Cornmeal Crepes with Figs and Pears

This morning I made cornmeal and flour crepes with fresh figs, pears and a dollop of whipped cream. Sounds kind of fancy right, but really it’s not and this recipe ended up being very easy to put together. The recipe came from the September 2013 issue of Bon Appetite. I have had page 73 torn out since that date. They are “filed” by where they land in the box and left for a rainy day. Apparently this was the day……….

The hardest part of preparing this dish for me was turning the first crepe (see pic below) So for the next one I followed their prep school tip which was; "Once the edge of your crepe is golden and lacy and the center has set, gently loosen it with a spatula. Then, using your fingers pull up the crepe and swiftly pull over.” I used this method and the rest of the crepes turned out near perfect. But there was one more tip to add which was not anywhere in the instructions. The cornmeal easily sank to the bottom of the bowl in between cooking each crepe. I quickly learned that before pouring the batter into the skillet that I needed to re-stir each time so that the cornmeal was throughout the batter and not laying at the bottom of the bowl. Adding the cornmeal in the batter gave the crepes a little more texture than was I was used to but both my husband and I enjoyed the way they turned out.

My last concern was would this combination of fresh pears and figs taste good together as part of the topping. Would the delicate pear pair well with the fruity fig? Most fresh figs have been described to taste like a mix between a strawberry and a peach. I don’t know if that is how I would describe them but they worked together famously. After the first bite I knew this meal was a home run. This would make a wonderful breakfast, brunch or even an after dinner dessert.

Ingredients:

1 large egg
1/2 cup 2% milk
1/4 cup all purpose flour
1/4 cup cornmeal
2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon (divided) sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract (divided)
1/8 teaspoon salt
3/4 cups heavy cream (divided)
1 pear (cored, skinned at cut into slices)
4 fresh black mission figs (cut into half and then each half into 1/3rds)
2 tablespoon roasted pistachios (garnish)

To prepare:

Combine egg, milk, flour, cornmeal, sugar, vanilla, salt and 1/4 cup cream in a medium bowl, whisk until smooth.

Take the remaining 1/2 cup of whip cream, pour into a cool glass bowl (if possible put one in your freezer for about 1/2 hour. Add 1 teaspoon sugar and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla. Beat with a hand beater until soft peaks before. Set aside and put into refridgerator.

Heat a 10" skillet over medium heat. Add a small pat of butter, then 3/4 of a ladle of batter, swirl pan around until bottom of skillet is covered. Cook until edges are golden brown and batter is set, with a spatula lift up and then using your fingers, lift up and turn over, 30 another 30 seconds or so. On to the next one until batter is gone.

Serve crepes folded, topped with cream cream, pears and figs. Then garnish with pistachios. Enjoy!