Each time I’ve sat down to post another one of these Christmas Breakfast Series posts I think, this one’s my favorite. Then, I write the next one and think the same thing. What it comes down to is that I love breakfast! I do have a special place in my stomach heart for crepes though. If you like crepes, you’ll love todays recipe for ham, egg and asparagus crepes with hollandaise sauce. It’a a pretty awesome combo, if I do say so myself.

I recall my parents making crepes at him a few times, but really my love of crepes comes from my favorite childhood restaurant-Daniels. So, here’s the quick side story: my parents liked to eat at nice restaurants from time to time and took me to Daniels for the first time when I was about 10 years old. Big mistake. I requested going to Daniels for my birthday every year after that until I went to college. On one of those occasions, I ordered these lobster and spinach crepes with hollandaise. It was official-I was in love with crepes.

Ok, I know you’re saying, Lauren get on with the recipe so I can enjoy crepes too. Crepes-coming up!

 There’s a picture for you to drool over while you’re cooking

If you’ve never made crepes before, be prepared to spend a little time. They’re not hard to make, just a little time consuming. You may want to make these a few days ahead and freeze or refrigerate them to save time on Christmas morning.

Crepes are made with very simple ingredients; flour, salt, milk, eggs and milk. Maybe that’s what makes them so tasty.

I used to mix the batter for the crepes with a whisk, but I always had tiny lumps. It didn’t affect the taste or texture, but they didn’t look as pretty. The blender is the key to making a smooth batter. So, take all your crepe batter ingredients and put them in the blender and blend on medium-low for about 10-15 seconds or until smooth. 

Set a small frying pan over medium-low heat and add a little bit of butter. No, I didn’t measure it, ’cause it’s just a little, but if I had to guess, it was probably about 1/4 teaspoon. Let it melt and swirl it around the pan.

Grab yourself a 1/4 cup measuring cup. Fill it a scant 1/4 cup, so probably about 3 tablespoons. Next comes the only tricky part about making crepes. Take your pan off the heat and hold it up. Then, pour your batter in the middle all at once and swirl it around the pan to form a thin, even layer.

When it gets little tiny bubbles like this, it’s time to flip it, which happens around the 1 1/2 to 2 minute mark. Using a spatula, carefully lift the edges all the way around and then flip the crepe. Cook it for 30 seconds more on the other side. Once it’s done, place it on a foil-lined plate and continue with the rest of the batter.

*Note: the cooking time for the crepes depends on your stovetop. My gas burner cooks it much faster (probably about 30 seconds each side) than my current electric glass cooktop. This is not the kind of recipe where yo can walk away while it’s cooking.

If you’re making these ahead of time, wait till they cool and then wrap the crepes in plastic wrap and place in a gallon zip top bag. You can refrigerate them or freeze them until needed, as long as they lay flat.

While the last of the crepes are cooking, line a baking sheet with foil. Wash and trim the woody ends off a bunch of asparagus. No, I mean, like a bunch. I’m not being vague;) Drizzle the asparagus with 1/2 tbsp of olive oil and lightly salt and pepper it. Pop it in under the broiler for 10 minutes, turning halfway through cooking time. Yum.

For the ham, I bought a ham steak. However, leftover ham or even lunchmeat ham would work here. Whichever ham you buy, cut it into small cubes and let it hang out for a minute while you make the hollandaise and scramble some eggs.

(picture of hollandaise)

Have you had hollandaise sauce before? If not, you haven’t lived-promise. It’s a creamy, lemony-butter sauce that is good on pretty much everything. I doubled this recipe from Allrecipes.com to make my hollandaise. It turned out great, but I would add that if you’re using an electric stove, use medium heat not low or else you’ll be waiting all day for this baby to thicken.

Finally, scramble 1-2 eggs per person. I ate two crepes and 1 egg was enough.

Then comes the fun part-you grab a crepe, put two pieces of asparagus in first, then add the ham and the eggs. Roll it up and drizzle with hollandaise sauce. Serve immediately. This is the kind of breakfast that gets cold fast, so you want everyone at the table when you serve it.

Mmmm. So good. The lemony-butter flavor of the hollandaise is the perfect compliment to the fresh, crisp taste of the asparagus and the richness of the eggs and ham.

Enjoy! Also, don’t forget to come back tomorrow for the last recipe in the Christmas Breakfast Series.

Merry Christmas!