Make An Easy, Tasty Weekend Brunch

The weekend's approach sets many minds to thinking about brunch.

And there's no one better than cookbook author and chef Bill Telepan of "Telepan" restaurant in New York to serve up recipes for easy-to-prepare, mouthwatering brunches.

He shared some as The Early Show concluded its weeklong "Culinary Inspirations" series Friday.

Telepan focuses on using the best and freshest offerings from your local market.

FOOD TERMINOLOGY (Source: Wikipedia)

A crêpe (also spelled crepe) (originally from the Latin for "to shrink") is a thin pancake, a meal made of wheat popular throughout Europe and elsewhere. Common ingredients include flour, eggs, milk, butter and a pinch of salt. Crêpes are usually of two types: sweet crêpes made with wheat flour, and savoury galettes made with buckwheat flour.

Crêpes originated in Brittany, a region in the west of France, where they are called krampouezh; their consumption is widespread in France now. It is said that crêpes were born in this region because they couldn't grow enough wheat to bake bread due to its poor soil.

Crêpes may be rolled or folded, and filled with different ingredients. Crêpes can be eaten at any meal if they are salted, and filled with cheese, asparagus, ham, eggs, ratatouille, mushrooms or various meat products.

When they are sweet, they can be a dessert. They can be filled with various other sweet items: jam , melted chocolate, dairy, ice cream, nutella, bananas, berries, nuts, poppyseeds, cinnamon, etc.

Popular sweet toppings include sugar (granulated or powdered), maple syrup, lemon juice, whipped cream, fruit spreads and sliced soft fruits.

A typical French and Belgian crêpe is the Crêpe Suzette, a crêpe with lightly grated orange peel and liqueur (usually Grand Marnier), which is subsequently lit.

It is also a fairly common practice to roll or envelope them and then lightly fry, bake or sauté them, not unlike blintzes, whose preparation is otherwise similar.

A blintz, blintze or blin (Russian, Ukrainian) is a thin pancake often served in connection with a religious rite or festival in several cultures.

The word "blin" comes from Old Slavic mlin, which means "to mill." Blins had a somewhat ritual significance for early Slavic peoples in pre-Christian times, since they were a symbol of the sun, due to their round form. They were traditionally prepared at the end of winter to honor the rebirth of the new sun (Pancake Week, or Maslenitsa). This tradition was adopted by the Orthodox church and is carried on to the present day. Bliny were once also served at wakes to commemorate the recently deceased.

(The term "blintz" is mostly applicable to this version): A filling such as jam, fruit, potato, cottage cheese or other cheese, cooked ground meat, cooked chicken and even chopped mushrooms, bean sprouts, cabbage and onions (for a Chinese eggroll) is rolled or enveloped into a pre-fried blintz and then the blintz is lightly re-fried, sautéed or baked.

Go to Page 2 for Telepan's recipes.RECIPES

Crepe batter

Ingredients:
2 eggs
1/4 cups milk
1/2 cups seltzer or club soda
1 Tablespoon granulated sugar
2 Tablespoons melted butter
1/4 teaspoons salt
1/2 cup all-purpose flour

Method:
1. Lightly beat the eggs in a medium-sized mixing bowl. Whisk in the milk, seltzer, sugar, melted butter, and salt.
2. Add the flour; whisk until lump-free and of pour-able consistency.
3. Set a dinner plate next to the stove.
4. Heat a 12" sauté pan over low flame.
5. Coat the pan with a thin layer of batter, (two ounces is plenty per crepe), shaking and tilting the pan as you pour.
6. Try to get an even layer, the crepes cook too quickly to patch any "holes".
7. As soon as the crepe is solid and smells buttery, lift one edge with a spatula or your fingers and remove it to the dinner plate. There is no need to flip and cook the other side.
8. Aim to have blond, uncolored crepes.
9. The batter is enough for 8 crepes, so you may choose the best looking and thinnest for the dessert. Continue cooking the crepes, layering them on top of each other. Wrap and set aside.

Lemon verbena crepes with strawberries

Filling Ingredients:

1/2 cup milk
1 Tablespoon dried lemon verbena
1 Tablespoon + 1 teaspoon granulated sugar
1 egg yolk
1 egg
1 Tablespoon corn starch
2 Tablespoon unsalted butter
large bowl containing ice bath

Method:
1. Place the milk and lemon verbena in a heavy-bottomed medium sauce pan.
2. Bring the milk to boil (careful not to scald) and remove from heat.
3. Add the granulated sugar; stir to dissolve.
4. Steep for 1/2 hour to infuse the milk with the lemon verbena.
5. In a mixing bowl, whisk the yolks and cornstarch into a smooth paste.
6. Add a large ladleful of milk to the yolk mixture; whisk smooth.
7. Pour the yolk mixture into the remaining lemon verbena milk, whisking continuously.
8. Over medium heat, stirring constantly, bring the filling to a boil.
9. If the mixture begins to lump, immediately remove from the heat and whisk vigorously until smooth.
10. Lower the heat and continue cooking to a boil.
11. Once the filling has boiled, immediately pour into a bowl to cool.
12. Blend in the butter, and place the bowl over an ice bath.
13. Stir occasionally until room temperature. Refrigerate for two hours — covered.

Ingredients for Strawberry Sauce

1 pint strawberries, washed, trimmed, and cut into quarters
1/3 cup granulated sugar
juice of 2 lemons
3 Tablespoon unsalted butter

Method:
1. In a sauté pan combine the sugar and lemon juice.
2. Bring to a rolling boil, and add the butter.
3. Add the strawberries to the pan and toss to coat.
4. Cook just until the berries are warm through and juicy.

To make crepes:
1. Spread 1/2 tablespoon of the filling on each crepe, and fold into quarters
2. Warm in 350-degree oven for 3-4 minutes

Go to Page 3 for more recipes.Ricotta Blintzes with Honey Peaches

Ingredients:
4 peaches, washed, pitted and cut into 8 wedges each
1/2 cup flower honey, (lavender, linden or orange blossom are good choices)
1 Tablespoon red wine vinegar
freshly ground black pepper
3 sprigs of fresh mint
fresh beech twigs or bamboo skewers

Method:
1. To prepare, the peaches place the honey and vinegar in a small saucepan.
2. Thoroughly crush the mint sprigs in your hands and add to the honey mixture.

3. Trim hard stems from peaches and place in a bowl or baking dish.
4. Heat the honey mixture to a simmer and pour evenly over the peaches. Let sit at room temperature for one hour, turning occasionally.

Ingredients for Blintze filling, for fill 8 blintzes

1/2 cup good ricotta if not available, farmer's cheese
6 to 8 mint leaves sliced into 1 tablespoon, chiffonade
2 Tablespoons heavy cream
1 Tablespoon flower honey (see above)

Method:
1. To prepare the ricotta, whip the heavy cream until stiff in a medium sized mixing bowl.
2. Add the honey and begin folding in the cheese sprinkling with the mint chiffonade. Don't over mix, just gently fold in.
3. Transfer to a serving dish and refrigerate until serving time.

To makes blintzes:
2 Tablespoons, unsalted butter

1. Place a generous tablespoon of filling into a crepe and then fold like a burrito.
2. Heat one Tablespoon of butter in a sauté pan.
3. Melt the butter, careful to avoid browning.
4. Then add four of your blintzes. Sauté them until they get a nice color.
5. Then serve with peaches.
6. Repeat with the remaining four blintzes and Tablespoon of butter.
7. Top off with peaches, serve warm.