Easter crepes

Easter means a lot to many people. When we lived in Greece, the whole country shut down and ate spitted lamb. In Japan, we wrapped blown out eggs in delicate washi paper. In Pittsburgh, one could buy gorgeous hand-decorated eggs at the Orthodox church crafts show.

In my family, we had an egg hunt and a big lunch. So that is what I strive for. That, and a bit of time set aside to just be.

Last Easter, my son (then 4) had a broken leg, and we pushed him around in a stroller to hunt eggs. But this year, he darted around, collecting them up, counting how many he had. Not surprisingly, he was going for the gaudy plastic eggs over the real ones we dyed earlier in the week, because they had chocolates hidden inside. I thought they were no where near as beautiful.

It is the same with crepes. You turn out thin, eggy circles and people can do what they like with them. Sweet, savory, just dotted with butter and sugar, whatever. My step-son, since he was very small, can eat an amazing number of these. He gets all the jellies out of the fridge and creates a veritable smorgasbord of fillings, making each crepe individual and luscious, sprinkled with a little vanilla sugar for a final touch.

We fried up some pork and maple sausages from Fauquier's Finest Country Butcher Shop, put out a bowl of the season's first strawberries, and voila. So yummy I was entreated to make an entire second round, of everything.

And we ate it all up.

Rice Flour Crepes 

adapted from The Wheat-Free Cook

2 large eggs
pinch of sea salt
pinch of sugar
1 cup milk
1/3 cup white rice flour
1/3 cup cornstarch
2 Tablespoons melted butter

butter or coconut oil for skillet

In a blender, add eggs, salt, sugar and milk and whiz briefly. Add flour and cornstarch and process until smooth. Mix in melted butter with a spatula.

Heat a medium skillet over high heat until sizzling. Melt a dollop of oil or butter and swirl to coat pan. Pour about 2 tablespoons of batter into the skillet and swirl to spread out. When batter gets small air holes, it is ready to flip, literally about a minute. Flip with large spatula and brown on other side, about 30 seconds more. Repeat. Makes about 10 crepes.

To eat, spread with favorite preserves, or melted butter, and sprinkle lightly with sugar. Roll like a cigar and enjoy.

Because we ate so late and so long (and stopped to taste the new vintages at our local Vintage Ridge Winery, which come complete with nibbles of cheese and nuts and salamis -- more on them later!) we hardly needed dinner. But earlier that day a friend had given me a "small" chunk of fresh-caught tuna, which a friend from the South had brought her just the day before.

I agonized over how to treat it. I even made a marinade of fresh ginger and coriander. But in the end, I just sprinkled it with some Hawaiian lava salt another friend gifted me recently. It was so thick we had to slice it to sear it on the grill. We ate it with a simple salad of arugula and shaved parmesean, with just a touch of LuLu's fig balsamic, and a bottle of Vintage Ridge Syrah, of course.

I don't believe in the Easter bunny anymore. But man, do I believe in the Easter Tuna.