Twice is a Tradition
What to eat and drink New Year’s morning + Ham, Cheese and Asparagus Clafoutis recipe + South African Chenin Blanc sipper
“You sure you want to make crêpes? One time is a special occasion, twice is a tradition.”
My mother sat at the head of the kitchen table with her yellow legal pad, a column of neat blue ink listing the groceries needed for our New Year’s menu. I was already a cooking obsessed teenager, getting my education from PBS and volumes of Martha Stewart and Julia Child. For dinner New Year’s Day my mother would stew a pot of black-eyed peas for luck, but the morning was reserved for lounging in pajamas watching the Rose Parade and eating something sweet. Sticky cinnamon rolls, cinnamon infused apples on a Dutch baby, we had several family favorites on rotation. However, the previous year we had decided to try something new for us: crêpes.
Passed down to my mother by her friend Leslie, the recipe seemed simple enough, relying on a blender for mixing the batter (a step that could even be done the night before), then cooking one at a time on a hot pan. Working side-by-side at the counter we added eggs, flour, milk and melted butter to a blender, whizzing until frothy. When the skillet was hot, I ladled a small scoop onto the pan, rotating my wrist in a circle to spread the batter in a thin, even layer and up the sides. After a minute or two, the batter turned opaque. I took a spatula to the edge of the disc, ready to triumphantly produce my crêpe, only to find it stubbornly stuck. By the time I pried it off the pan, the once lovely pancake was a mess of accordioned, semi-cooked batter. My confidence was just as crumpled.
After a few more sacrifices to the gods of first attempts, eventually my mother and I got the hang of it. Prying at the corners with the tip of a spatula just as the crêpe browned around the edges, we managed to extract an intact specimen that tasted just as it should, even better rolled with powdered sugar and doused in maple syrup. It was a new skill learned in the earliest hours of a new year. And for the next 364 days, we didn’t dare make them again.
I rarely think of making crêpes these days except around New Years. As a mother now myself, I’m also weighing the risk-reward factor not just of a messy kitchen, but the time that would be dedicated to the stove, pouring, prying, flipping. With a four-year-old at my feet, demanding to build Legos or crash monster trucks or read a book on mummies, I just don’t think it is my year for the full crêpe production.
But how I do love the taste of a crêpe: a light batter, eggy and springy when cooked, encasing any manner of sweet or savory fillings. As my mind swirled the last few weeks with what we might cook for New Year’s morning, I kept feeling the tug back to crêpes until I remembered that the French already have a perfect solution.
Clafoutis, a baked dish using crêpe batter, is one of my favorite ways to enjoy summer fruit. Laid out in a shallow dish and topped with a lightly sweetened batter, the dish is baked until the fruit has collapsed, and the batter is puffed and golden brown. Even though this is mostly thought of for dessert, there is no reason it cannot be made savory. It is as easy to make as a frittata with a taste akin to a souffle but without all the whipping of egg whites.
On a recent a lazy morning between Christmas and New Year, I tested this out on my family. Chopped ham and thin asparagus mingled in a buttered dish. Over that went cubed Swiss cheese, though gruyere or any hard melting cheese would have been equally welcome. To the batter I added a small amount of buckwheat flour for a subtle nuttiness and a nod to Breton style crêpes. The whole thing was assembled in less than ten minutes, kitchen cleaned in five. The hardest part was waiting to eat it as the house filled with the delicious aroma – something eggy and buttery, not a crêpe but not far from it either.
Back at the kitchen table with my mother a year after our first crêpe experiment, the trash pile of failed first attempts felt like a distant memory. Only the sweet taste of the perfect ones remained. My mother prodded. Remember the mess, the frustration? Are you sure that you want to go through that again? I did. So a tradition was made.
And now, with ham, cheese and asparagus clafoutis, perhaps a new tradition is in the making.
Ham, Cheese and Asparagus Savory Clafoutis
You can make the batter the night before, or first thing in the morning. Time baking so you eat it fresh out of the oven. It will deflate as it sits but will still taste great warm, as a part of a buffet spread. This is a nice way to use up leftover ham from a Christmas dinner or New Year’s Eve ham party. For the rest of the year, this is an excellent easy weeknight dinner with a simple green salad.
Serves: 4 as a main, 8 as part of a brunch buffet
1 T. butter
¾ c. + 2 T. all-purpose flour
2 T. buckwheat flour (optional, can sub all-purpose flour)
1 c. whole milk
¼ c. cream
½ tsp. salt
¼ tsp. white pepper, ground
1 tsp. Dijon mustard
3 eggs
½ lb. thin asparagus (about ½ a bunch)
5 oz. ham
4 oz. swiss, gruyere, or other hard, sharp, melting cheese
Preheat oven to 375°. Butter a medium sized glass or ceramic baking dish.
To a blender at flours, milk, cream, salt, pepper, mustard and eggs. Blend until thoroughly combined and frothy, scraping down the sides as necessary. (This step can be done the night before.)
Break woody ends off the asparagus and discard. Cut remaining spears into 1-inch pieces.
Cube ham into a small dice if using leftovers from a large ham, or stack sliced deli ham and cut into ½ inch squares. Grate cheese.
Toss ham and asparagus together and lay out in the buttered baking dish. Spread cheese on top. Pour batter over asparagus, ham and cheese to cover evenly. Place in oven and bake for 45 – 50 minutes until puffy and golden all over. Serve immediately from the oven or warm as part of a brunch spread.
To Drink…
Ah the brunch bevvie, territory of bad prosecco or orange juice mixed with something with a kick. Thanks to my reflux prone stomach I’ve never quite understood why the go-to brunch drinks are so acidic. Coming off a night where you’ve probably already done some damage to your stomach lining (New Year’s Eve) do you really want to start New Year’s Day with tomato or orange juice, or, gasp, low grade bubbles?
If you aren’t already on Dry January (diet starts tomorrow!), I would much rather reach for an aromatic white wine, not too high on the acidity scale, or a fruity rosé I can sip on for a minute, perhaps something to match the high flower drama of the parade floats, preferably while still pajama clad.
Momento Chenin Blanc-Verdelho, Western Cape, South Africa 2021
As this ham and cheese clafoutis is packed with rich flavors, I’m going for a Chenin Blanc that has just enough acidity to balance that cheese. Tripping across the Momento Chenin Blanc – Verdelho 2021 at our new local wine bar, Caves, was a welcome surprise. The world could use more high quality South African Chenin Blanc that makes it out of the country, particularly at a reasonable price point of less than $30 a bottle. The fruit mostly comes from Swartland, an hour drive northwest of Cape Town and home to some of the best Chenin Blanc vines. The wine gains structure and body from fermentation in large French barrels and aging in neutral oak. It can be a sipper on its own, as I did the night I tasted it at Caves, or a alongside brunch or light supper. If you can’t find this, particular Chenin blend, David & Nadia is another quality producer to look for.
Whether you are on or off the wagon next month, I wish that whatever you find in your glass on New Year’s morning is a delicious beginning to the year to come.
$29 from Caves, also available online from a variety of online retailers