Tex-Mex Cilantro Crepe Pinwheels

These pretty appetizers are lighter and fresher tasting than tortilla pinwheels. 

Crepes

2 eggs

Pinch salt

½ c flour

½ c milk

¼ c chopped cilantro

1 T butter, melted

Filling

8 oz / 250 g cream cheese at room temperature

½ t chili powder

Freshly ground black pepper to taste

2 green onions, finely sliced

¼ c red pepper, finely chopped

¼ c pickled jalapenos (or less, depending on taste), well drained and finely chopped

¼ c black olives, well drained and finely chopped

Put eggs and salt in a medium bowl and whisk well.  Add flour all at once, and whisk until smooth.  Gradually add the milk, whisking after each addition, until you have a smooth, thin batter.  Add cilantro, and stir through to combine.

Melt butter in small dish, and put aside.

Put a 17 cm non-stick frying pan over medium heat until hot.  Brush some melted butter onto the surface of the hot pan using a pastry brush.  Lifting the pan off the heat and tilting it away from you, add 2 oz / ¼ c batter to the pan, tilting the pan in a counter-clockwise motion until the surface has been covered.  Return to the heat just until the sides start to pull away from the pan.  Flip the crepe over, and cook on the second side for ten seconds or so.  Turn out onto clean kitchen towel and continue with next crepe.  You should have enough for six crepes.

In a medium bowl, add cream cheese, chili powder and black pepper.  Using a fork, mix until well combined.  Add green onion, red pepper, jalapenos and olives.  Mix.

Arrange the crepes so that the ‘pretty side’ is facing down.  Divide the cheese mixture between the six crepes.  Spread out evenly on each, leaving a 1 cm space around the circumference.   Roll each into a tight cigar shape.  Lay each rolled crepe onto the centre of a piece of plastic wrap which is at least two inches longer that the crepe.  Roll the plastic wrap around the crepe, hold both ends, and spin the crepe so that both ends twist like a candy wrapper.

Place on flat surface in fridge, and chill for at least one hour.  Unwrap each, and using a thin, sharp knife, cut 1 cm or so off both ends (cook’s treat).  Cut the remainder into 2 cm thick portions.  Place on platter, with a bowl of salsa in the middle.  Makes three dozen.

The 'pretty side'