Crepes Buffet

Was watching Rachael Ray on FoodNetwork, and this looked like a great, fun way to serve crepes for company!

• Ready In: 40 mins
• Serves: 6
• Yields: 24 crepes

Ingredients

• Basic Crepes

• 1  cup all-purpose flour
• 1  teaspoon salt
• 6  eggs, beaten
• 1 1⁄2 cups milk
• 1⁄4 cup brandy, use additional milk if you omit it (optional)
• 4  tablespoons  melted butter

• White Sauce

• 2  tablespoons butter
• 2  tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1 1⁄2 cups  whole milk
•  salt & freshly ground black pepper
•  freshly grated nutmeg, to your taste
• 1⁄4 teaspoon cayenne pepper, 2 pinches
• 1⁄4-1⁄3 cup heavy cream, eyeball it

• Fillings

• 2  cups  shredded sharp cheddar cheese, 8-ounce brick
• 1⁄2 cup  grated parmigiano-reggiano cheese
• 3  cups broccoli florets, available pre-washed in produce section
• 2 (8 ounce) boxes frozen chopped spinach, defrosted and drained
• 1  lb  baked ham, thick sliced and chopped
• 12  ounces  cooked lump crabmeat, available fresh in plastic tubs at fish counter
• 1  tablespoon extra virgin olive oil, 1 turn of the pan
• 1⁄2 lb bacon, chopped
• 1  shallot, chopped
• 1  lb mushroom, cleaned and sliced
•  salt & freshly ground black pepper

• Dessert filling

• 2 (16 ounce) cans  pitted  canned black cherries
• 1  orange, zest of
• 1  cinnamon stick
• 1  tablespoon cornstarch
• 3  tablespoons warm water
• 3  fluid ounces kirsch or 3  fluid ounces amaretto liqueur
• 1⁄3 cup confectioners' sugar, plus
•  additional confectioners' sugar, for dusting
• 3  tablespoons butter, melted

Directions

1. For the crepe batter, combine flour and salt in a bowl and make a well in the center. Add eggs milk and brandy to the well and whisk to combine. Stir in melted butter. Cover batter and set aside for 25 minutes.
2. For the white sauce, cook butter and flour 2 minutes over moderate heat in a preheated medium saucepan. Whisk in milk and season sauce with salt, pepper, nutmeg and cayenne. Simmer over low heat 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in cream and heat sauce through, another 5 minutes over low heat. Turn burner to warm and stir sauce occasionally to avoid a skin forming. Whisk in a little milk if sauce thickens too much to ladle.
3. To assemble fillings, place cheeses in small bowls with serving spoons. Cook broccoli florets in simmering water or in 1 cup of water in the microwave for 3 minutes on high. Drain and place steamed broccoli in a bowl. Defrost spinach in the microwave oven and drain well. Transfer drained spinach to a kitchen towel and wring to remove any residual liquid. Fluff spinach with finger tips and set into a small serving dish. Place chopped ham into a bowl with serving fork. Drain and separate lump crab meat and place in a serving dish with a seafood fork.
4. For the bacon and mushroom filling, heat a small skillet over medium high heat. Add oil and bacon and saute 3 minutes. Add chopped shallots and sliced mushrooms. Season the filling with salt and pepper and cook 5 minutes until mushrooms are just tender. Transfer filling to a serving bowl.
5. To make the dessert filling, drain cherries over a saucepan to catch the juice. Heat the juice, orange zest and cinnamon to a bubble over moderate heat. Combine cornstarch with water and stir to the hot juice. Remove the cinnamon stick. Allow sauce to thicken then stir in cherries and Kirsch or Amaretto and keep sauce warm over very low heat. When your are ready to serve dessert, place filling in crepes, wrap and brush with melted butter. Top crepes with powdered sugar and serve.
6. Crepes should be made in a nonstick skillet over medium heat. Cover the bottom of the pan with just enough batter to coat. Turn the crepes with a toothpick or a very thin spatula.
7. Possible combinations for fillings: cheese or cheeses melted into white sauce with broccoli and/or spinach, warm white sauce with crab, ham with cheese or ham with cheesy white sauce, cheese with bacon mushroom filling, etc. The fillings are only limited by one's taste buds.