Rebecca’s Recipes
Caprese scramble crepes
Caprese Scramble Crepes
I woke up craving savory crepes, and since we have a ton of late-summer tomatoes and basil in the garden, caprese was the obvious choice.
Ingredients (makes 4-6 medium crepes)
Crepes:
1 egg
5 oz. flour (a little more than 1/2 cup)
1/2 tablespoon vegetable oil or melted butter
pinch of salt
Filling:
4 eggs
Splash of milk
Salt & pepper to taste
1 medium heirloom tomato (other varieties are ok too), sliced
1/2 cup fresh whole milk mozzarella cut into small cubes
Handful of fresh basil chiffonade (cut into thin strips)
Butter or cooking spray for the pan
Instructions
Prep the crepe batter, which is super quick and easy. If you’re feeling industrious, whisk all of the crepe ingredients together in a bowl. If you’re feeling lazy (like I was), throw them into a blender and mix, gradually increasing speed from low to high for a total of about 15 seconds. Eyeball it and stir as needed to smooth out any lumps or unincorporated flour.
Next, to prep the filling, whisk the remaining eggs in a bowl with a dash of salt pepper for seasoning and a splash of milk (I picked that up from my dad, it makes the eggs a little denser and creamier.)
Cook the crepes first. Heat a nonstick or well seasoned cast iron skillet to medium and coat the bottom with a thin layer of butter or cooking spray. Pour 4-5 tablespoons of batter into the pan and immediately swirl it around to create a thin coating. (I like to pour it in a ring and then swirl to fill in the middle, but you do you.) Let it cook for about 20 seconds or until you see tiny steam bubbles all over the surface of the crepe. Use a spatula to carefully flip the crepe over and cook another 10 seconds. There should be a little browning on each side. Transfer to a paper-towel-lined plate and repeat with the rest of the batter, maintaining a thin layer of butter or cooking spray on the pan surface.
Once the crepes are done, add a small pat of butter to the pan and scramble the eggs. I use a silicone scraper to give them a slow, steady stir for soft, even curds. When they’re halfway set, toss in 3/4 of the basil. Give them a few more seconds and turn off the heat. Keep gently stirring and the residual heat will cook them the rest of the way.
To serve, place a tomato slice in one corner of a crepe. Top with a heaping spoonful of eggs, and top that will a sprinkling of mozzarella cubes. Fold the crepe in half and then in half again. Repeat with remaining crepes.
Garnish each crepe with a few strands of basil and serve to your happy, hungry loved ones!
Biscuit-Topped Pot Pie
This is what I call a fridge-cleaner recipe. We roast a chicken once a week or so and this is one of my favorite things to do with the leftover meat. Then I grab whatever veggies and fresh herbs we have on hand and make things even more fun with a biscuit topping instead of traditional pie crust. (And these biscuits are made with regular milk because who keeps buttermilk in the fridge all the time? People with way more time on their hands than the rest of us, that’s who.) Anyway this is SO GOOD.
Ingredients (serves 6-8)
Biscuit Dough:
2 cups all-purpose flour (plus a few tablespoons for dusting)
2 tablespoons baking powder
2 teaspoons sugar
1 teaspoon salt
5 oz cold unsalted butter cut into small cubes
1 cup whole milk
Pot Pie Filling:
3 tablespoons butter or olive oil
2 cups diced veggies (Onions, carrots, celery, and peas are classic, but you really can experiment here — I like to use shallots, green beans, mushrooms, fennel, bell peppers, cauliflower — really whatever I have on hand.)
2 cups shredded chicken or turkey
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
3 cups (ish) warm chicken stock (see below)
Splash of dry white wine (optional)
Chopped herbs to taste (I’ll use rosemary, parsley, thyme, sage, or oregano depending on what I have and how I’m feeling.)
A few tablespoons of half-and-half or heavy cream (optional)
Salt and pepper
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 375°
For the biscuits, sift all the dry ingredients together in a bowl. Add the butter by pulsing in a food processor or by hand using a pastry cutter until it comes together in a rough-looking crumble with pea-sized chunks. If using a food processor, put the mixture back in the bowl. Add the milk, and mix with a fork until just combined into a dough. Form it into a rough ball, cover the bowl with a kitchen towel, and let the dough rest while you work on the filling, about 30 minutes.
For the filling, heat the butter or olive oil in a large pan over medium-high heat. Add the vegetables and saute until they start getting tender, around 3-4 minutes. Add the chicken or turkey and sprinkle the flour over the whole thing and stir to combine. Let that cook for a minute or so. Then, add the stock and wine (again, optional), give the whole thing a stir, and let it thicken. (Use your judgment re more or less stock/wine based on how much liquid your veggies give off. And don’t stress, you can always add a splash more stock later.)
Once it’s thickened up a good bit, add salt, pepper, and herbs to taste. Add half-and-half or cream (if using) and give it all a stir. Let it cook another 2 or 3 minutes to give the flavors time to get all cozy with each other, and then taste. If it’s too thick, add a little more stock. Too thin? Let it cook a little longer. Need seasoning? Adjust until you’re happy. Then, pour the filling into a glass baking dish.
Next, go get that biscuit dough. You can gently roll it out onto a lightly floured surface until it’s about 1” thick and cut it into rounds — or just use your fingers or a spoon to heap 6-8 dollops right on top of the filling, spaced evenly apart. (If they’re much thicker than 1”, use a wooden spoon or silicone scraper to spread them out and flatten them a bit so they cook evenly.)
Pop the baking dish into the oven for 20 minutes or so, turning halfway through. You’ll know it’s done when the biscuits are golden brown on top and you can see that delicious filling bubbling away around the sides.
Take it out and let it cool for 10 minutes or so — this will take all your willpower, so feel free to distract yourself with a nice glass of wine — and then serve.
Biscuit-topped Pot pie
Homemade Chicken Stock/Bone Broth
This brings me right back to my Grandma Fannie’s little apartment kitchen in Queens, New York.
We keep a large resealable plastic bag in the freezer, and anytime we have veggie/herb scraps or bones from good meat, we throw them in the bag. (Yep, I’m the lady who asks the restaurant server to wrap up the bones for me. They always ask if it’s for my dog and I say, “No, it’s for me.” My husband loves to watch how they react.)
Also, while Grandma’s was kosher and very traditionally Jewish, my stock is made up of whatever I’ve been cooking with and eating, which sometimes includes — sorry Grandma — pork. (Honestly, while this branch of the family was pretty traditionally Jewish, I think she would be proud of my carrying our family traditions on in my own way.)
Whenever it’s time to make stock, I grab the “bone bag” from the freezer. I toss a combination of things in to the pot — it used to be a slow-cooker, now I use an electronic pressure cooker, and of course Grandma Fannie just did it in a pot on the stove. The main ingredient is the bones; They don’t have to perfectly clean, any meat/fat/skin/cartilage will just add to the flavor of the stock. If we’ve roasted a chicken recently, I just throw in whatever’s left after I’ve picked it over. There are almost always a few onion roots and parsley stems in the bag, and if not, I’ll add some fresh. Same with carrots and celery. I always toss in a bay leaf. Beyond that, I grab whatever I have — mushroom stems add umami, fennel scraps add a nice anise flavor, thyme contributes a lovely perfumey earthiness. (I don’t add salt — that way I have total control over the salt level in whatever I’m using the stock for.) Then I fill the pot with water until everything is covered by an inch or so.
Set the slow cooker to high for 3 hours or so, the pressure cooker to the stock setting, or bring it all to a boil and then let it simmer on the stove all day like grandma did. When it’s done, scoop all the bones and veggie scraps into the trash or compost — they’ve done their job. Pour the stock through a fine mesh strainer so it’s clear. At this point, you can refrigerate it overnight and skim the fat off the top the next day if you like. I keep the fat because it reminds me of my grandma — I called her soup “chicken soup with dents” because of the little drops of fat floating on the surface. It makes me feel warm and loved just thinking about it.
Then pour the stock into small, sealable containers and freeze. (I always keep one ready to go in the fridge.) You now have a magic ingredient. Seriously, as my husband declares at least once a week, this stuff makes everything it touches instantly more delicious. Sure, you can have it on its own in a brothy soup or use it as a base for pureed soups and stews, etc. But you can also use it to add flavor when you’re making rice, polenta, couscous, quinoa, or pasta. It makes AMAZING risotto. Use it in place of water or store-bought broth in sauces. Add a splash to mashed potatoes for an incredible savory depth. Pretty much anytime a savoy recipe calls for water, I think (and often say out loud), “WATER? Psh.” And I reach for grandma’s stock.