Suzie’s Summer Crepes

(a traditional breakfast recipe – Turkish Egg Salad in Crepes)

A couple of years ago I made a new friend, Suzie.  We met online having common interests:  I needed a roomate and she needed a room.   Not long into the new living arrangment, we became good friends.  I don’t care what anyone says, you gotta love Craigslist.  As we learned more about each other, we quickly realized that we had another common interest, a passion for cooking.  Suzie and I created many a recipe together.  I can’t count how many contained varieties of chicken sausages and brussel sprouts.  One thing we both loved was the Mediterranean breakfast.  Cheeses.  Olives.  Breads.  Served at breakfast.  Yummy.  My husband had taught me the following breakfast recipe and Suzie and I loved it.   Making it this morning, in my Ankara home, reminded me of those summer mornings spent in my Philadelphia backyard, a small walled in garden also known as “my little peace of heaven” where the three of us enjoyed our summer mornings, checking on the growth of the containing grown vegetables, listening to the birds sing, and dining on cheese and olives. 

This recipe is dedicated to Suzie, a great friend and lover of good food!

Egg Salad:

4 hard-boiled eggs
one small onion, thinly sliced
3 TBSP parsley, coarsely chopped
juice of one lemon
2 TBSP olive oil
1 tsp sumac (see note below)
freshly cracked pepper to taste
salt – if you find it necessary
Optional – feta cheese. I prefer bulgarian. The cheese is added when compiling the crepe – at bottom of recipe

Place onions and parsley in a glass or plastic bowl.  Coarsely chop or thinly slice eggs.  Place in same bowl.  Add lemon, olive oil, sumac and pepper.  I don’t use salt but you can if you want to.  Lightly toss so as not to smash the eggs.

Cooking is not an exact science.  It’s not baking, for goodness sakes.  So this recipe may vary a bit.  My suggestion is to be slow with the lemon.  You can always add more.  Same thing with the spices.  And don’t be afraid to add a lot of parsley.  We Americans don’t eat it much, but it makes this dish what it is — a great breakfast!

Note:  Sumac is a turkish spice.  If you don’t have it, the salad will still be great without it.  I am not sure where to buy it in West Chester.  In Philly, you can find it at the corner market located at 4th & Bainbridge.  There is also at least one Turkish store in Northeast Philly, near Bristol, called Euro Market.  There used to be more in that area, but those stores come and go.  One might try any store that sells mediterranean or middle eastern foods.  In Turkey, it’s plentiful – try any market!

Crepes:

1 cup flour
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup milk
2 eggs
pinch of salt

Place flour and salt in a bowl.  Add eggs.  Beat with a whip.  Slowly add milk and water.  Beat until lumps are gone.  (Crepe batter is much lighter and runnier than a pancake mix.)  Use a non-stick pan for best results, approximately 8-10″.  Heat pan on medium-high.  Add a bit of margarine, butter, or spray.  Add one soup ladle of batter to the pan.  Swirl the pan so that the batter spreads.  It should be a thin layer.  It browns in about 2-3 minutes.  Flip it over.  Cook another minute.  Remove from pan.  Keep warm on a plate with a lid from a big pot.  Repeat until batter is gone!

Final Details:

Roll a couple of spoonfuls of salad into a crepe.  For extra flavor, I add feta cheese.  Take it out to your backyard or a warm sunny spot and eat it! Don’t forget the side of black olives.  Please, but the olives WITH pits. 

Afiyet Olsun!