Today I'm sharing a recipe for delicious and slightly unusual crepes. Beer crepes may sound odd, but they taste absolutely wonderful. Light beer is usually recommended, but I used dark beer for a richer color and aroma. I'll say upfront that none of my taste testers could tell there was beer in them. Beer gives the crepes a delicate texture, a pleasant bready aroma, and a subtle, agreeable bitterness. So I can confidently say that dark beer works just as well as light. I used Guinness. Beer crepes are often made without baking soda or baking powder, but I added baking soda and vinegar (you can use baking powder instead) to make the crepes more tender and full of holes. It probably depends on the beer, but I wasn't happy with the texture without the extra leavening — adding baking soda made them exactly right. For the filling, I used cooked beef. How do you make a meat filling that's tender, juicy, and holds together when you cut into the crepe? Read on to find out! The recipe makes approximately 12–16 crepes, depending on the size of your pan.
Ingredients:
- Crepes:
- 120-140 g flour
- 200 ml beer
- 200 ml milk
- 30 g butter
- 2 eggs
- 1-2 tsp sugar
- 0.5 tsp salt
- 0.5 tsp baking soda
- 2-3 tsp 6% vinegar (apple or wine)
- Filling:
- 250 g cooked meat (I used beef)
- 200 ml broth from cooking the meat (approximately)
- 150 g onion
- 30 g butter
- clarified butter or vegetable oil for frying
How to cook beer crepes with meat filling
Make the crepe batter. By the way, you can make the crepes with beer only, without adding milk, but the flavor will be quite pronounced — in that case it's better to use a light beer. In a bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, sugar, and salt. Add the flour and mix well. Pour in the beer and melted butter, then add the baking soda and vinegar and stir to combine.
Make the filling. I boiled the beef for two hours ahead of time (don't forget to salt the water, and it's a good idea to add a bay leaf and a few allspice berries), then left it to cool in the broth. You can use pork, or a mix of pork and beef — if using pork, you won't need to cook it nearly as long. Grind the meat through the fine plate of a meat grinder. Sauté the onion in butter until lightly golden, then grind it together with the meat. Often the sautéed onion is mixed into the ground meat separately, but I prefer grinding them together. This way the filling has the flavor and aroma of the sautéed onion while staying smooth and uniform, without any unwanted chunks of onion.
Add the melted butter and cold (!) broth. The broth is the real secret to the filling — it's what makes the beef filling tender and juicy. Add the broth gradually, mixing thoroughly as you go. As you can see, I used almost as much broth as meat, but my beef was quite lean — adjust as needed. The filling should be moist but not wet, so it can still be wrapped in a crepe.
Before serving, pan-fry the crepes so they heat through along with the filling, or warm them in the microwave. Serving with sour cream is strongly recommended — not just suggested, but absolutely required; it makes them so much better! These beer crepes with meat filling turn out incredibly tasty, satisfying, and aromatic. They are truly delicious!
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