I know it's nothing fancy and food snobs look down on it, but to me a weekend breakfast at IHOP is all about comfort food. A plate of those crispy hashbrowns, a big omelet, and a short stack on a Saturday morning makes my weekend. It's my guilty pleasure, although we only go about every other month.
One of my favorite dishes is their Cheese Blintz, which is simply cheese stuffed crepes with a fruit topping. I've never made crepes. Alexis made one attempt when we got married and that was using a store bought batter in a carton. Back then, we knew about as much about crepes as Ricky Bobby did. It didn't end well. Since then, I've stayed away from making them.
I was watching Anne Burrell's Secrets of a Restaurant Chef and she showed how she makes crepes. She explained it very well and made it seem easy. I knew that I could do that now and decided to try to make my own version of IHOP's cheese blintzes.
The batter makes about 10 crepes but you'll only need 6. Save the other 4 in a gallon zip lock bag with pieces of parchment paper between them for later use.

MyHop Cheese Blintzes
Source: Nibble Me This
Crepe batter by Anne Burrell
Crepe Batter
1 cup All purpose flour
2 ea Egg
1/2 cup Club soda
1 cup Milk*
3 tb Butter melted
1 pinch Salt
Cheese filling
8 ounce Cream cheese softened
1 cup Confectioners Sugar
1 cup Ricotta cheese
Cherry preserves for topping
Mix together all of the batter ingredients and let rest for at least 30 minutes. *Anne's recipe in the episode and as printed on Food Network's site says 1/2 cup milk, but in the episode she ended up adding about 2 shots of milk that seemed to be about 1/4 cup each. Ours needed a full cup of milk too, in order to get the thin consistency.
Whip the cheese filling into a smooth mixture. The sugar sounds like a lot but we kept adding until we got the taste right.
Get a medium sized saute pan heated over medium heat and then melt about 1 Tb of ghee or butter. Pour in 2 ounces (I use a 2 oz ladel to make it easy) of batter and quickly swirl around to coat the bottom of the pan. Anne referred to it as "tilt-a-whirl action" which is a perfect description, just roll it around.
The edges will start to cook first. Use a spatula to lightly work the edges from the pan. After about 1-2 minutes, the bottom of the crepe should start to turn slightly golden and the batter on top will be set. Flip and cook another two minutes.
I proudly present to you, my very first crepe. (Forgive the white balance it wasn't that yellow, this was shot under a 40w oven range hood bulb.)

Remove and repeat. Stack the crepes with parchment or wax paper sheets between them.
Place 2-3 gooey heaping tablespoons of the cheese filling and roll the crepe.
Top with cherry preserves that have been warmed in a small sauce pan.

Holy carp! (sic) I can make crepes!
that loooks good! too bad, im too lazy to make dessert at home. i usually just go out to eat :)
ReplyDeletejen from www.passion4food.ca
**Applause**Applause**Applause**
ReplyDeleteThere you go again. Making me change my dinner plans.
ReplyDeleteI love iHop, too! Food snobbies be darned, lol.
ReplyDeleteThose crepes look divine. I'm imagining them with Nutella, though. :)
Jenn
You did it! And from the way it looks your did it perfectly besides! Great job Chris :-)
ReplyDeleteNever tackled them, but they look great!
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely love blintzes/crepes. Love IHOP for breakfast too.
ReplyDeleteLooks like you pulled off the batter and texture. This is the kind of meal that if you made the blintzes or crepes often enough, it would be easy and the versatility of the fillings would be endless. Very nice.
Very impressive. I've never attempted crepes. Your look great!
ReplyDeleteWe love good food too - not much on the food snob places either.
Hubby loves them, crepes with anything inside! I love your new name for them! :)
ReplyDeletePerfect blintzes! Great job with the crepes Chris; my family loves Ihop too!
ReplyDeleteI don't do IHOP 'cuz there isn't one nearby. But I know what you mean about big guilty breakfasts! There is a place here in LA called The Pantry that I long to go to on weekends. But alas, it is not too convenient either. Though when we are in Palm Springs you know you'll find me behind a big plate a sausage biscuits with gravy at Elmer's every Sunday! I think I'll start order the blintzes on the side. GREG
ReplyDeleteNice job Chris, you nailed those crepes. And cheese blintzes are super tasty. I gotta say your IHOPs must be better than ours.
ReplyDeleteI once saw a guy order steak at IHOP. It was his birthday. This made me incredibly sad for the rest of the day.
ReplyDeleteYou make BEAUTIFUL crepes. I've never tried cheese filled but I know I would love them. I bet yours are way better than Ihops. Nicely done.
ReplyDeleteDon't tell the food snobs, but we have a great little Waffle House on the North end of Highlands Ranch...omg their hashbrowns. We go about every two months. I have been meaning to make some crepes. They're just sooooo good. Love the MYhop by the way.
ReplyDeleteYou go, with your crepe-makin self. Good job!
ReplyDeleteWe love going to Ihop, my husband especially.
ReplyDeleteYour crepes look like perfection, Chris. You did a fabulous job. Congrats!
These rock! Way better than IHOP...
ReplyDeleteOne of my good friends in college worked at IHOP while he was in high school and had continuing nightmares about all of the napkins he had been forced to fold. And thus we were never "allowed" to go to the one IHOP in all of Boston. A tragedy if ever I've heard of one.
ReplyDeleteBut I really love the sound of these crepes. I'll just head over to your place for my next IHOP fix. Mmkay...
a great post on many levels... Great restaurant recreation
ReplyDeleteYUMMY! I like your tip about storing the extra crepes, but in my house there would be no leftovers of these delicious crepes!
ReplyDeleteThis looks so delicious! Yet another excuse to eat dessert. Yum!
ReplyDeleteI would never look down on you for eating an IHOP breakfast (especially since there is an IHOP practically next door to where I work). Never tried to make my own crepes, you make it sound doable.
ReplyDeleteIt's true, I love IHOP pancakes, I am ashamed to say but, they rock!
ReplyDelete