The first recipe I tried was "Herbed Crepes with Smoked Salmon and Radishes". This a recipe I found in an old "Gourmet" magazine that was lying around the dentist office. Since the magazine was over a year old..... I ever so slying.... ripped it out and stuck it in my purse. This is not something I normally do..... but.... it was my turn to go into the dentist chair and I didn't have time to jot the recipe down..... and had it been a recent copy of the magazine, I would have gone out and bought it.... but seeing that it was over a year old.... I didn't think anyone would be too upset with the missing page. That is my story and I'm sticking to it! LOL : ) I think you might be happy I snatched it and gave it a try tho!
You will first need to make the crepes before you make the filling because they need to cool completely, but you can make both the crepes and the filling ahead of time and refrigerate until assembly, which should be right before serving. I suggest making a standard crepe recipe and practicing with one batch before making the crepe recipe you need for the appetizers. Crepe making is actually very easy with a couple of practice crepes.... they are like pancakes.... even for well trained Chefs, the first ones rarely ever turn out properly and it takes a crepe or two to fine tune the level of heat under your pan.... a non-stick pan is preferred... but using a stainless steel pan with clarified butter will work too.... stainless steel pans just tend to be a bit more temperamental and require closer attention than the non-stick pans do.
After trimming off the ends of each filled crepe, I cut them into 4ths.... appetizer/hors d'vours size. This recipe only makes 2 crepes, but for the OTBN party I quadrupled the recipe. Here is the recipe.... I hope you enjoy!
HERBED CREPES WITH SMOKED SALMON AND RADISHES
Crepes - makes 2 crepes
1/3 cup whole milk (the milk MUST BE whole milk)
3 Tbsp all purpose flour
1 large egg
2 tsp vegetable oil + additional for cooking the crepes
1 tbsp chives, finely chopped (dried chives may be substituted)
1 tbsp fresh dill, finely chopped (dried dill may be substituted)
1. Blend the milk, flour, egg and 2 tsp vegetable oil in a blender until smooth. Add chives and dill and pulse 1 or 2 times to just combine. chill batter, covered for 30 minutes.
2. Stir batter to redistribute herbs. Lightly brush a 10" nonstick skillet with oil, then heat over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking.
3. Holding skillet off heat, pour in 1/4 cup batter, immediately tilting and rotating skillet to coat bottom.
4. Return skillet to heat and cook until crepe is just set and pale golden around edges, 10-15 seconds.
5. Loosen edge of crepe with a plastic scraper, then flip crepe over carefully with your fingertips. Cook until underside is set, about 20 seconds more. Repeat for other crepes.
Filling
1 oz = (1 tbsp + 2 tsp) cream cheese (room temperature/softened)
1 tsp lemon juice
1/4 tsp lemon zest, finely grated
1/4 tsp pepper
1 oz thinly sliced smoked salmon
2 medium radishes, cut into matchsticks
1. Stir together the cream cheese, lemon juice, lemon zest, and pepper in a small bowl until smooth.
2. Place 1 crepe, browned side up (browned side is usually the 2nd side cooked, first side cooked is usually the presentable side), on a work surface and spread with 1/2 of the cheese mixture (if you have doubled, tripled or quadrupled this recipe, use enough of the cheese mixture to cover crepe).
3. Arrange salmon in an even layer over bottom half of the crepe (side nearest you)
4. Scatter radish over salmon.
5. Beginning at the bottom, tightly roll up crepe, then cut into 4 pieces, trimming ends if desired.
The second crepe recipe I tried for the OTBN Party was Smoked Chicken with Sundried Tomato Crepes. I found this recipe in my good ole "Professional Cooking" textbook from culinary school. I'm not a salmon or dill fan, so this was my favorite of the two recipes, but the party guests loved them both. The recipe calls for smoked chicken, but I am sure you could use canned chicken breast if you prefer. I used a roasted savory chicken from Kroger, which made this much more simple in preparing. I just shredded the meat from the roasted chicken, easy cheesy!
Crepes - makes 36 crepes
8 oz flour
1 tsp salt
6 eggs
2 cups milk
1 1/2 oz butter, browned (melt butter in a saucepan until it starts to turn brown, remove from heat and let cool... it will brown slightly more as it cools.
oil for cooking crepes
Whisk flour, salt and eggs together. Gradually mix in the milk to make a smooth batter. Strain batter thru a fine sieve and whisk in browned butter. Cover and let rest at room temperature for 30 minutes.
Heat nonstick pan to moderately high heat until hot but not smoking, brush with oil. Holding the skillet off heat, pour in 2-3 tbsp of batter, immediately tilting and rotating skillet to coat bottom. Return skillet to heat and cook until crepe is just set and pale golden around edges, 10-15 seconds. Loosen edge with plastic scraper and flip crepe carefully with fingertips. Cook until underside is done, about 20 seconds more.
Sun Dried Tomato Mayonnaise
6.5 oz jar of sun dried tomatoes packed in oil
3 1/2 oz oil from the sun dried tomatoes
1 oz sun dried tomatoes
1 egg yolk
1 tbsp dijon mustard
salt and pepper to taste
Place the sun dried tomato oil and sun dried tomatoes in blender. Blend until smooth. Strain through fine sieve. In stainless steel bowl, whip together the egg yolk, salt, pepper, and mustard. Gradually add the flavored oil in a steady stream, whipping to a stiff mayonnaise.
Filling
7 oz chicken breast, shredded or coarsely chopped
2 oz sun dried tomato, coarsely chopped
1 oz basil, chopped
Place a crepe browned side up on work surface. Spread a layer of sun dried tomato mayonnaise over crepe. On bottom half of crepe (side nearest you) place a layer of chicken on mayonnaise, then sprinkle with the chopped sun dried tomato and basil. Tightly roll crepe. Cut crepe into 4 pieces, trimming ends if desired.
Both of these crepe recipes can be used on a luncheon menu by placing each rolled up crepe on a bed of lettuce and served whole. The reason it is important to let the crepe batter rest for 30 minutes, is to allow the flour to absorb the liquids and create a smooth, lump free batter. The crepes used in the sun dried tomato recipe can be used for dessert and can be wrapped tightly and frozen. Or they can be used for any other filling because it is a plain, unflavored crepe. The fillings can be sweet or savory and the possibilities are endless. Also, if you become quite practiced and brave, you can flip these crepes instead of turning them with your fingertips. I find even when flipping them, I need to help them level out using my fingertips, but I think it is lots of fun to flip them.... especially if anyone is watching! As Julia Child says..... when flipping food in a pan, be confident, wait for the batter to set before flipping and then.... in a scooping motion, extend your arm straight out in front of you and then quickly jerk your arm/pan back towards yourself. It takes a bit of practice, but is easily mastered. You can always take a piece of sandwich bread and place it in a small skillet and practice flipping the bread before you move on to cooking batter.
Good Luck with crepe making and flipping and I hope you enjoy these delish nibbles.
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