Hello! I’m Lisa Callaghan, and I am blogging for my company—All-Clad, starting here and now.  It is Labor Day and the Yankees are beating the Orioles, barely, and I want to watch the final inning—but I also have a reservation for dinner. So I don’t feel so bad about missing the game.  You might be saying ‘rough life’.  

I have been thinking a lot about you, the people who will be reading this blog, and have come up with a few thoughts:

1.        You are already a fan of the great brand that I work for and represent:  All-Clad.

2.       You may be looking for information about the cookware, but you are more curious about food and about the culture of it, the chefs who use it and—even the culture of our company.

3.       You will want to share things about food, chefs and how you cook, with me, too.

4.       You like to eat :)

I have worked for All-Clad for over 15 years.  It has been an incredible ride as the company has grown and changed.  I actually worked for a competitor that I bet you know, when I happened to meet the sales representative for All-Clad, Dennis Cacioppo, in Macy’s Herald Square.  I had noticed a dusty shelf of what looked like commercial cookware near my display and asked one of the clerks, Renny Lupo, about it.  This was when Macy’s was really an East Coast store, before it became the Great White Shark of retail.  They had customer service representatives and ‘cookware specialists’ that really knew their stuff.  Renny was one of them, and he was also a chef.  He told me that All-Clad was the best cookware on the floor. 

I learned overtime about how All-Clad was made with a patented bonded process that combined several metals to create a safe, conductive and superior cooking vessel.  Stainless was the best seller with 18/10 stainless on the inside, aluminum in the core for even heat conductivity and magnetic stainless on the exterior which made it dishwasher safe and induction compatible (Yes, in 1995, induction compatible!).  Macy’s also carried our LTD which had a hard anodized exterior , Master Chef, which was brushed aluminum and CopR Chef, which was beautiful, rustic, romantic copper.  I also learned that I really wanted to work for All-Clad.

So fast forward 15+ years and you wonder, ‘How can she still get excited about pots and pans?” …  But it really isn’t all about cookware.  It is about the people that I work with.  My excellent colleagues past and present,  the chefs who are so generous and talented and the people I meet who love our products.   Now I get to write about my experiences at work and in the service of All-Clad.  Funny, I started at All-Clad the same year that blogging really took hold.

In 1997, the first year that I worked All-Clad I drove all over New York, Connecticut and New Jersey at the crack of dawn, making crepes  on a hot plate.  OH, my GOD! Did I really DO that? Did the Fire Marshall know I was doing that?  At least I made something delicious for the store associates, who dutifully showed up at 7 a.m for my product trainings.  The recipe is below—-and it is still great.  A couple of tips:

1.       You can use the basic recipe plus 2 rounded teaspoons of sugar for dessert crepes.  Right now, I would use fresh peaches with a bit of sugar and add some marscapone.  Yummy.

2.       This keeps well in the frig overnight.  I put it in a plastic bottle that I can shake to remix.

From:  The French Chef Cookbook, by Julia Child

Makes 10-12 crepes:

1 c cold water

1 c cold milk

4 eggs at room temperature

4 T butter, melted then cooled

½ tsp salt

2 c all purpose flour

Melt the 4 T butter and set aside to cool—cooling is important.

Whisk together flour and salt.

With a hand blender or standing blender add the flour mixture, eggs then the liquid.  Start on a slow speed to incorporate all ingredients then blend quickly on a higher setting.  Set in the refrigerator for at least an 2 hours or until ready to use.

Heat an All-Clad 8” nonstick pan for a minute on a medium heat. 

I add a touch of canola oil or butter to the pan and swirl it around to coat the bottom, but you can go without.  Add about a ¼ cup of the batter to the hot pan and again swirl the batter around to coat the bottom of the pan.  Return it to the heat for abut  a minute than using a plastic or nylon spatula, flip to the second side and cook until barely brown—30  seconds or less. Place the hot crepe on a plate and continue cooking and removing to the plate. 

Roll the crepe around the ingredients you have selected and plate.  If this is dessert, dust with powdered sugar, if savory, garnish with what works.  This should serve 4-6 people.