We love making sweet crêpes at home for breakfast... folded into half or quarters in a pan of melted butter & caramelized sugar. We like to add apples, oranges, berries or bananas 'Crêpes Suzette' style for very special breakfasts.
I like to prepare savory crêpes filled with seafood, chicken and vegetable fillings. For holidays I prepare manicotti, savory crêpes filled with ricotta, egg, romano & mozzarella cheeses.
I remember learning to make crêpes at the CIA using a small, square of pork fat for the pans. I was able to cook with five pans at a time and I remember being very hot & having very burnt fingers when I was done...
and also feeling very proud.
Crêpes a la Reine was the first crepe recipe I learned as a young, CIA student in 1980's...
We didn't eat many crêpesgrowing up in New Jersey...

Crepes

Crêpes originated in the Brittany region of northwestern France, where thin pancakes made from buckwheat (sarrasin) were a practical staple rather than a luxury. These early crêpes were typically savory, filled with eggs, cheese, or ham, and traditionally paired with hard cider in Brittany.

Years ago, I visited an old castle in Brittany that had been converted into a small restaurant, perched just beyond the shoreline—reachable only by a narrow stone walkway extending into the surf. We enjoyed savory buckwheat crêpes and cider as the tide slowly crept in, and then had to rush back to shore as the rising water began to cover the path, a reminder of how closely gastronomy is tied to geograpy, culture, tradition, and rhythm of the sea.

 

Wheat flour crêpes became more common and were associated with sweeter preparations, especially as sugar became more accessible. Crêpes eventually spread beyond France, evolving into both street food and refined restaurant fare.  

Prep Time: 2o min

Cooking Time: 20 min

Yield: 4 portions


Ingredients   for Crêpes  

1  Cup            AP flour                                     

2  ea              Eggs, cracked & whisked                                   

1/2 tsp         Kosher Salt                                       

t.t.                 Black pepper                                   

1 1/2 C          Milk                     

1 Tbsp         Butter, lightly salted (melted)

1  Tbsp        Fresh Italian parsley, chopped   (chives, tarragon etc)


4 Tbsp        Butter (melted)       


     

How to Prepare Crêpes

Step 1

Sift the flour into a bowl & add the eggs, salt & pepper. Whisk gently and continue to whisk while slowly drizzling in the milk, creating a smooth batter.

Step 2

Add the melted butter and strain into a container, cover with plastic & rest for an hour. I like to lightly brown the butter for added flavor.

The crêpe batter should be smooth and slightly thicker than cream, add a little milk or water to thin out if too thick. Add the parsley.



Step 3

Heat a crêpes pan or teflon pan to medium heat, it's best to have all of the equipment you'll need near the pan you'll be cooking with



The batter should be thick enough to coat the back of the ladle. You can easily thin out the batter with a splash of milk-if the batter is too thin, place a tbsp of AP flour into a separate bowl and slowly whisk in the batter to avoid lumps-this thickens the batter.






Add a very small amount of butter or oil spray to the pan, making sure to coat all of the bottom and lower side of the pan.





With one hand holding the pan, ladle a portion of the batter into the pan, swirling to cover the entire bottom surface of the pan. It is very helpful to use a 1 oz ladle or the ladle size necessary to coat the size of the pan you are using.





Tilt the pan so the side to get all of the batter to coat the bottom of the pan.

This is a recipe made without straining the batter; note the two spots of flour on the left. This can easily be picked out with a small spoon-but it demonstrates the importance of straining and adjusting the viscosity of the batter.



Cook for about 1 minute and flip with a rubber spatula. You'll see the sides peeling up (as in this picture) when it's time to flip.


(I prefer to flip with my fingers to avoid tearing the delicate crepes). Cook for about 1 more minute and lay out onto a clean towel or parchment.







Repeat until all of the batter is used and cover with a second clean towel to cool the crepes for 20 minutes.

Crepes can be refrigerated or frozen.

Chicken Sauté, Fines Herbs & Champagne Cream

By Tom Griffiths • May 13, 2026
As chefs, we spend years mastering sauté work. I remember my early days working the sauté station for lunch in a French restaurant in NYC. We served over one hundred guests in an hour-and the food was excellent — a dozen hot pans on the flat top, stocks simmering, mise en place of freshly chopped herbs, minced shallots, butter for mounting into sauces à la minute. There is rhythm to good sauté cooking. You learn quickly that great sauté work is not about rushing — it is about organization and control .

Beyond Sweet Basil: An Herb with History, Health, and Global Range

By Tom Griffiths • April 23, 2026
Beyond Sweet Basil: An Herb with History, Health, and Global Range 

Dessert; Italian Wheat Pie

By Tom Griffiths • April 11, 2026
Our Easter and Christmas meals were feasts... my mother's family all met at Aunt Flora's home in Jersey City to enjoy and celebrate the holidays. Dinner began with platters of fresh mozzarella, roasted peppers, olives, Italian bread, then a pasta course (manicotti or lasagna for the religious holidays), a roast or sausages with plenty of vegetables and traditional Italian desserts with dark coffee.We ate Italian Easter Wheat Pie one day each year—and it was never store-bought. My Aunts brought Easter cookies and baked goods-the wheat pie was my favorite. I loved the slight 'bite' of the wheat and flavors of cinnamon, vanilla and citrus. My father sometimes let me have a sip of his espresso with the dessert. I'm not sure if my mother used lard for the pie crust-she was a fan of butter and Crisco but the crust was always flaky.

Roast Leg of Lamb

By Tom Griffiths • April 8, 2026
There are certain dishes that stay with you—not just for their flavor, but for what they represent. For me, roasting a leg of lamb over Pommes boulangère is one of those meals. I don't recall having lamb at any occasions growing up so this was a dish that I proudly introduced to our family. As a young cook, it was something I could prepare with limited experience, and it provided deeply satisfying results. The lamb roasts in the oven over a bed of potatoes, onions, and garlic, allowing its natural juices and fat to baste the vegetables below. It's actually a simple preparation but becomes a complete, delicious meal—the potatoes absorbing flavor and becoming just as important as the roast itself. These days I'm developing delicious recipes using spice blends such as Ras el hanout, Baharat, Za'atar, Togarashi and even Harissa. I also love roasting leg of lamb outdoors on a grill or rotisserie. I like the subtle smokiness from applewood or dried herbs when I'm roasting lamb outdoors.

Potatoes Boulangère

By Tom Griffiths • April 8, 2026
There are certain dishes that stay with you—not just for their flavor, but for what they represent. For me, Pommes boulangère is one of those dishes. As a young cook, it was a delicious meal I could prepare for my family with my limited culinary experience. I often return to this preparation when roasting whole chicken, pork, or lamb—letting the potatoes, onions, and garlic absorb the natural juices from the protein as it cooks. The potatoes becomes more than a side dish; it’s the foundation of the meal.

Holiday Au Graten Potatoes

By Tom Griffiths • April 7, 2026
There are countless versions of Potatoes au gratin , many of them heavy with cheese. I prefer a more restrained approach—using little or no cheese—so the flavor of the potatoes remains the focus rather than being masked. Milk produces a lighter, more delicate gratin, while light or heavy cream creates a richer, more structured dish. Both are valid—it simply depends on the desired outcome. One constant, however, is nutmeg. Used sparingly, it acts as a quiet “secret weapon,” adding depth without calling attention to itself. This recipe is inspired by Xavier LeRoux, one of the finest chefs I’ve had the privilege to work with. His method includes an extra step—gently simmering the potatoes in cream before baking—which yields a noticeably superior result. The potatoes begin to release their starch into the cream early, ensuring a more uniform texture and a fully integrated dish from the first bite to the last.

My favorite Brownies

By Tom Griffiths • March 19, 2026
There are plenty of brownie recipes—and then there is the one that lives in memory. This is the only brownie recipe I bake, from Julia Child, whose influence reached far beyond French cuisine and into the home kitchens of passionate bakers like my mother. A devoted admirer, she baked these brownies often—usually for the dessert trolley at my restaurant. We featured a brownie freeze... brownie cubes with homemade vanilla ice cream, warm melted chocolate and freshly whipped cream-amazing! For me, this recipe is more than a classic—it’s a reflection of how great cooking is passed down: through admiration, repetition, and a deep love of craft.

Curing Salmon fillet

By Tom Griffiths • March 19, 2026
I taught garde manager for many years at the CIA and this is one of my favorite recipes from class. I actually developed this recipe with one of my students, inspired by a recipe he had learned on his externship.

Dessert; Irish Soda Breadd

By Tom Griffiths • March 17, 2026
We ate Irish soda bread one day each year—and it was never store-bought. Soda bread wasn’t part of our cultural lineage, but it earned its place through something more universal: respect for tradition. My mother was not an occasional baker— growing up, her baking centered on Italian traditions: special Christmas cookies, the Vigna family birthday cake, and beautifully braided Easter breads that reflected heritage. Later, like many serious home bakers of her generation, she was influenced by Julia Child . That influence expanded her repertoire into classic European pastry—Paris-Brest, pound cakes, even German chocolate cake. The iconic cross cut into the top of the loaf is often said to “let the fairies out,” though in professional kitchens we recognize its functional role: allowing heat to penetrate and the loaf to expand evenly during baking.

Authentic Guacamole, Hospitality, and the Responsibility of Feeding People

By Tom Griffiths • February 26, 2026
Authentic Guacamole, Hospitality, and the Responsibility of Feeding People