Crepes, Part Deux

After the success of the spinach and brie crepes with artichoke cream sauce, I decided to try again. This time, I used the recipe for crepes from Julia Child, and I learned from the mistakes I  made last time.  For starters, I measured out the flour into the mixing bowl, then I whisked in the cold water and milk until it was smooth. Last time, using Emeril's recipe, I had lumps, and while you couldn't tell once the crepes were cooked, it really bothered me.  Then I added the eggs, whisked again, added the salt, pepper, and melted butter, and let it rest.  I used the filling recipe from JC also, only I combined the two fillings to make one.  JC likes to make a fancy presentation with the crepes by stacking them, with fillings spread in between each one, alternating fillings. Then the entire mess is cut like a pie. She calls it a galotte, or something fancy like that. I call it a mess o' crepes.  With the spinach and brie filling, I had rolled the crepes around the filling like a burrito. This time, I tried something a bit fancier, and put the filling on one pie shaped quarter of the crepe, then folded the crep in half, then in half again, making a pie shaped piece.

Because I was being lazy, I combined the two fillings into one; I sauteed onion and garlic, then put it in a bowl with a block of cream cheese. Then I sauteed mushrooms, and put them in the same bowl, Then I sauteed spinach, added fresh cracked pepper, and put it in the bowl.  It smelled wonderful.  While I was sauteeing, I made the crepes.  The silky smooth batter was perfect. I poured just scant of 1/2 a cup into the pan, and swirled it around.  (After making a dozen crepes, I'm pretty good at this part.)  After battling loosening the first one, I decided to wait an extra minute after I THOUGHT it was done, because Rachel Ray always says that some foods do not release until they are cooked.  What do you know, she is right! After an extra minute, the edges of the crepe began to lift from the pan just slightly, and I could shake the pan, and the crepe would loosen.

Once I had the crepes done, I quickly made a bechamel (which is technically a thick white sauce made from a fat and flour roux, which is cooked before adding the milk; the bechamel part comes from cream being added after cooking to thin it to the desired consistency.  A sauce veloute' is the same fat and flour roux, but the liquid is stock. Who knew?)

I buttered a baking dish (it's JC, you HAVE to use copious amounts of butter) and placed the filled and folded crepes in, layering them with bechemal.  I added a bit of grated parmesan on top, and threw it in the oven at 350 to get nice and hot. Meanwhile, I had simmered baby red potatoes in chicken broth, with fresh juice from a lemon.  Once I got the crepes out of the way, I drained the potatoes, cut them in half, and sauteed them in a pan with butter and olive oil to get the cut parts nice and crispy.  While that was doing it's magic, I pan fried some salmon in olive oil, then added a splash of white wine to give it some flavor.

My favorite part of the meal was the potatoes. The lemon gave them a bright flavor that was a nice contract to the usual earthiness of potatoes; the crispy fried part of the potato was a nice balance from the softness of the inside.  And the salt made them absolutely wonderful.  The crepes were good; the filling was nice, but it lacked the bite of the brie in the previous filling.  The bechamel was a very nice touch, but it too lacked the brightness of the artichoke cream sauce.  And, folding the crepe around the filling twice made the proportion of filling to crepe a little to light for me; I felt like I was eating a lot of crepe without the flavor from the filling.  So, next time, I will go back to the rolled crepe, and maybe either make more filling, or plan on halfing the crepe recipe to get the proportions more pleasing. Or, save the crepes to use as dessert crepes, and filling them with bananas foster. : )