Spinach and cheese crepes

 
Time for another gorgeous retro flashback. This meal was another end-of-the-fortnight classic, courtesy of my mother in the 80s. But I thought it was the most delicious treat of a meal. Crepes! For mains! And rolled up and everything. I imagine my mother thought of this as a cunning way to get a heap of spinach into small children.

I have also trotted this out as a 'fancy' entree in times gone by, as you can easily prepare this dish and reheat when you want to serve.  In the 90s, when I was 19 years old, I served this to five friends at a How To Host a Murder Party. Remember those! Hee! Anyway, I was pretty sure it was the height of glamour.

So I heartily recommend this if you need a cheap filling meal, some wonderful comfort food, or just the desire to travel back in time gastronomically. Obviously, this can be made vegetarian by leaving out the bacon, in which case I'd suggest adding mushrooms and some extra salt.

And of course the bonus perk is that if you have any spare crepes (which I strongly suggest you should do), a little lemon and sugar and you have dessert as well. Brilliant.

Ingredients - Crepes:

• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 1 3/4 cups milk
• 1 egg
• pinch of salt
• butter to cook

Filling:

• 1/2 bunch fresh spinach
• 2 rashers bacon
• 1 1/2 cups grated cheddar cheese
• 80g butter
• 1/4 cup flour
• 1 cup milk
• salt
• pepper
• nutmeg

Start by preparing your crepe batter.  If you haven't made crepes before, the batter is really just a loose version of pancakes. Mix all the ingredients, blend with a whisk until there are no lumps, and leave to sit while you prepare the filling.

The filling is just a white sauce with extras bits. First prepare your extra bits. Chop your spinach, bacon and grate your cheese. Fry up your bacon in a non-stick pan, then once crunchy, remove to cool.

Start your roux, melting the butter in a saucepan and scatter the flour through it, rubbing it in with a wooden spoon until the mixture is smooth.

Then add the milk and cheese, then the salt, pepper and nutmeg and stir through.  If the mixture feels too thick add more milk; if too thin then add cheese. Finally, toss through your spinach and bacon. Remove from the heat and cover to keep the heat.

Now cook your crepes. Heat a non-stick saucepan to medium-hot. For each crepe, start by dropping in a small (half a teaspoons worth) dollop of butter, and disperse over the pan. Pour in a saucer size amount of batter and swirl around the pan until it covers roughly double the original surface. You want to spread it thinly to create the lovely laced, crispy edges that make crepes so lovely. Stand watch over the crepes as you go, they'll cook fast. Keep your crepes under a tea towel to reserve the warmth until the whole batch is ready.

Once you've cooked all your crepes, fill them with a line of spinach mix down the centre, and roll them up. Yummo!

Spinach dip in a cobb loaf

I don't know whether this has anything to do with my own creeping state of motherhood, but lately I've been fantasising about some of the kitsch, 80s dinner party fare that meant in my childhood that shit was getting fancy.  I'm talking about little tuna and cheese pastry parcels (we called them tuna savouries), chocolate-peppermint cheesecake, and anything that could be prepared in a microwave.

So when I was invited to a pot luck dinner tonight, where considerations like wanting to cater to vegetarians in case there were any, and wanting to bring something that was easy to prepare and easy to share, I knew instantly that I would make spinach dip in a cobb loaf.

As a child, I thought that this was the poshest thing that could possibly be done with food.  The bread is the bowl, you guys! In seeking out recipes, I've also realised that ingredients-wise, this is true to form retro Australian cuisine.  I didn't want to vary the original intent of the dish too greatly, but I did make a couple of tweaks, particularly in the form of nutmeg, which frankly should be paired with spinach whenever and wherever possible.  It also takes about 10 minutes to make.  I am keenly anticipate a mixture of delight and mirth when I rock up with this tonight.

Here it is in all its glory.

Ingredients:

• 1 cobb loaf 
• 1 packet frozen spinach
• handful of spring onions
• 1 tub of sour cream (approx 250ml)
• 1 tub of cream cheese (approx 250ml) 
• 2 heaped tablespoons of mayo
• 1 packet spring vegetable soup (or some other innocuous flavour)
• 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
• cracked pepper

Okay, so you can make this dip in four simple steps:

1. Chop the spring onions
2.Thaw the spinach and squeeze all the water out of it

3. Put everything in a big bowl

4. Mix

Once you've got your dip prepared, prepare your bread bowl.  First slice the top of the loaf, about one third down.  Then hollow out the centre.

Fill the emptied belly of the cobb with the dip. Then replace the lid.  'Whala', as A Wild Young Under Whimsy would say.  You have dip in a bread bowl! To an unsuspecting person, it just looks like bread. Ingenious, huh.

Warm the whole lot in a slow oven (approx 150 degrees C) for about 30 minutes.  Finally, break the extra bits of bread for the centre and place them around the loaf to serve.

Mmmmm.  Tastes just like 1983.