Serves 4
Whenever I make this dish, I can’t help but remember that there was a time that I couldn’t boil water. And it wasn’t for the lack of my Mom and Grandmother trying to teach me. One day it all clicked and I fell in love with the art of cooking. This was the first recipe I made that everyone loved, especially my Mom.
While working at a gourmet café and bakery, many years ago, I learned to make seafood crepes, from a Dutch Chef named Jan. He was temperamental, self absorbed and an amazing chef and teacher.
I have tweaked this recipe quite a bit to suite my taste and laziness, but the base recipe was the work of Jan. Thanks Jan, it has been my all time favorite. I can still hear you yelling to this day : ). I did master sauces, despite you!
A side note: I like to make my crepes first and set them aside. They will be going into the oven, anyway, so it really doesn’t matter if they cool a bit. You can use any seafood you like in this recipe. I trade (cheat) and use a ½ pound of seafood salad in lieu of a package of crab meat. It adds even more creaminess to the dish. You can use lobster, calamari, any firm white fish, even fried potatoes. OMG! Do I need to say versatile and incredible? Try it. Make it your own. Customize the recipe to your taste. Enjoy!
Crepe Ingredients:2 eggs
1 ¼ cup milk
1 cup all purpose flour
2 tbs melted butter
¼ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar
¼ teaspoon baking powder
Crepe Directions:In a bowl, whisk all crepe ingredients together until smooth. Cover mixture and chill for 1 hour in refrigerator.
Heat an 8 to 10 inch non-stick skillet on medium heat for about 3 minutes. Spray pan well with non-stick spray. When hot, pour ¼ cup of batter into pan and swirl the batter around to coat the bottom of the pan. When edges begin to brown, loosen the crepe with a spatula all the way around. Guiding the spatula under the crepe, gently flip the crepe using your fingers and the spatula. Brown other side (maybe 15 seconds )and continue process until you have used all the batter. Make sure you spray the pan between each crepe!
Make crepes as suggested.
Note: Crepes freeze well for up to a month or so. Separate crepes with parchment and place in a Zip lock baggie. You can freeze the seafood filling as well, in a airtight container.
Ingredients for seafood filling:2 tablespoons butter or margarine
¼ cup shallots, diced small
¼ cup mushrooms, sliced
1 large piece (jarred) sweet red pepper, diced
½ cup scallops, rinsed and chopped into small pieces
¾ cup small cooked shrimp
2 tablespoon capers
1 teaspoon dill weed (or More…or less if you don’t care for dill)
1 teaspoon old Bay seasoning
¾ cup half-and-half
1 8 ounce brick cream cheese, cubed small for easy melting
2 teaspoons fine lemon zest
1 teaspoon lemon juice
6 ounces seafood or crab salad or 6 ounces imitation or real frozen crab meat
1 to 1 ½ cups Monterrey or Pepper Jack cheese, shredded
8 crepes (for 2 each)
*If you like a little spice, add chopped jalapenos or cayenne pepper to the recipe : }.
Directions:Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
In a frying pan, add butter and melt on medium heat. Add diced shallots and mushrooms and cook until shallots are translucent and mushroom are tender. Add red pepper, scallops and shrimp and cook for 3 minutes. Add capers, dill and seasoning, half-and-half, cream cheese, zest and lemon juice. Cook over medium heat, stirring continuously until the cream cheese is melted and sauce is smooth. Add seafood salad and stir to incorporate.
Place 2 to 3 tablespoons of the filling down the center of each crepe. Roll the crepe and place in a baking dish. Repeat until all the crepes are made. Spoon any leftover filling on top of crepes and sprinkle generously with cheese.
Bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until cheese on top is melted and stringing.
Garnish with dill and Serve hot with a side salad.
