Creamy Turkey & Spinach Stuffed Crepes

The first time I made crepe was in November of  1987.  I can remember the date because I made 200 hundred chicken crepes for my own baby shower. Why did I decided to make my own food? Simple, I didn't really care for the alternative ... a catering company, of which there weren't that many decent affordable ones at the time.  I had an assembly line at my mom's house the night before the shower.  In attendance were my mom, my sister-in-law Sandra, my niece Aylin and of course ... me. We worked for several hours, talking, laughing, talking some more about ... what else, the baby.
It's an evening I will never forget and from then on crepes became a frequent meal at my home. That's how good those very first crepes were. Several years later, as the baby grew into a little girl, I use to make orange crepes for breakfast. To this day my daughter, Eryka, still remembers those breakfasts.
I use a basic crepe recipe for the crepe, which you can find at the end of the recipe.  The ingredients for the stuffing are fairly straightforward but when put together they create a creamy, luscious meal that your family will want often. The use of ground turkey really lightens up the crepes and keeps the meal feeling light. Pair it with a light salad, a glass of white wine and you have a well-rounded and satisfying meal.

Serves 4

1 lb ground turkey
2 tablespoons of butter
1 large frond of fresh dill,
2 large handfuls of spinach, kale, or whatever greens you have on hand.
1 tablespoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
Pepper to taste
1/2 cup of room temperature cream cheese
1/4 of half & half
2-4 grates of fresh nutmeg
8 crepes (basic recipe below)

Heat a non-stick 10 pan over medium heat, add butter, turkey dill, greens, onion powder, salt & pepper. Break up turkey as it cooks.  Cook until it starts to crisp up and all the butter has been absorbed. Add cream cheese and half & half, stir in to blend cheese and milk into turkey, grate ans stir in nutmeg.  Allow to cook until the mixture is thickened. Remove from pan and set aside.


Cream cheese sauce:

2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons flour
1/2 cup half & half
1/2 cup white wine
1/2 cup  room temperature cream cheese
2-4 grates of nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon salt
Pepper to taste
1/4 cup water

Topping:

1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
2 tablespoons butter, cut into small cubes

In the same pan the turkey was cooked in, melt butter over medium heat, add flour, stir well to incorporate .  Cook 2 - 3 minutes, stirring continuously - this is called a roux. Add half & half, and white wine, stir well to incorporate into roux. Stir in cream cheese mix well until thick and bubbly, add salt, pepper and nutmeg. continue to stir until well blended. Take off heat, add 1/4 cup of water if sauce is too tight.

Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees F

Assembling the crepe is easy. Spread a very thin coat of the cream cheese sauce
on the crepe, add one  generous tablespoon of turkey mixture spread evenly down the middle. Fold over each side and place seam side down into a buttered baking dish, that has 2 tablespoons of the cream cheese sauce spread on the bottom of dish. Continue until you have 8 crepes in the baking dish.  You should have some turkey left over, stir it into the sauce. Pour sauce over the crepes, spread evenly over tops of crepes.  Sprinkle with cheese and dot the top with the butter cubes. Bake 20-30 minutes or until bubbly. If you want a crispier top, place under the broiler for a few minutes, but do keep your eyes on it, as it will crisp up fast.

Serve with a light salad with roasted pepper, simply dressed with balsamic vinegar, olive oil, salt & pepper.  ENJOY!



Basic Crepe Recipe: 

Makes 10-12 crepes

1 cup all-purpose flour
2 eggs
1/2 cup half & half
1/2 to 3/4 cup water, start at half and add 1/4 cup more if batter is too thick
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon white pepper (you can use black pepper if you don't have white)
2 tablespoon butter, melted.

In a large bowl, whisk flour and egg together, then add in half & half, and water, whisk well to incorporate.  Drizzle melted butter in slowly, whisking as you go. Finally stir in salt and pepper.

Put batter in fridge for at least 1 hour.

To make the crepes, melt 2 tablespoons of butter set aside.  Heat a 7" non-stick pan over medium high heat/ Once the pan is hot, brush with butter and ladle in about a 1/4 of cup of batter.  Make sure to tilt the pan as you pour in the batter and move it in a circular motion to cover the surface evenly.

Cook crepe about 1 1/2 to 2 minutes or until crepe slides around in pan then flip over and cook for 20-30 seconds.  Set aside on wax paper. Continue making crepes until you use up the batter.  Use wax paper between crepe to keep from sticking.

Notes:
If you any crepes left over use them for breakfast with jam and cheese. They also freeze very well, I like to keep stacks of 8 in the freezer, wrap them tightly in foil and with the wax sheet in between each crepe, then place in a freezer zip bag. Good for about a month in the freezer.
The first 2 - 3 crepes will be throwaways, this is normal.  The more you make and the hotter the pan gets the the better you get at it.