A Fancy Mellow Monday

Every now and again I like to take a trip down memories lane and share a recipe we’ve shared in the past. For this very Mellow Monday in October, I thought it would be nice to share a recipe from six years ago along with a story older than that.

Eighteen years ago, Brother Dear suffered a massive heart attack. While he survived, his heart was never the same. Naturally, his sisters rallied around his hospital bed. One drove up from So Cal, another from Oregon and I traveled home from Nevada. Each of my two sisters and I are great cooks in our own right, so there was only so much of the hospital cafeteria food we could take. That’s when our youngest sister found this wonderful little Bistro not far from the hospital that served up nothing but Crêpes. I had never had savory Crêpes before. It was love at first bite.

Unfortunately a number of years later, there was a fire in the kitchen. While everyone got out fine, the restaurant was a total loss.

This recipe is of my own creation, from memory of that amazing Crêpe I had all those years ago. Enjoy!

Chicken Florentine Crêpes
Crêpe Batter
2 Eggs
1-1/3 cup Milk
2 tablespoon Butter, melted
1 cup Flour
1/2 teaspoon Salt

Note: If the butter is salted, no need to add more salt.

Make the Crêpe Batter: Beat eggs and place in a blender. Add remaining ingredients and blend until smooth.

Pour batter through a sieve set over a bowl. Cover and refrigerate batter for an hour to allow gluten to rest. While the batter is resting, begin making the filling. (Note: batter may rest up to 1 day).

Chicken Florentine Crêpe Filling
1.25 lbs cubed Chicken Meat (see note)
2 tablespoons Butter
4 Garlic Cloves, minced
1 (10 oz) can Cream of Chicken Soup
2 oz Cream Cheese with Chives
1/2 cup Milk
1 tablespoon Tuscan Italian Seasoning Blend
Black Pepper to taste
10 oz fresh Spinach

Note: Foster Farms makes a great cubed chicken that is convenient to use. You will find it in the frozen food section of most grocery stores. There is no need to defrost chicken, simply empty the bag into a heated skillet and continue. If using fresh chicken, simply cut breasts into bite size pieces and proceed.

Make the Chicken Florentine Filling: Heat large non-stick pan over medium heat. Melt butter. Sauté chicken for a few minutes in butter until golden brown. While chicken cooks, peel and mince garlic. Add garlic to the chicken and continue to cook until fragrant, about 1 minute.

Empty soup into pan with chicken. Stir well. Add Cream Cheese, stir until cheese has melted and blended with soup. Add milk and Tuscan Seasoning. Once mixture has begun to bubble, lower heat to maintain a steady simmer. Season with pepper and continue to cook until chicken is tender, about 20 minutes.

Just before cooking the Crêpes, tear spinach into small pieces. Scatter spinach over the top of the chicken mixture and let it wilt. Cover pan to keep warm and remove from heat.

Cook the Crêpes: Using a small, heavy bottom stainless steel pan (or a crêpe pan), slowly heat pan until reaching medium to medium-high. (Different pans will heat differently – it may be necessary to make adjustments after the first crêpe is cooked. The pan must be hot enough that the crêpe won’t stick, but not too hot that it burns).

Lightly coat pan with a little butter for the first crêpe. The best way to do this is to unwrap one end of a stick of butter, swirl the stick on the bottom and up the sides of the warm pan. A LIGHT coating of butter is all you need. If you can see the butter, you’ve got too much.

Add about 1/4 to 1/2 cup batter to the bottom of the pan. (A 6-inch pan will take about 1/4 cup, 8-inch pan no more than 1/2 cup). Tilt and swirl pan to coat bottom with batter. Cook crêpe for about 2 minutes or until lightly brown and dry – the surface will no longer appear shiny and the edges just beginning to brown. Carefully flip crêpe to cook the other side for about a minute. Don’t worry if the first crêpe is buttery and a little crisp – consider this your test crêpe and adjust time and temperature accordingly. (Sometimes my first two or three are a little “off” – they might not be the prettiest crêpes around, but they taste just fine).

Continue to cook each crêpe, buttering the pan with a quick swipe after each crêpe.

Fill the Crêpes: As each crêpe is done, place crêpe on a plate. Fill center with about 1/2 cup of filling. Fold crêpe over filling, transfer to a warm platter for serving. Repeat until all the batter has been used or all the filling is used.

Note: For me the filling and batter worked out to six 8-inch crêpes.

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Know that the LORD is God;
He made us, His we are;
His people, the flock He tends.