Chicken & Mushroom Crepes

Whenever I think of crepes I think of something sweet on the inside with a sprinkling of powdered sugar on the outside. But....I'm not eating sweets right now, so when I had an urge to make crepes I decided they needed to be with something savory inside.

Looking at the leftovers in the fridge...."hey, there's the rest of that rotisserie chicken from the deli; let's use that!"

I decided to make a chicken gravy, sort of, that I usually make to put over rice. I thought that would go good inside the crepes, and I was right.

Gravy recipe:

1/2 C Poultry gravy mix

3/4 C milk

1 teaspoon lemon juice

1/2 teaspoon dill weed

1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper (optional)

1/4 to 1/2 C dried mushrooms (or fresh, or canned)

1/2 teaspoon chopped rosemary

Salt & Pepper to taste

1 C cut up chicken, already cooked

Some grated cheese to use as a topping later on

Put the gravy mix and the milk in a skillet and turn onto medium or medium/low heat. Add everything else except the mushrooms and stir to smooth out the lumps. This will cook up fairly fast. When the lumps are out and it's thickened, add the mushrooms and the chicken and stir to cover, then remove from heat.

Crepe recipe:

2 C flour

4 eggs

1 C milk

1 C water

1/2 teaspoon salt

4 Tbsp butter, melted

In a mixing bowl (a stand mixer works great) whisk together the flour and eggs. Gradually add in the milk and water, combining well. Add the salt and butter and beat until smooth.

Heat a griddle or frying pan to medium or medium/high and lightly grease it. Pour about 1/3 to 1/2 cup of batter for each crepe. If using a frying pan, use a medium sized one so that each scoop of batter will coat the bottom of the pan.

Cook the crepe for only about 2 minutes or until you can see the bottom turning light brown. Take a spatula and turn the crepe over to cook the other side, which will take only 1-2 minutes. Remove crepe to a plate and put a paper towel or piece of wax paper in-between each crepe. This will make about 6-8 crepes.

When you are getting almost to the end of your batter, turn your oven on to bake at 350.

When the crepes are done, take a smaller casserole (less than 9X13) and lightly grease the bottom of it with whatever method you choose. Spray butter or real butter works fine.

Count how many crepes you have and then eyeball the gravy so you can use even amounts of gravy inside of each crepe. Spoon the gravy mix into one crepe at a time, then roll it up and place in the casserole dish. (Be careful with the crepes as they are dainty.) Repeat until your crepes and gravy are gone.

(This was before the cheese was added on.)

Lightly sprinkle some grated cheese over the top and bake in your preheated 350 oven for about 10 minutes or until the cheese is melted.

These were good at the time they were done, but I have to say the leftovers were even better!

PS - these aren't thick like a burrito. They are fairly thin with only about 1/4 cup of mixture inside each one.

Burrito Bowl (like Chipotle's)

I love the burrito bowl at Chipotle Grill and order it every time I go there. Which isn't often enough. Tonight I was thinking about Chipotle Grill and decided to make my own burrito bowl. This wasn't exactly like Chipotle's but it was similar and really good.

This will serve 2 people, with a little meat and rice leftover. Maybe.

2/3 C rice

1 1/3 C water

1.5 pounds hamburger, browned and drained

The juice of one small lime (about 1.5 Tbsp.)

1/2 head of lettuce, shredded

A handful of chopped cilantro, or if you have the frozen kind - 6 cubes*

1 packet taco seasoning

1 can of beans (kidney, black or refried.) Tonight I used kidney.

Tomato, onion and cheese for topping at the table

Sour cream, thousand island and hot sauce (all optional) at the table

*If you have a Trader Joe's nearby, in the freezer section they have frozen cubes of cilantro, as well as garlic and other things. These work great for this type of meal.

Start browning your hamburger in a skillet over medium heat. Then put the rice and water in a small pot over high heat. As soon as the rice water starts to boil, put a lid on it and turn it down to low. Set a timer for 18 minutes.

Drain the hamburger when it is done browning, and then add a packet of taco seasoning. Add just a little water and stir the seasoning into the meat. Let it simmer on low. If you chose black beans or kidney beans, you can add them to the meat now.

When the timer for the rice goes off, fluff the rice with a fork, then add the cilantro and the lime juice. Stir to mix completely and let it remain on low heat for 2 more minutes.

On a plate or a large-ish bowl, add the lettuce, rice, meat & beans, and then your toppings.

Goopy Potato Salad

My Aunt Florence made the best potato salad ever. I was always so happy as a kid when Auntie Florence was cooking. Potato Salad, Greasy Beans, Baked Beans, etc.

When I got older and began to cook for myself I wanted to learn how to make potato salad that tasted like Florence's. Through a lot of trial and error I came up with this recipe. Florence always made it so the sauce was on the goopy side - which I loved! Her son-in-law Vance, called it potato salad soup. No matter, I loved it! This isn't exactly like hers, but it's very similar and the texture is just like hers - goopy!

5-6 medium potatoes, peeled and boiled soft. You don't want them crunchy, but cooked only long enough that they are fork tender and will still hold their shape.

5 eggs, boiled, peeled and coarsely chopped

1 3/4 C mayonnaise

3/4 C sour cream

3 Tbsp prepared mustard

2-3 medium pickles, chopped fine

4 Tbsp pickle juice

1 Tbsp white vinegar

1/2 C white sugar

1 tsp horseradish

3 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce

1/4 white or yellow onion, chopped fine

1 tsp dill weed

A Splash of lemon juice

Peel the potatoes and boil as mentioned above. Boil and peel the eggs as mentioned above. While the potatoes and eggs are boiling, mix all of the other ingredients together for the sauce (dressing). Add salt & pepper as desired.

When the potatoes are done, run under cold water to stop the cooking process, then cut into small bite-sized pieces. Add the potatoes and the eggs to the sauce. It will be quite runny to begin with but as the potatoes absorb some of the sauce it will thicken. But, it will still remain goopy. Yay!

Note: This will have a nice dill pickle flavor, which I love. If you don't want so much dill flavor, eliminate the dill weed, cut down on the amount of pickle and a little of the pickle juice.

Here is what you'll need for the sauce.

Salmon in a packet (for the oven)

First of all, let me say this: Blogger has changed the format for creating posts and I do not like it. I'll get used to it but for now, please pardon me if things aren't laid out like you're used to seeing here.

Orange Sherbet Jello Salad

Several years ago my Aunt Pearl made this yummy jello salad and I thought I had the recipe for it. But I couldn't find it, and it's not in our family cookbook so I went by memory to recreate Pearl's salad. I'm sure this is pretty close and it's delicious. Thanks Pearl!

1 3 oz. package orange jello

2 cups orange sherbet

1 C whipped cream (or Cool Whip)

1 small can sliced tangerines

1 banana, sliced

Mix your packet of jello with one cup of boiling water. Stir until dissolved - about 2 minutes. Add all other ingredients and gently stir to mix. Place in fridge until set. You can call this a salad or a dessert. It's great either way!

Chicken Fettuccine

I am usually just cooking for two but since this dish makes excellent leftovers, I always make more than would just serve two.

For the chicken part of the recipe, you can use whatever you want, in the amount of 1-2 cups of cut up chicken. Tonight I used a boneless, skinless breast that I cooked just until done - about 4 minutes per side. It was cut into smaller pieces before cooking, so it would cook evenly and be done in the center. I have also used rotisserie chicken from the deli for this, or one of those cans of cut up chicken you can buy. (A little bit bigger than a can of tuna.)

Here's what you will need:

Chicken, as mentioned above
1 C whipping cream
1/4 C honey
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp onion powder
1/8 tsp cayenne powder
1 tsp dill weed
2 Tbsp white wine (optional)
1/4 C sliced mushrooms8 oz. Fettuccine noodles
Myzithra or Parmesan cheese to your liking
Salt & pepper to taste

Prepare your chicken, if needed. Put on the water to boil and add the noodles. Follow the instructions on the noodle package.



To the skillet with your chicken, add the cream, garlic, onion, cayenne, dill and white wine. I don't always use the white wine, but when I do I'm glad for the little extra kick of flavor it gives. It doesn't taste like wine or alcohol but gives the dish a little something extra. (I usually buy one of those little bottles that comes in a 4-pack since I don't use white wine other than for cooking.)

Stir over medium heat and the sauce will start to thicken. Add the mushrooms, and if you like a cheesy flavor and texture add about 1/4 cup grated Myzithra cheese or Parmesan cheese. I prefer Myzithra, but it's not available everywhere. Save some for topping at the table.

Salt & pepper the sauce as you like. When the noodles are done, drain them and then add to the creamy mixture and stir. Let the mixture simmer over low heat for 15-30 minutes, stirring now and then. The longer it sits the more it will thicken.

Here it is plated with a green salad, some French bread and you can see it is topped with a very generous sprinkling of grated Myzithra cheese.

Creamy Chicken Crescent Ring

While trying to figure out what to make for dinner tonight I decided it was a night to use up things in the fridge that have been there awhile. A tube of crescent rolls. A leftover chicken breast. An almost empty bag of grated cheese. A cluster of cilantro that was just starting to get wilty. Some green onions with the same story....

So, remembering back to the days of numerous Pampered Chef parties and the "ring meals" we learned to make there, I decided to put together a chicken ring with a bunch of stuff in it, and this was the result. A nice, tasty meal.

This recipe is for 2 people, so adjust up, if you are cooking for more than 2.

1 tube of crescent rolls
1 chicken breast, or approximately 1.5-2 Cups cut up chicken, cooked
1 can cream of chicken soup
1/4 C sour cream
2 tsp Wasabi sauce (optional)
A splash of lemon juice (maybe a teaspoon)
3 splashes of Worcestershire
1/4 C grated cheese (I used Mozzarella, but any kind will work)
1/4 C sliced mushrooms
1 green onion, sliced (using the whole onion from green to white)
1 handful chopped cilantro
Salt & Pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 375.

Take the crescent rolls and separate them. Then place on a cookie sheet (or preferably a round pizza stone) in a circle, with the wide part of the roll towards the center. Make a ring with all of the rolls, overlapping slightly.


Mix all of the other ingredients together and then place a serving sized spoonful of the mix on each wide part of the roll. When all of your creamy mix is used up, take the thin part of each roll and pull them over the sauce and tuck in at the middle area. There will be a lot of mix sticking outside of the dough and that is just fine.



Place in oven for 15 minutes.


This mixture came about because I had things I wanted to use up. But this was so tasty I will make it again.

Plated here with a green salad.