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Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Chew on This | Chicken Challenge - Chicken Crepes




A hundred years ago I received a crepe maker for a gift.  I enjoyed wowing my guests with different and delicious crepes-both savory and sweet.   They are fun to make, elegant to serve, easy peasy to prepare, and very economical.  I still love them for all those reasons, though I like using an oiled skillet or a teflon pan these days.
Sooo when deciding on my next chicken challenge recipe it was a no brainer...chicken crepes it was. 

This is what you will need for the filling:  (the crepe recipe follows)
Chicken, mushrooms, dried minced onions, butter, chicken stock, cream, horseradish, onion powder, flour, lemon zest, ground celery (shown below), salt and pepper to taste.
Optional:  dry sherry 
Optional - garnish on top of finished crepes:  toasted garlic bread crumbs and a sprinkle of grated Parmesan cheese.


Measure your ingredients and...


in a large skillet, sauté the dried minced onions in the butter.  Drop in the sliced mushrooms.


Stir in the flour and the ground celery, horseradish, onion powder, and lemon zest.


Pour in the chicken stock and drop in chicken.


Simmer on low heat for 10 minutes then add the cream and the optional dry sherry.  The sherry really does make the difference between a good dish and a grrreat dish-go for it!


Add salt and pepper to taste.

To assemble the crepes - divide filling between the crepes.  Lay filling on one side of crepe and fold that side over, then fold the other side of the crepe to the center.  Turn crepe over so the folds face down.  


Crepes can be placed on a large serving platter or on individual plates.
The top of the crepe can be drizzled with remaining sauce and  sprinkled with toasted garlic bread crumbs and Parmesan cheese.



Bon Appetite...and so delicious too!


Mimi

Here are the recipes:
Chicken Crepes
Chicken Crepe Filling:
4 T butter
3  T flour
1/2  t ground celery seasoning
5 T dried minced onions
1 to 1 1/2 cups sliced mushrooms
1/2  t horseradish
1/2 t onion powder
1/2 t lemon zest
salt and pepper to taste
1 cup chicken stock
1 cup cream (1/2 heavy cream and 1/2 water, or 1 cup light cream, or 1 cup half and half)
8 oz  precooked white chicken

Optional:  2 T dry sherry
Optional garnish for top:  drizzle any remaining liquid from the sauce, toasted garlic bread crumbs and a sprinkle of grated Parmesan cheese


Melt butter in a large skillet.   Drop in the instant onions and the mushrooms and saute'
over very low heat until mushroom are almost tender.  Add spices and stir.  Drop in the
flour and stir to combine.

Pour in the chicken stock and add the chicken.  When the mixture begins to thicken (about 5-10 minutes) add the cream and the optional dry sherry. (If mixture is too thick, thin with
more cream)  Adjust seasonings if needed.

Optional garnish for top: any remaining liquid from the sauce, toasted garlic bread crumbs and a sprinkle of grated Parmesan cheese.


Basic Crepe Recipe:
1 ½ cups milk
1 ½ cups flour
2 T vegetable oil

1/8 t salt
3 eggs



Put all the ingredients in the blender in the order given: Milk goes in first, then the vegetable oil, eggs, flour, and finally, the salt. Blend, and scrap the sides of the blender a few times.


If using a crepe maker, use two large plates, one to pour the crepe batter into and the other to stack the finished crepes.




Spray the crepe maker or an 8 or 9” skillet with vegetable spray. It is hot when a drop of water sizzles.
If using a crepe maker, lower it over the batter filled dish and move it around slightly and lift straight up. You will get the hang of it after the first one or two…honest.


If using a skillet, pour in about 1/4 cup of batter and quickly tip the pan to move the batter all around the bottom of the pan-not on the sides.


(I almost do better with the skillet-crepes are rounder and I don’t have to trim the drips from the sides of the crepe maker) your choice, pan or crepe maker...though the crepe maker is more fun and I feel sorta French using it!

Now to get it off…don’t worry it's easy. Take a knife or spatula and gentle lift crepe up to
loosen it. I always flip it over and just let the uncooked side get a moment of heat also.



When finished, stack cooked crepes with wax paper or paper towel between layers.




At this point you can choose to freeze or refrigerate the crepes until you are ready to fill them with your favorite savory or sweet filling.


Be creative…invent your own crepes and show your culinary talents…or look in our recipe file for many more scrumptious ideas.

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