Ginger Crêpes with Roasted Vegetables and Piquant Orange Sauce Recipe

Ginger Crêpes with Roasted Vegetables and Piquant Orange Sauce

Makes 20

The process of making crepes will go more smoothly if your work area is well organized. Have by the stove the oil and a pastry brush (for brushing the pan), the batter, a 1/4-cup dry measuring cup (for scooping out batter), a whisk (to stir batter when it settles) and a rubber spatula. Once crepes have cooled completely, they can be stacked and won’t stick together. Nevertheless as a safeguard, I often place a square of waxed paper between each crepe before storing them.

1 ½ cups unbleached all-purpose flour
½ cup whole-wheat pastry flour
1 tsp. wasabi powder
1 tsp. dried mustard
1 tsp. salt
Pinch of cayenne
6-inch piece fresh ginger
1 ½ Tbs. vegetable oil, plus ¼ cup for brushing
1 ½ Tbs. toasted sesame oil, plus additional for brushing
Roasted Vegetables (recipe follows)
Piquant Orange Sauce (November \'00, p. 56)

In large bowl, sift together both flours, wasabi, mustard, salt and cayenne. Set aside.
Using fine holes of a box grater or a ginger grater, finely grate ginger and squeeze to extract juice. Measure out 1/4 cup juice; discard grated ginger. In medium bowl, combine ginger juice, 1 1/2 tablespoons vegetable oil, 1 1/2 tablespoons sesame oil and 2 3/4 cups water.
In food processor fitted with plastic dough blade, combine flour mixture and about one-third of the ginger mixture. To prevent spattering, use pulse button to blend in remaining ginger mixture. Transfer batter to small bowl. Pour remaining 1/4 cup vegetable oil into another small bowl.
Place 8-inch nonstick crepe pan or other heavy nonstick skillet over medium-high heat; brush pan with a little vegetable oil. When pan is hot, pour scant 1/4 cup batter into center of pan and quickly rotate pan to spread batter evenly. (Dont worry if crepe isnt perfectly round.) Pour any excess batter back into bowl.
Cook 60 to 70 seconds. With rubber spatula, gently loosen edge of crepe and lift to see if brown spots appear on underside. When they do, flip crepe and cook until light golden brown. Transfer to wire rack to cool. Repeat with remaining batter to make about 20 crepes, whisking batter as needed and brushing pan with more vegetable oil between batches.
To assemble: Preheat oven to 350°F. Lightly brush shallow casserole dish with sesame oil. Place about 1/3 cup Roasted Vegetables across center of 1 crepe; sprinkle with 1 tablespoon tofu-garlic mixture (from Roasted Vegetables recipe). Fold bottom of crepe tightly over filling, pressing gently, then fold opposite end over. Crepe should be firmly packed. Place crepe, seam side down, in prepared casserole. (If you prefer bite-size crepes, cut each into fourths.) Repeat with remaining vegetables, crepes and tofu-garlic mixture.
Lightly brush crepes with sesame oil. Bake until heated through, 25 to 30 minutes. Drizzle with Piquant Orange Sauce and serve hot.