melts well will work
heat pan to medium, add olive oil. add garlic and pepper, stir around to flavor the oil. add the mushrooms after garlic has softened slightly. when mushrooms have colored a little and are close to fully cooked, add your chopped swiss chard. chard will quickly reduce in size.
reheat your crepe pan, and put one of the slightly undercooked pancakes back in. put as much or as little cheese in as you like, then cover that with a couple spoonfuls of the chard mixture. fold the crepe in half, and flip once bottom is browned. when second side is browned, remove.
