Stacked Crepes with Ginger Chicken Filling and a Coconut Sauce

Chatti Pathiri {Daring Cooks Challenge}

The April Daring Cooks Challenge was brought to us by Joanna from What's On The List. She taught us all about Pathiri and challenged us to create our own version of this inspirational Indian dish!

It has been almost a year since I have cooked with the Daring Cooks, so I took some time to catch up  with this active group, skimming many month's worth of challenges and enjoying a gazillion posts. Back in the kitchen after surgery in March, I had weeks to think about this month's topic, Pathiri, and consider my own version. With some interesting ingredients to play with - Crepes - spices - chicken filling - coconut sauce - I thought, oh yes, this would be fun!

I'm familiar with the stacked enchiladas of West Texas and New Mexico, I've made both savory and sweet versions of southern Italian stacked crespelle, but stacked pseudo Pan-Asian crepes would be a new treat. 

Chicken and crepes can be bland, but the hefty dose of ginger plus some garam masala, garlic and ground coriander popped up the flavor nicely. 

Photo: Fresh ginger seasons the minced, cooked chicken

Coconut milk added subtle sweetness. Green onions and kale provided both color and flavor bite. Pine nuts added a necessary crunch, rescuing what might have been a boring, too-soft mouthful. 

Photo: Pine nuts, green onions and kale add bite and crunch

The delicious result was an example of the total being greater than the sum of the parts (or however that saying goes). Three of us loved this dish for lunch, and H. cheerfully took the leftovers home... now that's a sign of success.

Photo: Filling scattered on top of the first crepe

Photo: 12 crepes stacked, filled and ready for the oven

Photo: Filled, stacked savory crepe cake fresh from the oven

Photo: 12 layered crepes in this stack - go ahead, count them.

Stacked Crepes with Ginger Chicken Filling

serves 4 as an entree, 8 as a first course

For the crepes: 
3 large eggs
3/4 cup 1% milk
1/2 cup water
1 cup flour
3 Tablespoons melted, unsalted butter
1/2 teaspoon salt
additional butter for the crepe pan

1.  Use a blender or food processor to whirl the eggs, flour and milk until smooth. Scrape down the sides as necessary. You can whisk it by hand, but it is very tedious that way.

2.  Choose a crepe pan or flat-bottomed frying pan and prewarm it over medium-high heat. When the pan is hot brush the bottom lightly with melted butter.

3.  Before the butter browns pour a premeasured amount of batter into the hot pan; quickly tilt and swirl to coat the bottom. An 8-inch pan will handle 3 1/2 to 4 tablespoons of batter per crepe.

4.  Cook until the edge is lightly browned and the surface looks dry, roughly 30 to 60 seconds.

5.  Run a wide metal spatula under the crepe’s edge and shake the pan a bit to make sure that the crepe is loose. Use the spatula to turn the crepe over and brown it lightly on the second side, about 10 to 15 seconds. Slide the crepe onto a flat plate, or tip the pan to release the crepe.

6.  Repeat with the remaining batter, stacking crepes on top of each other, separated with waxed paper, as you finish each.

For the filling:
1 large chicken breast; poached, cooled & minced
3 teaspoons minced fresh ginger
2 cups shitake mushrooms; soaked, drained, chopped
8 green onions, white & green parts, minced
1/4 cup pine nuts
1 large leaf kale, stemmed and minced
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon garam masala
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander

Use a fork and mash the ginger into the cooked, minced chicken. Add the remaining ingredients and mix lightly to combine. Set aside.

 For the sauce:
1 can coconut milk
1/4 cup ground almonds or almond meal
1 teaspoon minced fresh ginger
1/2 teaspoon coriander

(Plus 2 teaspoons melted butter for the assembly process.)
Lime wedges, optional 

Whisk lightly all ingredients, coconut milk through coriander, until well combined. Set aside.

To assemble:

1. Brush 1 teaspoon melted butter on the bottom of a non-stick 8-inch skillet. 
2. With a second brush, coat both sides of a prepared crepe and lay flat on the skillet. Scatter 1/4 cup filling on the top of the coated crepe. Coat both sides of another crepe with sauce and lay flat atop the filling atop the first crepe. Repeat until you run out of filling and crepes, ending with a coated crepe. I used 12 crepes in all.
3. Brush the top crepe and any exposed edges around the perimeter with the remaining butter. (I'll skip this step next time) Pour the remaining sauce over the top of the stacked crepes (note, some will run down the sides and pool at the bottom).
4. Bake in a preheated 350 degree F oven until the sauce is absorbed,or thickens considerably. This took 35 minutes in my oven.
5. Remove from the oven. Place a large serving platter or dish over the top of the skillet and invert quickly and carefully. Slice into wedges and serve immediately with a slice of lime. (OR chill and serve cold.) 

Herbed Sourdough Crepes... for

Mushroom and Artichoke Crepe Cannelloni

Mushroom and Artichoke Crepe Enchiladas

SourdoughSurprises announced crepes would be the June sourdough challenge. Hooray! there are a gazillion possibilities for recipe choices; sweet or savory, seasoned or plain, filled or not, rolled or folded or stacked... see, a gazillion choices. I have typically made crepes for breakfast or brunch, on rare occasions prepared them for dessert or even an occasional appetizer. Somehow crepes never appear as a "serious" entree. It was time to remedy that.

Savory crepes tempted me this week, thin and lacey with a handful of chopped parsley and green onion tops stirred in to the usual batter. Please note, that's stirred in by hand, not in the blender, since green-colored crepes were not the effect I was after. Crepes are a traditional option for Italian cannelloni so that dish was an easy choice, though my filling was decidedly untraditional. RL favors spicier Southwest flavors, so another alternative was crepe enchiladas. Swap chunky salsa with chunky tomato sauce, add a generous splash of Green Tabasco to the mushroom and artichoke filling, change up the cheeses and presto! I had two variations using the same savory herbed sourdough crepes.

It's no secret that I love my sourdough starter for the subtle, sour tang it lends to breads, rolls, pancakes and waffles. Keeping that starter happy involves talking to it occasionally, feeding it weekly, and then dealing with a lot of excess starter. Excess starter is no problem when sourdough crepes are so easy, so tasty and so versatile.

Sourdough Crepes

base recipe from HeartlandRenaissance

makes an easy dozen 6"-8" crepes, or 8-10 of the 10" size

1 heaping cup sourdough starter
2 eggs
2 Tablespoons melted butter
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
1/4 cup minced fresh Italian parsley and green onion tops
pinch of dried basil
1/4 – 1/2 cup of milk (quantity will depend on consistency of your starter)
extra butter for cooking

1. Combine all ingredients, except the extra butter for cooking, and whisk until well combined and no lumps remain. Add 1/4 cup milk and whisk to incorporate. The batter should be creamy - add more milk as needed to thin. (After your first crepe, you'll know if you need to add even more milk to get the batter to spread easily.) 
2. Preheat a small frying pan over medium heat; cast iron or nonstick are good choices, 8" is a good size, but smaller or larger work too. Note: ridged bottoms in some nonstick skillets are definitely NOT crepe friendly, they want to hold onto the crepe when you want to flip it over. It's doable, but takes a bit lot more care. 
3. Add a scant teaspoon of butter to the heated pan and let it melt. Pour in a scant 1/4 cup of batter, swirling and tilting the pan so it runs to the edges and coats the bottom of the whole pan. Hint: hold the pan with your favored hand, righty or lefty, and tilt and swirl while you ladle in the batter with your other hand.
4. Cook for a minute or more till the batter sets and the bottom browns slightly, then flip over to cook the second side for 30 seconds or so (more if you like your crepes slightly crispy). I use a rubber spatula to loosen one edge and then flip with my fingers, but choose your own method.
5. Ease the crepe out of pan and set aside on a sheet of waxed paper while you cook off the remaining batter. 
6. Serve crepes plain or top with a sprinkle of sugar and a squirt of lemon to eat right away, or serve rolled or folded with your choice of filling. Crepes freeze really well, but defrost and bring them to room temperature before rolling or filling to prevent cracking.

Mushroom-Artichoke Cannelloni 
(filling for 6 small crepes)

1/2 cup chopped mushrooms

1/3 cup chopped artichoke hearts

1/8 teaspoon each dried basil and thyme

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

sprinkle of flour and 1/4 cup milk or broth

salt and pepper to taste

1/8 cup homemade spinach/parsley/walnut/feta pesto

1/4 cup ricotta

1/2 cup freshly grated or shredded Parmesan cheese plus more for topping

1/8 cup of chopped walnuts

1/2 cup or more of your favorite red pasta sauce

1. Spray a small skillet with cooking spray and saute the mushrooms over medium heat until they give up their liquid and it cooks down. Stir in the artichoke hearts, basil, thyme and nutmeg, cooking until fragrant. Sprinkle with flour and stir to incorporate, add the milk and stir until it thickens. Remove from the heat and let it cool a bit; stir in the pesto, ricotta, Parmesan and walnuts. Taste and adjust seasonings. (At this point I want to eat spoonful after spoonful.)
2. Lightly coat the bottom of a baking dish or several ramekins with a skim coat of pasta sauce. 
3. Divide filling into equal portions. Place a line of filling down one side of a crepe and roll to enclose. Place seam side down in baking dish. Repeat, arranging filled crepes next to each other but not overlapping.
4. Spoon remaining red sauce on top, sprinkle with additional Parmesan.
5. Bake 15 minutes at 350 degrees F until cheese melts and filling is heated through.  

Mushroom-Artichoke Enchiladas

As above, with some or all of the following adjustments:

Add a teaspoon of Green Tabasco sauce to the filling (more or less to your taste)

Substitute your favorite chunky salsa for the red pasta sauce

Swap pine nuts for the walnuts and cilantro for the parsley

Top with pepper-jack cheese rather than Parmesan

Lemon Parsley Sauce

Canadian Bacon and Asparagus Crepes with Lemon Parsley Sauce

Spring is asparagus season, a perfect excuse opportunity to consume pints of hollandaise sauce. Oh, wait. I'm supposed to be cooking healthier foods to lower my triglyceride count and keep RL's heart and arteries in tip top shape. Drat, there goes my favorite Blender Hollandaise with its requisite two sticks of butter and two or three egg yolks per batch. Sigh. "Good bye butter." 

Asparagus adds a sprightly Spring note to countless salads and pasta dishes, all without hollandaise. Roasted or grilled asparagus is delicious without sauce, fresh off the heat and sprinkled with lemon zest or parmesan shreds. But I am going to miss that decidedly decadent hollandaise on veggies, over crab cakes, and topping Eggs Benedict, etc. "Get over it, Dee!" 

I planned to serve asparagus in breakfast crepes with strips of lean Canadian Bacon and top it with a lemony sauce that did not rely on butter. The resulting lemon, parsley, mustard concoction worked, but it's really a work in progress. The recipe needs a little tweaking to improve consistency and appearance. Less cornstarch will be the first adjustment. The unusual color might be due to the green Tabasco sauce or the egg yolk from a friend's Polish hen. Warmed, the sauce had good flavor and spread well over and under the crepes. Chilled, the next day, the sauce was an immobile blob that refused to spread as a sauce. It just sat there, it didn't even jiggle. It redeemed itself later on as a dip for vegetables when thinned with some sour cream. 

While it was definitely not hollandaise, this lemon parsley sauce was flavorful enough that RL said he would cheerfully eat it again. That comment was a huge endorsement, since he was quietly dubious about the whole dish when he arrived at the table. Just in case the whole breakfast crepe thing with That Sauce was a disaster, he started his breakfast with a plate of pickled herring. LOL, that man plans ahead. 

Lemon Parsley Sauce

1 cup low-sodium chicken broth 

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice (divided)

lemon zest (optional)

1 generous tablespoon cornstarch

½ tablespoon honey Dijon mustard

1 bunch flat leaf parsley (leaves only, not the long,bare stems)

1 very large egg yolk

1 teaspoon green Tabasco sauce (more to taste)

salt and white pepper, to taste (RL insists some salt is essential)

Place the chicken broth, 1 tablespoon lemon juice and some zest (if you are using zest) in a small saucepan. Add the cornstarch and whisk or stir to incorporate. Cook over medium heat, stirring frequently if not constantly, until the sauce clears and thickens somewhat. Keep warm while you work on the other ingredients.

Add the parsley, honey mustard, egg yolk and 1 remaining tablespoon of lemon juice to the jar of a blender and pulse to begin pureeing. With the blender running on a slow speed, slowly add the broth mixture and continue to puree until no visible chunks remain. (Green bits and dots are okay, but not big, fat chunks.) Add green Tabasco, salt and pepper to  taste.

To hold, pour the sauce from the blender back into the small saucepan and use the lowest low burner setting. Stir the sauce occasionally to keep it from clumping on the bottom. Taste again and re-season as needed. Add a pinch of sugar or squirt of honey if the honey mustard needs a boost. (RL always adds more salt and lots more green Tabasco. Me? not so much.)

Note: for the filled crepes I make the crepes ahead of time, or hold a batch of freshly cooked crepes in a warm oven.  Steam or roast the asparagus, heat the strips of Canadian bacon briefly in the micro, and have the sauce warming below a simmer on the stove. For each crepe, fill, roll and transfer to a plate in a warm oven. Repeat until the crepes and filling are gone. Plate and top with a generous portion of the sauce. Serve extra sauce in a pitcher for those who like their crepes well sauced.

Cinnamon Apple Crepes

On some days breakfast is about more than just food, and this week seemed packed full of those days. We were ready for some sunshine on a plate, light comfort food, sweet somethings. Breakfast crepes were a tasty solution. Bonus feature: the large blender filled with a recipe of sweet crepe batter made a stack of crepes that fed two of us for two breakfasts.

The first morning we enjoyed a pile of crepes, some lightly dusted with cinnamon and sugar and others filled with cherry preserves. They were a perfect light accompaniment to a bowl of fruit and cup of tea or coffee. The batter would have held in the refrigerator for a day or two, but it was easy enough to cook off the remaining crepes and store them in the fridge, separated with waxed paper, ready to reheat and use later in the week.

The remaining crepes were such a welcome treat this morning, warmed and folded, stuffed with cooked cinnamon apple chunks and a sprinkling of sliced almonds. These filled crepes didn't really need any syrup to boost the taste, but it is hard to resist a pitcher of warmed maple syrup sitting on the table. Cooked cinnamon apples, almonds, maple syrup... oh my, this was indeed sunshine on a plate. Just what a gray day, a busy day needed to get rolling, and it didn't hurt that it took almost no effort.

Do these sound like delicious breakfast fare? Just imagine how amazing an apple crepe would be for dessert, topped with a scoop of ice cream or brandy-flavored mascarpone!

Cinnamon Apple Crepes

For the filling:
2 tablespoons butter
2 large apples (Gala, Granny Smith, etc), peeled, cored, sliced
2 generous tablespoons granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 cup sliced almonds (optional)

Heat a large pan over medium-high heat and melt the butter. Add the apples, sugar and cinnamon and sauté until the apples soften, about 5 minutes, turning frequently with a spatula. Set aside.

For the crepes:
3 large eggs
1/2 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla or almond extract
1/2 cup AP flour, sifted
2 tablespoons sugar

1. Use a blender and combine the eggs, milk, sugar and vanilla. With the motor running add the flour and sugar, pausing to scrape down the sides as necessary.
2. Heat a medium nonstick saute pan over medium-high heat. Brush the pan with a tablespoon of vegetable oil or butter. Add 1/4-cup batter, tilting and swirling the pan quickly to spread the batter and coat the bottom of the pan.
3. Cook until the crepe is golden, about 1 minute. Loosen an edge and flip to cook the second side for 20-30 seconds until lightly colored. Repeat with the remaining batter.

Lay the crepes out flat and place 1/4 cup apple filling on one quarter; fold in half and then half again to form a triangle. Reheat briefly in the oven or in the pan used for the apple filling. Sprinkle with sliced almonds (optional) and serve. Heated maple syrup or dusting of powdered sugar optional... but recommended.