Stuffed Crepes

February 1, 2012

OK I know, I know I have been MIA for far to long. Thankfully the holidays are over and work has now returned to some semblance or normal (what ever that is…) and I can now return to this budding cyber conversation on food. This poor entry has been withering on the vine for over 2 months, it glares at me every time I log on. Shooting accusing glances of abandonment, whispering in my ear that WikiJan Cooks is not feeling the love any more. How wrong is it that a blog entry half-finished can cause so much guilt. I have missed my WikiJan family these last weeks and am glad to be back in the saddle as it were.

So where are we with this entry…Stuffed Crepes. I LOVE stuffed crepes, especially savory stuffed crepes. They always remind me of one Sunday in 1980 if I remember correctly. My Dad in the kitchen making batch after batch of crepes, they seemed to be piled ALL over the place, the chicken and veggies in the smooth as silk cream sauce simmering on the stove. I remember it being a huge production, he was making savory crepes to serve after Church that Sunday. When ever I think of savory crepes that is the touch stone I always go back to. I seem to remember him moving effortlessly around the kitchen getting his groove on, thinking about it now I understand better why it all seemed so effortless the hundreds of meals he produced while a cook in the Navy stood him in good stead, as a 13 y.o. it just looked like mass chaos…rather like me at times.

Now what can one do with savory crepes you ask? Just about anything your little heart desires. Honest, I will put just about anything in a crepe. Well maybe not spaghetti or liver…although…no, better not. Think of the crepe as the bread for your sandwich if that will help. Now, yes there are some items that need a bit of forethought before adding like Spinach only because it hold so much moisture or shrimp, as you want it properly cooked before hand. You will need to make the crepe batter either early in the day or the night before as it needs to sit allowing the batter to thicken.

Stuffed Crepes

3 Boneless Chicken breast

2 c Half & Half

1/2 c White wine

2 c Chicken Stock

2 c whole Mushrooms (stems removed)

1/4 lb provolone

1/4 lb mozzarella

1/4 lb Smoked Gouda

1 c Mascarpone or Creme Fraiche

2 Shallots

3 sprigs of Rosemary

8 Cloves Garlic

1 TS Poultry seasoning

1 TS Ground Black Pepper

1 TS Kosher Salt

oil

1 batch of Crepe batter (recipe to follow)

In a pot large enough to hold your chicken add enough water to cover the chicken add in the poultry seasoning and the salt boil until chicken is cooked though. Remove chicken from water and cool in the fridge while you prep the remaining parts.

Sauce~

Thinly slice the mushrooms (reserving 5 mushrooms) and finely mince one of the shallots, 6 finely diced garlic cloves, sweat down in a large frying pan until reduced to half the volume. Add in the White wine and rosemary sprigs allowing the wine to reduce by add in the stock and reduce by half again, add in the Half & Half turning down the heat to med to med low, simmer until fluid volume is about half of what you started with. Remove Rosemary sprigs when sauce is completed.

In a small pan add 1 TS oil and heat, dice mushrooms finely chop shallots and mince the garlic toss into the pan and saute until the mushrooms are slightly browned being careful to not burn the garlic.

Your finely diced ‘shrooms should look like this when finished

While the sauce is reducing…Grate the cheeses and combine with the mascarpone and the finely diced mushroom mixture, diced chicken breasts and add to the cheese mixture.

Now we start the dance of making and stuffing the crepes…OK with a 10 to 12-inch skillet brush a very small amount of oil in the bottom of the pan allowing the oil to heat, don’t overdo it just enough to keep the crepe from sticking. Pour in about 1/4c of batter into the pan and swirl the batter around to cover the bottom allow to cook until the crepe looks slightly dry or non glossy, flip over and allow to cook for about half a minute.

You can cook all the crepes at one time putting wax paper or parchment between the crepes or cook them as you fill them. Either way is good. If you have not made crepes before it might be less nerve-wracking to cook them all first then come back to stuff and roll.

OK this is going to sound a bit confusing but if you follow along with the crepe in front of you, you will get the idea real quick. Think of laying a square on top of the circle that is the crepe you are going to fold three of the sides in where the imagined straight lines of the square would be. So here we go..

Put your crepe on a cutting board or the counter and put 1/2c to 3/4c of the chicken mixture along the bottom line of the imaginary square, the width you spread out the chicken mixture will determine the width of the crepe when rolled.

Fold the bottom of the crepe over the chicken mixture like so…The go for the sides making sure they are snugly folded over, do be careful to not tear a hole in the crepe. Once you have the sides folded in roll the crepe away from you until you have a nicely bundled package then transfer to a baking dish. Repeat for the remaining crepes. Once everyone is nestled comfortably in the baking dish pour over your lovely mushroom cream sauce and bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes.