Crêpes with rice and fava beans

June 5, 2011  •  Category: ,

 

A beautiful mediterranean country with scant natural resources: In this setting, folks in Lebanon grew to appreciate and take full advantage of what nature provided. Eggs are a meal, often made into fritters and combined with herbs such as parsley or dill. I wanted to give our humble ‘ejjeh a more contemporary look and double its usage with the inclusion of a rice and fava bean salad flavored with some garlicky yogurt.


The result is light and fresh and the presentation fun (and not hard to achieve).

INGREDIENTS: Makes 8 crêpes

  • 1/2 cup of finely minced dill (equivalent to one bunch) (dill can be substituted with parsley)
  • 3 large eggs
  • 1/2 cup of cake flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon of salt (or to taste)
  • 1/4 teaspoon of ground cumin
  • 1/4 teaspoon of ground white pepper
  • 1/2 cup of finely chopped onion (or shallots)
  • 1 cup of water
  • 3 tablespoons of olive oil

Stuffing:

  • 1/2 cup of sushi or Egyptian or Turkish or Italian or any medium-grain rice
  • 1  cup of shelled fava beans
  • 1 chicken or vegetable bouillon cube (optional)
  • 2 cloves of garlic, mashed in a mortar with a dash of salt
  • 2 cups of yogurt
  • A few scallions or dill leaves blanched in water for a few seconds to soften and use to tie the crêpes

METHOD:

  1. An optional ( but highly recommended step is to fry the chopped onions in one tablespoon of olive oil until soft and translucent); if you decide to skip this, then place the onions (raw or cooked), the eggs, flour, spices, dill, olive oil and water in the bowl of a food processor, blender or mixer. Mix until the mixture is smooth, about 2 minutes. Let the batter rest for 30 minutes. When ready to make the crêpes, whirl the batter a few seconds to combine all the ingredients evenly.
  2. Heat a crêpe pan or small skillet, spray with some oil or butter and when hot, drop about 1/3 cup of batter into the skillet. Swirl to cover the skillet and cook for one minute, until the edges are golden-brown. Flip the crêpe and cook 30 seconds on the other side. Remove and proceed with the others, spraying the pan each time. Set aside, laying each crêpe on a piece of wax paper.
  3. Make the stuffing: Soak the rice in lukewarm salted water for one hour or longer; bring the water to a boil, adding a dash of salt, the bouillon cube (if using it, don’t add salt), a tablespoon of olive oil. Lower the heat, cover and cook the rice. Cook the fava beans by boiling them for a couple of minutes and drain. When the rice is cooked, cool and transfer to a bowl. Add the fava beans and mix. Mash the garlic and mix with the yogurt and add to the rice mixture, tossing to combine well. Taste and adjust seasoning. Place a couple of tablespoons of the rice mixture in the middle of each crêpe, fold the crêpe and tie with some blanched dill sprigs or scallions. Serve at room temperature with extra yogurt on the side.

 

Comments

36 Comments  •  Comments Feed

  1. Devaki says:

    Superb Joumana! These beautiful savory parcels with the lovey chive ties leave me salivating for more. I am always amazed by your creativity and flair 🙂

    chow! Devaki @ weavethousandflavors

  2. jantonio says:

    Hello, I think this crepes are marvellous.

  3. gaininja says:

    Wow. I love all your recipes, but this one is particularly creative and interesting. I normally read through an RSS feed, but clicked over to see whether you’ve got a cook book published. You haven’t, which is a shame because I think it would do really well!

    Thanks for all the recipes and keep ’em coming 🙂

  4. T.W Barritt says:

    These are beautiful little purses flecked with green — looks so fresh and delicious!

  5. Sonia Rumzi says:

    Amazing! You never cease to amaze me when I come to your site for something delectable. Yummy!

  6. Belinda @zomppa says:

    These are definitely not your average crepes!

  7. Priyanka says:

    Please visit my blog and claim your award

  8. Louise says:

    How fabulous! Crepes turned into Asian style money bags! Wonderful idea. They look so tasty too. The dill would be lovely with the fava beans.

  9. Doc says:

    I love fava beans…and a nice chianti. The lychee frozen yogurt looks yummy and a perfect treat for the heat here. Love seeing the articles out there-keep it up!

  10. janet @ taste space says:

    Now that is impressive, Joumana! I love how you incorporated the dill into the crepe. 🙂

  11. samir says:

    what a unique modern take on eggeh, stunning looking!. .I really never thought of eggeh as humble..the flavors are so delicate and fragrant..I love to have eggeh fritters with red lentil soup…I also make the riz bil foul akhdar..but I find cooking the foul with the rice the fava get overcooked and mushy…so I add them in the last minute to steam cook on top and then fold in..

    • Joumana says:

      @Samir: I actually did it your way and then thought it might be easier to cook them with the rice. Since you say they get overcooked then I will make a mention of it. Thanks!

  12. samir says:

    ps(u know me by now right!) the blanching of the fresh fava to peel the beans leaves them already cooked al dente..so thats why I just fold them in to the steamed rice..

  13. Maria @ Scandifoodie says:

    I love the presentation! These really sound like bundles full of flavour!

  14. samir says:

    its funny isnt it? ..lots of authentic recipe books/ and oral ones from family say to cook them with the rice..but I never got a good result..they lose their color as well as become mushy…

  15. rebecca says:

    wow awesome crepes and healthy always love what u make

  16. Aarthi says:

    This looks yummy….you have a lovely blog…I am having a giveaway in my blog..Y dont you check and join that
    http://yummytummy-aarthi.blogspot.com/2011/05/chocolate-recipe-and-chocolate.html

  17. Sutapa says:

    Awesome colorful delicious purse! Love it !

  18. Priya says:

    Flavourful crepes, simply irresistible..marvellous!

  19. Susan says:

    Joumana this looks amazing~! I love your picture! its like we could grab the food!

  20. Caffettiera says:

    A quintessential spring dish. I am using dill more and more, it must be delicious here.

  21. Steve @ HPD says:

    In a perfect world, everyone would grow dill and rhubarb in their own yard. They’re both nearly impossible to kill and give you something to work with year after year. Cheers!

  22. Susan says:

    What charming and delicious little bundles!

  23. lisaiscooking says:

    The dill flecked crepes make great-looking packages, and love the filling with favas and yogurt!

  24. tigerfish says:

    Fava treasure bag! I love it! Beautiful too.

  25. Magic of Spice says:

    These are just gorgeous Joumana…these crepes look amazing and your delightful filling as well as presentation are exceptional 🙂

  26. Claudia says:

    These speckled purses are so sweet – and delicious and pretty and spring. Visiting bloggers like you stimulate taste and creativity.

  27. domi says:

    Un très beau visuel pour ces petites bourses gourmandes…

  28. Jamie says:

    Joumana, this is wonderful! I have always wanted to make packages with crepes because I think they are clever and fun to eat! I love the beautiful crepes and this springtime filling. Now I am inspired (as I often am after visiting here).

  29. Oui, Chef says:

    These delicate crepes are just gorgeous, and the fava bean surprise they hold, stunning. Love this presentation, and can see making these with all sorts of fun stuffings. – S

  30. Erica says:

    They look so cute and delicious! Love the color.

  31. Peter says:

    Gorgeous beggar’s purses, love all herbs…dill too!

  32. Shreela says:

    This pic from FoodGawker brought me here; I’ve had stacked, stuffed crepes before, but they didn’t appeal to me enough to learn to make crepes – this post changed that! The herb specks helped draw me in also, and I’m sure they also helped the taste too. I went through 4 pages of archives and am very pleased with your recipes, so you have a new subscriber ^_^

  33. Charissa says:

    This is so pretty…I don’t know if I could even eat it…but it looks delicious…

    Seriously, it’s just so pretty. Love your presentation!

  34. Kevin says:

    I really like the sound of dilled crepes!

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