Chicken Divan Crepes

This batter is a basic crepe recipe.  You can fill them with just about anything you want, but this is for Chicken Divan Crepes.  You can make breakfast crepes, dessert crepes, vegetarian crepes, etc.  We use a cast-iron crepe pan that you pour the batter into (not the kind that you dip into the batter and cook upside-down . . . don’t like those), but you can use whatever you want.  Even a non-stick skillet will work if you don’t have a crepe pan.  Have fun!

Chicken Divan Crepes.

Ingredients for Crepes (batter)

2 eggs

1/8 tsp. salt

1 cup all-purpose flour (for crepes)

1 and 1/8 cup 2% milk

2 tbl. butter, melted

To make the crepes

·         Combine eggs & 1/8 tsp. salt in a medium mixing bowl

·         gradually add the flour and milk (alternating) a little at a time, mixing as you go, until smooth (scrape down the sides of the mixing bowl as you add ingredients)

·         Add the melted butter and mix well

·         Cover and refrigerate at least one hour (can be made several hours ahead)

·         Lightly grease a 9” crepe pan (or you can use a non-stick skillet with no grease)

·         Heat the crepe pan to medium

·         Spoon 1/3 cup (about) of the crepe mixture into the pan, swirl it around to the edges, then pour the excess back into the pan (see video below)

·         Gently lift the edges with a fork (or your fingers) to see how brown it’s getting.  When one side is done, flip over with your hands to cook the other side.  This must be done fairly quickly.

·         Remove to wax paper and let cool (you may need to add a bit more grease to the pan between crepes)

The crepes, waiting to be filled.

Ingredients for Crepe Filling

Green stems from 2 large heads of broccoli, cut into ¼” julienne pieces (about 1 cup)

Florets from 2 large heads of broccoli, broken into small pieces

1 lb. boneless-skinless chicken breast

½ tbl. olive oil (for marinade)

1 tbl. cognac (for marinade)

pinch of ground black pepper (for marinade)

pinch of salt (for marinade)

1 medium red bell pepper, sliced julienne thin)

1 medium onion, cut in half, then thinly sliced

4 tbl. chicken broth

To make the filling

·         Place the broccoli stems, then the florets (stem-side down) in a steamer and steam until crisp-tender

·         Remove and place in cold water until cooled (about 2 minutes), then drain and refrigerate

·         Cut the chicken into ¼” x 2” strips and marinate in olive oil, cognac, pepper and salt for about 30 minutes

·         In a 10”-12” skillet, heat 2 tbl. olive oil to medium heat

·         Add the chicken and the marinade and cook until light brown, stirring occasionally

·         Increase heat to medium-high, add the bell pepper, onion, and broccoli, and 4 tbl. chicken broth

·         Cook until most of the liquid is gone over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, then remove from heat and set aside

Ingredients for Cheese Sauce

5 tbl. melted butter

1 cup mushrooms, thinly sliced

2 tbl. fresh chives, finely chopped

¼ cup flour

2 cups chicken broth

2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce

dash of ground black pepper

1 tbl. sherry

4 oz. shredded Swiss cheese

1 cup sour cream

To make the cheese sauce

·         In a medium saucepan, add the melted butter and the mushrooms and heat to medium

·         Sauté the mushrooms until they give off their liquid, about 2-3 minutes

·         Add chives, stir about 1 minute, then add the flour, and stir constantly for about 4 minutes over medium heat

·         Increase heat to medium-high, and stir in the chicken broth, Worcestershire sauce, black pepper and sherry, stirring constantly until it starts to thicken

·         Remove from heat and stir in the Swiss cheese, and stir until melted well

·         Add the sour cream and stir about another 2 minutes until well mixed

Extra Ingredients for Finishing Crepes

1 tbl. olive oil (or olive oil spray)

dash of paprika

2 tbl. sesame seeds

Putting it all together

·         Heat oven to 350°

·         Put one cup of the cheese sauce into the crepe filling bowl and mix in well

·         Light oil a 9”x12” baking dish with olive oil (or you can use olive oil spray or butter spray)

·         Fill each crepe with about ½ cup of the filling (on the lower-third of the crepe) and roll them up

·         Place rolled crepes in the baking dish and top with the remaining cheese sauce

·         Dust the top with paprika and sesame seeds

·         Bake at 350° for about 30 minutes, until lightly browned

·         Serve hot using a spatula (lift out of baking dish carefully!).  These go great with asparagus on the side.

Finished crepes in baking dish, waiting for cheese sauce and baking.

One year at the annual Florida Folk Festival campground, someone suggested we make a dessert.  Problem was, we didn’t have any ingredients for a dessert.  So we went around to other campers and borrowed apples, raisins, sugar, powdered sugar, cinnamon, flour, eggs, vanilla . . . it’s amazing the kind of stuff people bring camping with them!  Tom and a friend proceeded to make crepes . . .  in a cast iron skillet (it was all we had!)  The deal was everyone who had supplied ingredients would get a crepe.  We were last in a long line, and we ended up having to split the very last crepe between us.  But boy was it good!  When you want dessert nothing else will do!

Miss Lyda and Tom, enjoying their crepes . . . well Tom just looks hungry!