Chicken Crepes

Mary Bannick adapted this simple crepe recipe from a French cookbook about 30 years ago. While she’s made this family favorite for dinner many times over the years, Mary called to mind that crepes might be served for any meal of the day, depending upon the filling that is chosen.

Her chicken crepes are one of the 325 recipes in Wahkon’s “Sacred Heart Church Centennial Cookbook: Celebrating 100 Years of Growing in Faith.” Mary is the chairperson of the cookbook committee. She and her husband, Jim, have been members of the parish for nine years. CJK

Chicken Crepes

(Mary Bannick)

Crepes

1 1/4 cup flour

2 tbsp. sugar

3 eggs

1 1/2 cup milk

2 tbsp. butter

1 tsp. lemon juice
Pinch of salt

Filling
2 chicken breasts, cooked and shredded
3/4 cup mushrooms, chopped fine (optional)                  

Sauce

3 egg yolks

1 1/2 tbsp. lemon juice

Dash of cayenne pepper

Pinch of salt

1/2 cup butter

Heat oven to 250°F to 275°F.

Mix flour, sugar, eggs, milk, butter, lemon juice and salt into a thin batter. Mix chicken and mushrooms together in separate bowl.

Heat a small skillet or crepe pan to high heat. Lightly grease with no-stick cooking spray. Pour about 1/4 cup batter into heated pan to make a 5- to 5 1/ 2-inch pancake. Brown both sides of crepe, turning and removing from pan with spatula. (Lightly re-spray pan, as needed, before adding batter for each crepe.)

Fill each crepe with a scant 1/3 cup of chicken and mushroom mixture, roll and place in a shallow baking pan (seam side down) in the oven. Cover the pan with a damp terrycloth towel to keep the crepes moist.

In a small bowl, blend egg yolks, lemon juice, pepper and salt with a mixer on low speed. Heat the butter to bubbling. With mixer on high speed, slowly add the butter in a stream until mixture thickens.

Remove crepes from oven and pour the sauce over them. Serve immediately.

Yield: 10 to 12 crepes

A note from Mary: I usually use an electric crepe pan to prepare the crepes. This pan makes the process so easy. The Teflon-coated pan is dipped into the batter and the crepes bake on top.

If you would prefer not to use raw egg yolks in the sauce, stir them together and try adding them to the butter after it has melted. Allow them to lightly cook in the butter and then add this mixture to the other ingredients in the sauce as described above.

A note from Carol: Mary’s recipe inspired my friend Nikki to create her own version of crepes this past week. Nikki thought back to her trip to France a couple of years ago and began dreaming of crepes she had tasted there. Then, she asked to borrow my electric crepe pan. Mary’s rich and creamy hollandaise-like sauce brought “Benedicts” to her mind and she experimented with pieces of chopped ham, freshly cooked asparagus, shredded cheese, finely chopped onion and herbs besides the chicken and mushroom filling.

I thank both Mary and Nikki for inviting me back into the world of crepes again. I’m all geared up to experiment with “crepe creations” of my own — as soon as Nikki returns my pan.