How to make Crepes

Trader Joe's Buttermilk Pancake Mix

Trader Joe's Buttermilk Pancake Mix

Trade Joe’s makes it easy to enjoy crepes

Here is a super easy way to make crepes. We usually enjoy crepes for special occasion breakfasts but they are also great for lunch, dinner or dessert as well. Sometimes crepes are filled with sweet fillings (think here about filling a crepe with jam, yogurt or fruit fillings) and other times they are savory ( here what about chicken chunks and steamed broccoli with mushroom sauce or diced ham with a cheese sauce). Either way you fill them, we think they are pretty cool and that everyone will just love them

Now if you have never made crepes before, they might seem a bit strange. Basically you are making pancakes, but instead of thick and fluffy pancakes, you will be thinning down the batter (with either milk or water) with the goal of making a runny batter that will spread out to cover the bottom of your pan. We like smaller crepes, so we like to use a small-ish pan; like those little 8 inch pans that you might cook a couple of fried eggs in.

We like to use Trader Joe’s Buttermilk Pancake & All Purpose Baking Mix to make our crepes as everything is pre-measured and ready right out of the box.

For the best results, the batter must “rest” for a few minutes after you mixed it up. So let it sit in the bowl for a few minutes while you clean up, or go have a coffee 🙂

What you need (about 10 crepes):

  • 1Cup Trader Joe’s Buttermilk Pancake Mix
  • 1 Egg
  • 1Cup Water (+ more to make batter thin)
  • Oil for cooking
  • Filling Ingredients of your choice

1. Mix Egg and 1Cup of water together in a bowl. Add 1 Cup Trader Joe’s Buttermilk Pancake Mix and whisk together until smooth. Check the batter; it should be thin. Add more water if needed to get the right thickness. Let the batter rest for 15 minutes before you start to cook

2. Heat your pan on medium heat until hot. Wipe the hot pan with a paper towel dipped in cooking oil so that the crepes don’t stick. Add about ¼ cup of the crepe batter to the pan and swirl around. You want to coat the bottom of the pan with a thin layer batter, without having a lot leftover.

3. Cook the crepe unit the top side is dry, but try not to let the bottom brown. Watch your heat and adjust as necessary.

4. When each crepe is done we usually stack them together on a plate until all the crepes are ready, then you can fill them all at once. OR you can wait until the crepes cool, wrap the plate in plastic and chill until you need them.

Variations:

You can add some flavors to the batter depending on how you want to serve the crepes. For example if they are going to be filled with something sweet (like for breakfast or dessert) you could add some lemon peel or vanilla extract to the batter. If they will be filled with something savory, you could try some garlic powder or black pepper in the batter.

Once the crepes are made, the fillings are almost limitless. We ate crepes at a restaurant one time that served chocolate and banana crepes with whipped cream! Delish! What about using Nutella -WOW!

We were thinking about making a video showing the different steps to making crepes. Please let us know if you would like to see a video here explaining the whole crepe deal in more details.

How to Cook Raw Shrimp

or the SUPER EASY way to cook raw shrimp

We get this question a lot from friends. It seems like many people struggle and stress about cooking raw shrimp. They always tell us a horror story about overcooked and rubbery shrimp with hardly any flavor- YUCK!

Well, we have a solution to your shrimp cooking troubles:  Introducing the easiest way ever to cook raw shrimp.

This method is a combination of quick cooking and quick chilling (if you are going to eat the shrimp cold like in a shrimp cocktail) to prevent the shrimp from overcooking.

If you are using frozen shrimp (like Trader Joe’s frozen raw shrimp) make sure to thaw them before cooking. This is easily done by placing the shrimp in a plastic zip top bag, removing the air, and submerging the bag in a bowl of lukewarm water for about 20 or so minutes. We place another  bowl on top of the shrimp to keep them under the water while we are thawing. Check the water every 5-7 minutes and add warm water when necessary.

What you need:

  • 1# of raw shrimp (we like Trader Joe’s frozen raw shrimp) thawed if they are frozen
  • 1 lemon cut in slices

How to:

1. Fill a 4 quart or larger pan with water and bring to a full rolling boil.

2. Add the lemon slices and the thawed raw shrimp.  Stir a couple of times

3. Turn the stove off, cover the pan and leave to cook for 4-5 minutes. Now if you have super small shrimp, check them after 3-4 minutes of cooking- If you have very large shrimp, check them after 5 minutes they may need another minute or so.  Shrimp are fully cooked when they are a solid “white” in the center.

4. Drain and the shrimp are ready to eat.

If you are going to serve the shrimp cold, place the hot cooked shrimp into a bowl of ice water, and stir for a couple of minutes, adding more ice if needed until the shrimp are cold to the touch. Refrigerate until you are ready to use them.

Variations:

  • “Old bay” type seasoning
  • Trader Joe’s Taco seasoning
  • Garlic
  • Onions
  • Lemons and limes slices

You can add any of these items to the boiling water or to the  shrimp once they are cooked.

We hope you enjoyed this easy way to cook raw shrimp. Now you will be able to cook and add shrimp quickly and easily to many meals. We like to eat shrimp in tacos, with pasta and tossed on a salad.

What is your favorite way to eat shrimp?

5 Easy Recipes for Cinco de Mayo

So,  what are you going to make for Cinco de Mayo this year??

Well, Trader Joe’s naturally has a lot of items for you to choose from. Do you want to buy stuff already made? OR are you planning to make everything from scratch?  The readymade selection at Trader Joe’s includes chips, salsas, taquitos, burritos, enchiladas –WOW- this list could go on and on…

We are going to mix it up a little this year, as Cinco de Mayo is on a Wednesday and make a little from scratch and also buy a few items already made at Trader Joe’s. Also because it is a Wednesday (and a school night) we are going to keep the celebration fairly simple.

Now when we have parties, or celebrate a holiday (even if it is just the two of us), we like to have a variety of small dishes  or appetizers or tapas to nibble on during the evening, instead of making a big fancy meal. I am not sure how we developed this tradition, but we just love it, and this gives us a great excuse to try new stuff all the time.

Anyway, for Cinco de Mayo, we know that we want to serve Tamales. We like Trader Joe’s Cheese & Green Chili  Tamales (in the Frozen Section) so we are going to pick up some on our next trip.

Trader Joe's Cheese & Green chile Tamales

Trader Joe's Cheese & Green chile Tamales

We also love Sonoran Caviar, to eat with chips, as well as Durango Dip. Yummz!

We are also planning to make a batch of Calabacitas (squash and corn) to round out the meal.

To end the “party” we are going to purchase those yummy Trader Joe’s Crème Brulee’s (see review). They are almost a flan/ custard, and we thought they would be a nice finish to the meal. Our other idea is to serve vanilla ice cream with some fresh papaya chunks- yum.

OK, like I said, we are still in the planning stages. And, YES, this is a LOT of food for two people, but the beauty is that we will have lots of leftovers to stretch this Cinco de Mayo celebration out for a number of days. Heck we could still be enjoying these items into the weekend. Now that is my kind of party (cook once and eat for a few days…..)

We have included the recipes for 5 easy Cinco de Mayo dishes that we hope you will love, so  check out the choices and choose some to make this year.   Here is the complete list of easy Cinco de Mayo recipes for you to try:

5 Easy Recipes for Cinco de Mayo

We hope that these recipes and the items that you purchase from Trader Joe’s will make you Cinco de Mayo celebration a smashing success!

Sonorian Caviar

Trader Joe's black beans and fire roasted tomatoes

Trader Joe's black beans and fire roasted tomatoes

This recipe is #1 in a series of easy recipes for Cinco de Mayo.

This is one of our favorite dip recipes that we have been making for many years. It is a fun mixture of beans, tomatoes, green chilies, green onions and corn. This is a very flexible and forgiving recipe that will still taste great even if you omit some of the items. If this recipe is too plain for you, we have included some suggestions to spice it up.

This recipe is very flexible and is great for beginner cooks, as you are really just mixing ingredients up together. It can be served ice cold, or can sit out at room temperature for a few hours and it will still taste great. Many of your vegetarian friends will appreciate how good it tastes.

What you need:

  • 1 can Trader Joe’s black beans, drained and rinsed
  • ½ cup Trader Joe’s Roasted Corn, thawed
  • 2 green onions, sliced thin
  • 1 can Trader Joe’s Fire Roasted tomatoes with green chilies
  • Salt, pepper

1 bag, Trader Joe’s Tortilla chips

How to:

1. Combine in a bowl the black beans, roasted corn, green onions and fire roasted tomatoes with green chilies. Stir to combine.

2. Season with Salt and pepper to taste.

3. Serve with plenty of chips for dipping.

If possible, make the dip the day before to allow the flavors to develop overnight.

Variations:

  • Use your favorite salsa in place of the can of tomatoes and green chilies.
  • Add 1tsp. (or more) Trader Joe’s taco seasoning for more kick.
  • Add 1tsp. (or more) Trader Joe’s cumin.

Feel free to try your own experiments with this easy recipe- you might find that you discover a whole new dip that you just love.

Sonorian Caviar

Sonorian Caviar