Salmon Crepes

In some dinners or lunches among friends and families, it's quite normal for everyone to take something unless the hosts insist on embarking on a cooking marathon resulting in a permanent two-day post at the kitchen, cooking everything from appetizer to dessert.   I usually insist in cooking everything but usually lose the battle because I have two kids.  The key in not lifting a finger in the kitchen is when you have little ones to take care of.   I try not to get pampered used to it but when my mother-in-law and her sisters arrive with their big packages (half of the amount is meant to be eaten and half is meant to stay in our fridge) of indescribably delicious home-cooked food from appetizers to desserts (notice the plural to each course), I don't even think of uttering a word, not even exhaling.  Hush!  I was about to be indulged in the excellence of cooking by Sicilian women.  You see, I have this deep respect for Sicilian women who cook.  Anyone who knows a Sicilian woman reigning in the kitchen knows what I am writing about.  I have big hopes for Sofia for she is half-Sicilian.  Maybe one day, my daughter will take charge in whipping up something in the kitchen rather than wiping out the food in the kitchen.  Well it's a start.  There is the common interest - food.  She still has a lifetime ahead of her to "discover" cooking anyway.  She's only two.

So when Angela, a Sicilian friend of ours arrived in our house armed with baking dishes of these salmon crepes, I was, as usual, excited.  This is not a Sicilian recipe, not even Italian, but whatever she touches turns into something terrific.  She has the Midas touch.   So she took home her baking dishes but she left me her recipe and leftovers that didn't last long in the fridge before sleeping.  Guilty. 

That was more than a decade ago.  I have taken this recipe by heart because it's fairly easy to make and it saved me from innumerable indecisiveness in thinking up of menus when I am hosting dinners and lunches.  We all have a recipe that is always dependably good.  I am surprised with myself because I usually cringe at the sight and taste of cream on savory dishes but this is an exception.  Love is the only way I can describe it. 

Since I had been juggling my time prior to the start of this blogging between kids, this recipe metamorphosed from crepes to normal pasta and from fresh salmon to smoked salmon over the years.  It's still good but to eat them in crepes is still more delectable in every bite.  One of my first posts at the start of my blogging is the salmon pasta which has the recipe of the filling of the crepes.  I just add more tomato sauce so that the filling would have more liquid content so that it won't dry up when baking in the oven.  In any case, scroll down for the full recipe adapted for the crepes. 

Salmon Crepes

Ingredients:
Yields 24 crepes (of 1/2 size crepes)

Filling:

• 1.5 kilos fresh salmon, deboned & diced
• 200 g. canned tomatoes (I like using canned datterini or cherry tomatoes.)
• 400 ml. cream (salmon flavored if you can find it)
• parsley, chopped finely
• salt & pepper
• 1/4 cup brandy
• 1 clove garlic, crushed
• extra virgin olive oil

Sauce:

• 300 ml. cream (salmon flavored if you can find it)
• 50 ml. canned tomatoes
• salt & pepper

Crepes:

• 3 eggs
• 200 g. flour
• 500 ml. milk
• 40 g. melted butter
• pinch of salt

Prepare the crepes.  

1. Beat the eggs with a pinch of salt in a small bowl manually.  In another bigger bowl, mix flour & milk.  Mix well until the mixture becomes smooth.  Add beaten eggs.  Mix well.  Add melted butter.  Mix well.  Cover and let it rest for half an hour in the fridge.
2. When ready.  Rub a small knob of butter in the crepe skillet.  On low fire, ladle some mixture, distribute well around the skillet fast by turning the skillet.  Cook the other side when the crepe starts to detach from the skillet.  

Prepare the filling.  

1. In a large saucepan, heat extra virgin olive oil.  When hot, add garlic.  Discard garlic when it turns golden. 
2. Add the diced salmon.  Toss in the saucepan for about 5 minutes.  Add canned tomatoes.  Cook until the sauce is reduced a little bit, about 10 minutes.  
3. Add brandy.  Put up the flame until the alcohol evaporates.  
4. Put down the flame to low and add cream & parsley (leave some for the end).  Move the salmon once in a while to avoid burning.  Cook until the sauce thickens, between 20 to 30 minutes.  Season with salt & pepper.  Don't let it dry up.  

Prepare the sauce.

1. In a small saucepan, mix cream and tomato sauce together on medium fire.  
2. Season with salt & pepper.  
3. When it gets a bit thick, about 10 minutes, turn off fire. 

Finalize the crepes.

1. Cut crepes in the middle, leaving you with half circles.  
2. Put a spoonful of salmon filling in the middle and fold both sides (refer to picture above).  
3. Fill the baking dish with crepes.  When the baking dish is completely filled up, pour some sauce on top.  Leave some for pouring after baking.  
4. Bake in a pre-heated oven of 180 degrees Celcius for 20 minutes.  If needed, pour some more sauce on top before serving.  Sprinkle some chopped parsley too. 

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