Wednesday, October 1, 2008

Romantic Brunch for Two

This is a simple dish that can be altered in so many ways.

Crepes are very thin pancakes originating from France. When I was in Paris this summer, every street had a crepe stand. Crepes can be both sweet or savory. My favorite is Nutella and banana crepes. (Nutella is a chocolate hazelnut spread that can be found in the peanut butter aisle in any grocery store). A simple sweet version would be lemon juice and granulated sugar over the crepe. The possibilities are endless.


This dish was inspired by my favorite neighborhood restaurant, Spats. They serve a Crabmeat Cannelloni Florentine, which is simply a crepe stuffed with crabmeat topped with a tomato, hollandaise sauce and cheese.


Mushroom Chicken Crepe Cannelloni

Basic Crepe Ingredients
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1/4 tsp salt
2 tablespoons butter, melted


Sauce Ingredients
3 slices Smoked Turkey Bacon, diced
1 tsp cooking oil
1 cup mushrooms, sliced
1/2 cup onions, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup tomato sauce
1 cup heavy cream
salt and pepper to taste
handful of chopped flat-leaf parsley


1) Mix the crepe ingredients together (easiest way is in a blender). Refrigerate the crepe mixture for at least 30 min.
2) Heat a frying pan at medium high heat. Allow enough time for pan to heat through before pouring crepe mixture.
3) Spray pan evenly with cooking oil. Pour 1/4 cup of crepe mixture in the pan. Tip and rotate the pan so the mixture is evenly distributed on the pan. Allow enough time for the side to cook. (Check with metal spatula.)
4) Flip crepe and cook opposite side
5) Place cooked crepe on plate and continue making the rest of the crepes

6) Heat a sauce pan to medium high heat. Pour in 1 tsp of cooking oil, cook the garlic, onions and turkey bacon in the oil for 5 minutes. Add the mushrooms, tomato sauce and cream.
7) Allow to simmer on medium heat for 10 minutes. Taste and season with salt and pepper. Stir in freshly chopped flat leaf parsley.
8) Pour sauce over crepes

Tip: I had leftover grilled chicken that I put in the crepe and wraped it taco-style before I poured the sauce over the crepes.

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