June 21: Ham and Swiss Crepes with Chopped Salad

1/2 cup all-purpose flour
   Coarse salt
3 eggs, beaten
3/4 cup milk
2 tablespoons brandy
2 tablespoons melted unsalted butter
1 pint red cherry tomatoes
1 pint yellow cherry tomatoes
10 fresh basil leaves, chopped
1/2 cup fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
   Coarse black pepper
1/2 seedless cucumber, quartered lengthwise and chopped into bite-size pieces
1 bunch of watercress, stemmed and coarsely chopped
   Vegetable oil, for cooking crepes
2 cups shredded Swiss cheese
1/2 pound thinly sliced Black Forest ham, chopped into ribbons

For the crepe batter, combine the flour and a pinch of salt in a bowl and make a well in the center. Add the eggs, milk, and brandy to the well and whisk to combine. Stir in the melted butter. Cover the batter and set aside for 20 minutes.

While the batter is resting, halve the red and yellow cherry tomatoes and add them to a salad bowl. Add the basil, parsley, balsamic vinegar, EVOO, salt, and pepper. Toss to coat. Add the cucumbers, watercress, and onions.

Preheat a 10-inch nonstick skillet over medium-low heat with a drizzle of vegetable oil. Cover the bottom of the skillet with just enough batter to coat, lifting and shaking the skillet to help the batter along. Let the crepe cook and lightly brown on one side, just about 1 minute.

Turn the crepe with a rubber spatula, lifting up the edges, then use a toothpick or your finger to flip it over. Once it is flipped, scatter some of the cheese and ham on top.

Season with a little salt and pepper, then fold the crepe over and continue to cook until the cheese starts to melt. Transfer the crepe to a plate and cover with foil to keep warm. Repeat this 7 more times to serve 2 crepes per person.

Divide the 8 crepes among 4 serving plates; serve some salad next to the crepes.

4 SERVINGS

This is a pretty good meal. I don't know why the salad calls for whole parsley leaves. Next time I would chop them. I used red grape tomatoes instead of red and yellow cherry tomatoes. Cherry tomatoes are about $5 for a pint, and there are no yellow ones around. So I just go with the grape tomatoes. Instead of brandy I just used some whiskey I had left over from another recipe. I used a regular cucumber instead of seedless since they're much cheaper. I used spinach instead of watercress. And I left the thinly sliced small red onion out of the recipe. I guess I made some of the crepes too thick because I only got 7 crepes out of the recipe. It was a good amount still.