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chicken crepes florentine
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March 11, 2003
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Chicken Crepes Florentine
OK, I don't know how florentine these crepes are per se, but, uh, they do involve spinach.
Ingredients
Frozen spinach Chicken thighs Cognac White wine Tomato sauce Chicken stock (low salt) Fresh herbs (thyme and sage recommended) Fresh garlic, diced Crimini mushrooms, chopped Dried chantrelle mushrooms Ham, proscuitto, or pancetta, diced Premade crepes (or make your own!)
Directions
Soak the chantrelles in 1 1/2 cups of warm water for a half an hour or so. Meanwhile, put the chicken stock and herbs in a pan and reduce by half. Remove the herbs and set the reduced stock aside. Remove the chantrelles. Strain the soaking water through cheesecloth. Reduce it by half and set it aside. Heat the frozen spinach through.
Salt and pepper the chicken thighs and cook them in a saute pan. Shred the thighs and set aside the meat.
Chop the chantrelles. Saute them along with the diced ham and the garlic in the saute pan used for the chicken. Add them to the same container as the spinach and mix them together.
Deglaze the pan with white wine and cognac. Let the alcohol burn off. Add the mushroom water and the chicken stock. Add just a touch of tomato sauce. Don't overreduce; instead, thicken lightly with cornstarch. Whisk in some butter at the end -- however much your inner dietician will permit.
Wrap the filling in the crepes. (Microwave for one minute if using the premade variety.) Spoon the sauce on top, and serve.
This is my attempt at a "weeknight" crepe recipe -- hence the use of convenience foods such as frozen spinach and premade crepes. It turned out quite elegant, but it wasn't nearly as quick as I thought it would be -- it still took me an hour or so to prepare.
The sauce was promising, but there is still room for improvement. Next time, I may omit the tomato sauce and go for a pure chantrelle/chicken/white wine flavor. The consistency was acceptable, but I wish it was creamier. Ideally, I'd just use heavy cream instead of cornstarch to thicken it, but frankly I can't afford to buy a whole new wardrobe, so I'd just as soon not jump up two pant sizes. Fat free sour cream might take the sauce in a different -- but good? -- direction. I'll have to mull it over.
March 11, 2003 in main_dishes, old_site, recipes | Permalink
