Crepes Suzette

I think the only thing I knew about Crepes Suzette was that it's fancy, which I learned from the intro to the Patty Duke Show - a clear rip-off of The Parent Trap.  But even at age nine I knew that identical cousins just don't happen. I had heard of a minuet somewhere, but the Ballet Russes was also just one of those things I learned from this context: Fancy. Cultured.  In fact, I didn't know until this moment that they were actually from Paris, just with a lot of Russians involved. Brooklyn Heights I figured out was some sort of New York place that was more middle-class (though not down market.  You could tell from the house and the clothes.)

I made GF crepes for dinner tonight and wondered if I should attempt these fancy crepes sometime. I'm retired, I'm home, I have some hours to do better cooking these days than the years of Chinese Pie, Chopped Beef Stroganoff, and Hamburger in a Pea Patch that the boys grew up on. I figured it was probably one of those things that they call fancy because it's got its own Capital Name, like Alfredo or Coquilles St Jacques, which only means "it's got a sauce." Maybe it's just thin pancakes with strawberries and cream, with some cinnamon or something.  Y'know fancy. 

It's got cognac and Grand Marnier in it, and you serve it flambe. It includes "orange butter," which is orange peel rubbed with sugar cubes and whipped in the butter "until fluffy." Hmm.  That may take a while. The crepes themselves need some coordination to get right. So you have to deftly cook liquid pancakes basted in whole orange/alcohol sauce and light it on fire.  At the table.  What could possibly go wrong, eh?

I will not be making Crepes Suzette.