I’m a huge fan of Cleveland’s West Side Market. I was even a fan for quite a while before I realized how many vendors there were to get ready-to-eat food. And one of the best of those is Crêpes De Luxe.
They’ve got both sweet and savory crêpes, but the favorite is the classic: banana, nutella and powdered sugar. (They say the whipped cream is “optional”. I want to know who they think they’re kidding.)
Since they’re in a tiny little vendor stall, of course you get to watch them make everything. They even have a video camera mounted up top with a monitor so people in the back of the line can watch what’s going on. Yeah, they get crowded on Saturdays.
One great tip I picked up was this one for slicing bananas.
Peel one segment all the way off.
Loosen the rest of the peel.
Slice it right in the peel with a paring knife.
Since I don’t have a lot of practice with this, it got a little awkward toward the end.
The guys at Crêpes De Luxe do one in about five seconds.
The great thing about this trick is you can prep several bananas without making a mess. If you try to slice them onto a plate, they get slippery and the pieces fall apart when you try to pick them up. If you try to slice them right onto whatever you’re making you don’t have much control.
This way, you can hold the sliced banana in one hand and deal out slices like a Vegas blackjack dealer.
And of course, now I want a crêpe.
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16 Comments
What a great idea!
Thank you for this post. I, for one, would not mind a bit if you kept this kind of post coming. I don’t know if you watch the show Chef Academy on Bravo, but the chef on there has little tips like these that are so great even an amateur like myself can do them.
Thanks Drew!
Interesting. We use a crepe recipe from a children’s book called Crepes by Suzette. It’s a fun picture book about Paris, and the recipe is simple. I think it’s less fuss than making pancakes.
When it gets awkward toward the end, rotate the banana and BAM it’s right at the start again!
I’m afraid to learn crepes. First, my wife will expect me to get up to make breakfast on the weekends, and I’d prefer to sleep in. Second, I’ll gain about eight thousand pounds in the first year.
Bekki, that’s such an obvious answer. Perfect.
How easy is that?! Boy, the things I never think of….
Drew, is there any chance you will be putting a button or tab at the top for the recipe browser? Or am I jumping the gun?…lol
um….nevermind… *sheepish grin* I found it in the drop down menu. Silly, silly me.
Sheepish … hmm, that reminds me, I haven’t had a gyro in a while.
Cool idea! That peel looks like you meant business… you either have a very sharp knife or you were making sure you went all the way thru that “tough” banana! lol
Oh, by the way, have you heard that tip about peeling the banana from the bottom end instead of from the stem end? They say it eliminates having to pull the “strings” off separately. Obviously, I have not tried it yet!
That’s because of the sharp knife. I was actually being pretty careful there. At the crepe place they use a knife with a rounded tip. Right tool for the job. (But I’m not buying one just for this.)
Now how would you get it started peeling from the bottom?
You just pinch the end so it splits, then peel. It works, and I’ve done it a few times on tough to open bananas, but I was brought up doing it from the stem end and most of the time do it that way.
They’d have to be very ripe for that to work. I’ve had some that even the stem doesn’t want to peel off and I’ve needed a knife to get it started. I can’t imagine trying to pinch those.
Great slicing tip…..you know whats funny? Im an American that just moved to Russia and almost everyone I’ve seen peel a banana here peels it from the bottom and not the stem. I thought it was odd but now I’m gonna try it!
Oh and how do you make beef stock from scratch? I cant seem to find any in a can at the markets here.
Assuming you’ve never done stock, here’s a great multi-part series starting from what equipment to use: http://www.wonderhowto.com/how-to/video/how-to-make-beef-stock-from-scratch-131451/
Why did I think of that?
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[...] in the previous post. Cook the first side and flip it over. While the first side is cooking, slice the banana. (Follow that link for a trick I picked up at Crêpes De [...]