Alaska Crepe Stack with Orange Curd and Strawberry Jelly

        Last year, right in the beginning of the finals week, the producers of the show set an amazing contest for the contestants of the Masterchef Australia: they asked them to cook any dish they wanted and to dedicate it to their beloved ones. The stakes were high: the winner was allowed to spend a whole day with the family – that was a kind of a boost that anyone in the show needed before stepping into the most important stage of the competition! 

            The challenge was one by Alana who missed her husband a lot during the project. She decided to cook one of his favourite dishes – crepes with lemon curd – but to make it, as she put it, “masterchefy”, or more of a restaurant style. Basically she complicated the dish by cutting rounds out of the crepes and layering them with the lemon curd and raspberry jelly. Alana covered the prepared stacks with Italian meringue and browned them afterwards – just like the Alaska dessert is usually made. 

            There is no recipe of the dish on the official Masterchef website but, to say true, in this case one doesn’t need any. It is just the general idea of the dessert that should be taken. I made my crepe stack with strawberry jelly and orange curd and – of course – I also dedicated the dish to my beloved husband! Needless to say, he appreciated it a lot. He has even excused me for smashing his Alaska – I just had to do it in order to take a picture of all the layers inside!

Beggar’s Purse

           

           I love crepes! Not only because of the pleasure I get when I smell the wonderful aroma that the batter releases when it hits the hot pan, or when I see those lacy rounds on the serving plate or when I eventually take a first bite of a warm treat – crepes, from the culinary point of view, are very versatile. You can serve them plain – with butter, crème-fraiche, honey or jam, - and you can stuff them as well. There are dozens of fillings you may put inside and not a less amount of ways you can present the dish.

            One of the tricks that makes ordinary stuffed crepes look spectacular is gathering them around the filling and tying the ends with a blanched chive. Since the dish resembles a drawstring purse it is usually called “beggar’s purse” (or “aumoniere” in France). It is an elegant-looking, yet easy to make appetizer, which can be prepared with vegetables, meat or even with a sweet filling (in which case “the purses” are tied with the blanched citrus zest). Any sauce that, in your opinion, compliments the filling, would make the dish wholesome – it can even be some sort of a puree or a salsa that will add the texture to the dish. Last time I made the beggar’s purses with vegetable filling and I decided to make asparagus fondue to go with it – it was a beautiful, well-balanced dish which we both (my husband and me) enjoyed on a weekend morning!

Crepe Suzette with White Chocolate and Orange Ice Cream

Last year I was at a party which, to say true, was quite boring until I found a person who shared my passion for food and was eager to talk about it. It was a middle aged woman who traveled a lot in her life and, therefore, was familiar with different cuisines. As I mentioned France, she noticed that this country has always been associated for her with a simple, yet very traditional dish – Crepe Suzette. At that point it suddenly occurred to me: how did it happen that I had never ever cooked this classic dessert? It was definitely a gap in my culinary knowledge to be filled. So, that same week I was making the orange sauce and flambéing my lacy crepes for the first time.

Actually this dish turned out to be a perfect breakfast for our family since my husband loves oranges (there was even a period of time in his life when he started every single day with this fruit) and, well, show me a Russian who would refuse to have crepes for breakfast! Of course, it’s a bit abnormal to indulge in an ice-cream at 8 am, but I can repeat it again and again: I don’t see anything wrong in giving yourself a treat at any time of the day.

Last time when I made Crepe Suzette I had a homemade white chocolate and orange ice-cream which amazingly complimented the dish (in a much more stunning way than a traditional vanilla one). I guess from now on I will always place a scoop of this tangy ice-cream next to my flaming crepes!

Crepes with Poached Eggs and Mushroom Duxelles

It’s a common thing in Russia to make a big pile of crepes early in the morning so that the whole family can enjoy them for breakfast. I don’t want to sound too disloyal to my national cuisine but I really find it too boring to serve crepes just as they are – only with some sour cream, honey or jam on the side. Instead of having four or five plain crepes I prefer to indulge only in one or too but cooked in a more elaborate way. I love my crepes to be stuffed, maybe even baked and served with a nice sauce or fruit compote. Yes, I want a complete, mouthwatering dish on my plate – and every time I try to come up with a new one.

Once I read about the so called Breton crepes: you cook one side of a crepe, flip it and break an egg in the centre (!!!), top with sliced ham and grated cheese and fold it before transferring to a plate. I tried to make some but without ham – just with an egg that should ideally become “poached” inside a folded crepe. I really got my soft, gooey egg but I was not quite happy with the whole dish – it definitely lacked finesse. So, as I made this dish some time later again, I poached the eggs in advance and carefully folded them into precooked crepes. Then I went even further: topped with mushrooms, sprinkled with cheese and put under the grill. What I got on the plate was exactly what I was looking for: a tasty and refined dish, full of flavours and looking more than just nice – especially when I cut though my crepe to reveal a bright egg yolk. A sunny surprise inside an ordinary crepe – for a positive start of the day!