Chicken Florentine Crepe with Hollandaise Sauce

 There is always something in our fridges that needs to be cook today or forget about it. This was my dilemma.  I had some chicken thighs that needed to be cooked and spinach and mushroom on the verge of spoiling. Necessity truly is the mother of invention. I decided to make Chicken Florentine. I could of easily just served it with potatoes or rice but I wanted something more elegant. This is where the crepe comes in. To make it even more fancy I made some Hollandaise Sauce to pour over it.

This dish is so delicious! I only had spinach, onions and mushrooms but you could use any vegetables you like and it will be incredible! It was light, satisfying and so savory!

I suggest doing the batter for the crepes first it needs to rest for at least 1 hour in the fridge.  Second work on the filling. Third do the hollandaise while warming up your filling. When each component is done, start making the crepes and adding your warm filling, roll and top with hollandaise.

Make Crepe Batter- Add 2 eggs, 1 cup of flour, 3/4 cup milk, 1/2 cup water, 3 TBSP butter & 1/4 tsp salt to a blender. Blend for ONLY 10 seconds.  Place in fridge for 1 hour.

Season and cut chicken

Add oil to a medium pan on medium high, add chicken

Brown chicken and remove

Add diced onions

and garlic. Cook until tender.

Move onions/garlic to outer side of pan and add mushrooms.

Cook until brown. stir together.

Add flour and stir into veggies while cooking out the flour taste.

Add 1 1/2 cups of chicken stock

Stir scraping bottom for flavorful bites. Bring to a boil and sauce thickens.

Put chicken and juices back, finish cooking chicken. 5- 10 minutes check for doneness.

Add 1/3 cup heavy cream, stir and allow sauce to reduce.

Add spinach and wilt.

Yummy Filling!!

Make Crepes. Butter pan, 1/4 cup batter in pan, swirl, cook for 30 seconds to 1 minute, flip and cook other side.

Make Hollandaise- 2 yolks, juice of half a lemon, 1/4 tsp salt blend in blender. While blending pour in the top 5 tbsp melted butter. Blend until completely emulsified. Adjust for seasoning. 

Add a couple of Tbsp of filling

Gently Roll

Drizzle with Hollandaise sauce.

Delightful bite!

Chicken Florentine Crepe with Hollandaise Sauce - yields 4 servings

Ingredients:

1lb chicken thighs, skinless, boneless 
1 Tbsp Poultry Seasoning
1/2 an onion, diced
1 garlic clove
8 oz Mushroom, sliced
4-5 oz Spinach
2 Tbsp Flour
1 1/2 cups Chicken stock
1/3 cup heavy cream
Salt n Pepper
2 Tbsp Olive Oil

Crepes- store bought or homemade Crepes  
Hollandaise Sauce 


Roadmap:

1. If making crepes do that first. Batter needs to sit for at least 1 hour.
Cut chicken into strips or chunks. Season chicken with salt n pepper and poultry seasoning.

2. To a medium heavy bottom pan on  medium heat add oil. Brown chicken. Once all chicken is browned remove from pan and place on plate.

3. Add diced onions & garlic, season with salt & pepper,  cook until tender, 4-5 minutes, push onions/garlic to the outer sides of the pan and add mushrooms. Cook until brown. Add the flour, stirring to cover vegetables with flour and also to cook the flour taste out. 

4. Add chicken stock, stirring/scraping up with a wooden spoon the good bits from the pan and bring to a boil, stirring occasionally until sauce thickens.

5. Return chicken to pan and lower to simmer. Finish cooking chicken through, 5-10 minutes, check for doneness.

6. Add heavy cream, stir and allow sauce to reduce. Add spinach and wilt in pan. Cover and remove from heat. Keep warm.

7. Prep homemade crepes or store brought crepe. Make Hollandaise Sauce. 

8. Assembly: Crepe, spoonful of chicken mixture , roll and drizzle hollandaise sauce.

9.  Enjoy!

Crepes

 Crepes are delicious, light, airy and very versatile. They go great in both savory & sweet dishes. They are great vessels for so many flavors and are notorious for being difficult to make. I don't know about you but I don't have those big gorgeous stones that restaurants use. I wish I could have one but the reality is, it just isn't particular. So what to use instead? A nonstick pan of course!

The trick to getting nice crepes is a well seasoned pan with the right heat. You have to make sure that you lube your pan with butter. You pour your batter in and gently swirl it around. Now this 1st crepe, think of it as your 1st pancake, you're going to throw it out. It will tear on you and stick a bit on the pan. That's okay, it's helping with the seasoning. For me it took 2 broken and sticky crepes for my pan to be ready. Once it was ready, I buttered the pan, removed it from the heat and poured in my batter. I found this helped the cooking process. It helped cook the crepes evenly. You may not have to do this but in case your pan gets too hot, it's a good option.

It takes a couple of rounds for the swirly technique to get comfortable, but once you got it it's so easy.

Finding a recipe for crepes is hard. You want something that is going to be easy and gives you a light crepe. I found one by Alton Brown. He makes his batter in a blender! So easy and they came out so light and tender. I added some salt to his original recipe, just because I think everything needs a little salt. The crepes were just right! They went perfect with savory & sweet! I love them! There will be many a crepe in my future!


Buen Provecho!

Into the blender, 2 eggs

3/4 cup milk & 1/2 cup water

1 cup of flour

1/4 tsp salt

3 Tbsp of melted butter

Blend for ONLY 10 Seconds

Place in a container & put in the fridge for at least 1 hour up to 48 hours.

Pan on medium high and butter.

Pour 1/4 cup batter into pan and....

Swirl carefully. 

The first crepe didn't hold up so well so we start again.

This time I took pan off heat, poured batter and swirled gently then put it back on the fire.

Once nice and firm I carefully......

Flip and brown other side.

Nice and brown. So pretty!

Repeat until all batter is gone.

Lay crepes on board to cool.

Leftover crepes can be stacked and placed in a freezer plastic bag in the fridge for multiple days or frozen for up to 2 months. Thaw frozen crepes on a rack before gently peeling apart. 

Lovely delicate crepes! Ready to fill!

Crepes - 10-12 crepes

recipe adapted from Alton Brown

2 large eggs
3/4 cup Milk
1/2 cup water
1 cup flour
3 tbsp butter, melted
1/4 tsp salt
Butter for coating pan

Road Map:

1. In a blender, combine all of the ingredients and pulse for 10 seconds. Place batter for 1 hour in the refrigerator. The batter will keep for up to 2 days.

2. Heat a small non-stick pan. Add butter to coat. Pour 1/4 cup of batter into the center of the pan and swirl to spread evenly. Cook for 30 seconds and flip. Cook for another 10 seconds and remove to a board. Lay flat to cool. Continue with the remaining batter until all gone.

3. Leftover crepes can be stacked and placed in a freezer plastic bag in the fridge for multiple days or frozen for up to 2 months.  Thaw frozen crepes on a rack before gently peeling apart.