Playing Chef- Crepe Night

 The Remains of the Meal

A common misconception about chefs is that once we are done with our work day, we don't want to cook/bake ect.  Chefs are known for eating out quite a bit, but its usually because we are foodies, and not so much due to laziness.  However I am not claiming I have never come home from work and just ordered a pizza....it also helps that I live in close proximity to some decent and inexpensive places to eat.  What comes after work? Play time.  The first sentence then should be: after working, a chef no longer wants to cook/bake what others want them to make, it is now the time for them to cook/bake whatever it is the chef wants to make (assuming you are not the head chef of your own restaurant/cafe, ect and are calling the shots-ah luxury). 

Sunday night dinners started out as burger nights with my roommates at my last apartment.  Then it morphed into dinners of other types of food, and inviting whomever was able to join us.  But once you start getting more "chefs" involved, it quickly becomes more complex.  Menus are planned, drink pairings are discussed, and of course their has to be delicious appetizers to start.   I have always been a fan of having regular and frequent dinner gatherings; planned or impromptu.  Nothing makes me happier then mixing good friends and good food.  If I could be paid to nothing but plan and host dinner parties like this, well I'd be a pretty darn happy person.

This past Sunday night dinner started out as an innocent, hey lets get together at G's house, oh and I invited, M, J, and T as well.  Fine. 
"What are we having?" 
"Well G and I decided it would be fun to have brunch for dinner."
"That is a fantastic idea!  Oh we have to go get that cheese I was telling you about."
The J says  he wants crepes and remembers that I have a crepe pan as well and the plan begins to snowball. This is why I love having so many chef friends, we are all so food crazy in ways only other food crazy people can understand. 

After trips to the cheese, grocery and liqour stores, a series of phone calls to plan who was bringing what, we gathered at G's to start the crepe making madness. We were all very excited.  Here was our menu (items followed by the contributing chef)

Lovely Hummus and chips - Amanda
Selles-sur-Cher Chevre with Pepper water crackers- Jenni
Fruit Salad of fresh Papaya, grapes and Kiwi with fresh Key Lime juice- Amanda
Sesame seed crepes with Duck Confit and Garlicky Asian veggies- Justin
Buckwheat crepes with Black Forest Ham and Emmenthal Cheese- Jenni
Buckwheat crepes with White Beans, Collard Greens and Sun-dried Tomatoes- Gwen
Home made Smoked Salmon-Amanda
Served with Bloody Marys, English and French Cider
Best Hostess-Gwen

Justin's Work Space for Making the Asian Duck Confit Crepes

 Amanda's Tastey Fruit Salad

The four of us worked quite efficiently in the tiny apartment kitchen.  J and I manned the stove, A and G made some strong Bloody Marys.  We talked about food as we prepared our dinner, compared notes on crepe recipes and cooking techniques.  Once everything was finished cooking, plated and the table was set, we sat down for a well-deserved and even more anticipated dinner.  It was awesome.

Crepe Making Action 

 

We had all the fixings for some lovely dessert crepes.  I had candied some kumquats and squeezed some juice from a Blood Orange to make a version of Crepes Suzette. Amanda brought the requisite Nutella, but we were just too full to even think about dessert after.  So we sat and finished the cider, talked for a bit and then all headed home to our beds because we were very tired.  Playing chef was fun, now it was time to get some sleep before going back to our very busy jobs working as chefs.

Of course we've already started talking about next Sunday's dinner.  A few of us will be quite busy and not sure if we will have time or energy to cook next week, but that is why I have a good pizza place number stored in my phone.  Or maybe we'll just go out.