Dulce de Leche Crepes and Buddhist Driving

I think I am a Buddhist when it comes to driving. That said, I usually walk or moped to the places I need to go. But when I do drive, I get no road rage. I do not speed. Why would I push the pedal to the floor with every green light when I know there will soon be another? More time to meditate, and more time spent not being “anywhere” (everywhere?) The poet Wallace Stevens walked to work, never learned to drive, because he felt that walking was more conducive to writing. I tend to agree. There is more room for error with walking, more time to aimlessly notice, and much more oxygen delivered to the brain. Endorphins all around.

They say it is important that your partner be someone who shares a similarly-structured belief system to your own. Karl-Peter once got a ticket for driving too slow. At age nineteen. As the legend goes, he told the concerned officer, “I guess I’m just not in a hurry.”

Peace be with you. Do not hurry these crepes.

Dulce de Leche Crepes

Adapted from Food and Wine

1 stick unsalted butter—6 tablespoons at room temperature, 2 tablespoons melted and cooled

3/4 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

2 large eggs

1/2 cup cold milk

1/2 cup cold water

1/2 cup dulce de leche*

Unsweetened whipped cream, for serving

In a small saucepan, melt the 6 tablespoons of butter and cook over moderately low heat until the foam rises to the surface and the splattering stops, about 3 minutes. Remove the saucepan from the heat and spoon off the foam. Strain the butter through a cheesecloth-lined sieve into a small bowl; you should have about 4 tablespoons of clarified butter.

In a medium bowl, whisk the flour with the salt. In another medium bowl, beat the eggs, then whisk in the milk, water and the 2 tablespoons of melted butter. Sift the flour mixture over the egg mixture and whisk just to blend the batter; it’s okay if there are some lumps.

Heat a crêpe pan or 8-inch nonstick skillet. Add 1/2 tablespoon of the clarified butter and swirl it in the pan. Ladle 1/4 cup of batter into the pan, swirling to spread it in a thin, even 6-inch round. Cook the crêpe over moderate heat until lightly golden on the bottom, about 2 minutes.

Flip the crêpe and cook until golden, 1 to 2 minutes longer. Turn the crêpe out onto a plate. Repeat with the remaining clarified butter and batter to make 8 crêpes, stacking them on the plate as you go.

Spread a tablespoon of dulce de leche onto each crêpe and fold it in half. Place 2 folded crêpes on each plate. Top with whipped cream and serve.

The crêpes can be made ahead and stacked, then rewarmed in a microwave oven for about 20 seconds.

*If you don’t have dulce de leche in the house, I took ½ cup of heavy whipping cream and beat it briskly with ¼ cup caramel sauce (I think it was the Starbucks brand stuff) until it had whipped peaks. Yummy.

Drive slowly. Or not at all. See what it does for your faith.