Eat This While you Read That: Marko Kloos

And here's the dish that began this series for me. Marko Kloos shared a lovely picture of his breakfast one snowy recent morning, and the First Reader looked at it and asked if we could find some of that jam and try it... As I was shopping online for it (it was snowy here, too! And Kloos lives in New England, so I wasn't sure if I could find the jam, or would have to make it.) it occurred to me that this would be a nice way to promote a fellow author, even if Kloos is no longer an Indie, he started that way. A conversation with friends later, Eat This While you Read That was born.

To begin, you will need a copy of one of his books, which you an find at his Amazon page, or start with the one I did, Terms of Enlistment. He writes action military science fiction, and the books are not terribly long. I did enjoy, and reviewed, although I had some reservations on a few details. 

And then, the jam I found here, Stonewall Kitchen Maple Bacon Onion Jam. The ingredients for the crepes are few, and simple, it's all about technique with them!

The jam, on a crepe ready to roll up.

Crepes

In a blender (if you have one. I haven't, and I used an immersion [stick] blender which worked fine, a whisk would, but would take stamina. Recruit a teenager if you plan to whisk) combine:

• 3 eggs

• 3/4 milk

• 1/2 c water

• 1 c sifted flour

• 3 tbsp melted butter

Pulse until smoothly blended, then place in the refrigerator to allow the bubbles to disperse, for about an hour. Heat a non-stick pan (I used a well-seasoned cast iron flat round, about 10") at about medium. Scoop or pour about 1/4 cup of batter and swirl the pan to spread it. You may need to add more liquid to the batter to achieve this, otherwise you get pancake. Flip after about 15-20 seconds on a side. When cooked, move to a plate, stacking as you go. You could separate each crepe with wax paper, I didn't.

Immersion, or stick, blender. Takes a little longer than a pitcher blender, but it gets the job done.

Crepes on a flat cast iron griddle, with a large spatula for turning

Thin, golden brown, a growing stack of crepes.

When all the crepes are finished (this recipe made about 10 for me) then spread a spoonful of the savory jam in the middle, roll, and eat. You can, of course, put darn near anything in them. I sautéd finely chopped onions and mushrooms to pout in some, since we weren't sure about the jam...

Bacon and mushrooms to go in some of the crepes

The final verdict was that the jam is nice, rather sweet, citrusy, and you cannot taste the bacon at all in it. We'll use it up, but we won't bother repeating it. I do have a recipe for bacon jam somewhere, and we occasionally pick up a 5lb package of 'seconds' bacon cheap, so I'll try that later on. The crepes were very nice. If I've made them before, I don't remember doing it. I did learn that the batter needs to be very thin, and you can't turn your back on them, I burned one!

Also, this is great for a lazy Sunday brunch, with the time involved. Feels luxurious.

Crepes, fruit, and jam. Perfectly delicious.