One Hungry Mama

June 10th, 2009

A Big Appetite for a Big World (Chard & Mushroom Crepe’aladas with Roasted Poblano Cream Sauce)

Michelle and I like to say that the world is a great big place and eating is the perfect way to learn all about it. Partly it’s an excuse to scour the city for authentic eats from around the globe. But that doesn’t mean it isn’t true!

Difference is a big concept for our little ones. It takes years for young children to understand that not every home is like their own. Friends and neighbors are our children’s first exposure to differences in the way that we live (and eat!), but grasping this on a global scale can be challenging. The most effective way to help children imagine the world’s many peoples, places, and cultures is to make them concrete and relatable. What better way to do that than with food?!

International foods not only excite the palate with new flavor (and spice!) combinations, but also tell stories of indigenous ingredients (which relate to geography and climate), immigration and emigration, and cultural development. Understanding these connections can be educational in the traditional sense (hello, teachable moments!) and can also cultivate a cultural respect and curiosity vital for success in today’s world.

Because I’m a sucker for “authentic” cooking, I tend to use food as a way of learning about a single culture, like the history and use of techniques and ingredients specific to a country or region. But you can also use food as a way of looking at cross cultural similarities (cue “Kumbaya”!), whether through shared culinary influences (eg, what’s they story behind similarities in spanish and filipino cooking?) or common culinary affinities (eg, how—why—do so many cuisines have a version of long noodles?).

We recently ate at the house of a friend who is a great cook. She announced that she was making enchiladas. I noticed a blender full of batter waiting on the countertop and eagerly waited to see what she had up her sleeve. Was she making homemade flour tortillas? (I’ve never done that, so I had no idea if batter in a blender was a clue.) Imagine my surprise when she asked me if I could help make the crepes. CREPES?!

As it turns out, she tried making this dish once before with the tortillas available in her neighborhood and wasn’t satisfied. So she had the idea of using crepes instead. And why not? French crepes… Mexican tortillas… Indian dosas… African injeras… Austrian and Bavarian palatschinken… the list goes on.

Her enchiladas—which the ChowPapa lovingly renamed “Crepe’aladas”—were topped with a Roasted Poblano Cream Sauce instead of tons of melted cheese. I don’t know if our host did it on purpose, but it was perfect. Savory crepes and cream sauce—of course! Decidedly Mexican flavors made with French techniques and elements. A global extravaganza (without tasting like an experiment in fusion gone awry).

I was so inspired by my host’s creative approach (and just plain yummy food), that I decided to recreate her Crepe’aladas at home. This is not the quickest dish, so save it for when you have time to leisurely cook (maybe a Sunday afternoon?) or, even better, make it in parts over several days. The cream sauce actually benefits from sitting in the fridge a day or two—the poblano flavor really comes out. And crepes used this way work fine when made the day before. I made both the sauce and the crepes on a Sunday, then sauteed the veggies and composed the dish starting around 5:00 on Monday night. We were eating dinner by 6:30.

Chard and Mushroom Crepe’aladas with Roasted Poblano Cream Sauce
(can be adapted for kids 12+ mos)

make the Crepes
(from Mark Bittman‘s How to Cook Everything)
1 c organic flour (all-purpose or whole wheat)
pinch of salt
1 1/4 c organic milk
2 organic eggs
2 tbsp organic butter, melted and cooled

1. Whisk the flour, salt, and milk until the mixture is bubbly. Whisk in eggs and then the cooled butter. (I used a blender for this entire step). Refrigerate for at least an hour. (I have made crepes without time to refrigerate the batter and they’ve always come out fine.)

2. Heat a nonstick pan until drops of water tossed in the pan skitter across the surface. You’ll probably want to adjust the heat as you go, because you want to keep the pan very hot, but not so hot as to burn the crepes.

3. Using a small ladle, add somewhere between 1/8 and 1/4 of a cup of batter to the pan. Swirl it so it covers the bottom. (I don’t have a crepe pan and the one I use is larger than 8″, so I just swirled to make an APPROX circular, tortilla sized crepe.) The batter will start cooking immediately, so swirl fast! Cook until all the batter has “dried up,” but don’t let it bubble.

4. Flip. Cook the second side for about 20 to 30 seconds. You don’t want them to be as brown as pancakes would be—just slightly golden. This should make about 10-12 crepes. Set aside.

make the Roasted Poblano Cream Sauce
3 organic poblano peppers
1/2 small organic onion, roughly chopped
1 clove organic garlic, roughly chopped
1 c organic heavy cream
1/2 c loosely packed organic cilantro, roughly chopped
2 tbsp organic butter
1 tbsp organic flour
1/4 c organic chicken broth
1/4 c grated manchego cheese

1. Roast the poblanos. There are lots of ways to do this. I use tongs to hold the peppers over the open flame of my burner, turning until the skin is charred black all around. Drop the blackened peppers in a brown bag or in tupperware and seal. After they’ve cooled, take them out and peel off skin—it should come right off, leaving you with a soft, roasted pepper.

2. Seed (de-vein if you want to make as mild as possible) and chop roasted peppers. Put in a blender with onion, garlic, cream, and cilantro. Blend until smooth.

3. Heat butter in a saucepan. When it’s just hot, slowly add the flour, whisking all the while. When you have a smooth roux, add the cream mixture.

4. Cook for a few minutes, whisking frequently. Add chicken broth and manchego and let cook for another 5-10 min, whisking every few. You can add more chicken broth if you like, to adjust the consistency.

Note: even when using seeded and deveined peppers, some younger and/or sensitive eaters might find this sauce a little spicy. Cool down, while still giving some great poblano flavor, by mixing a small amount of sauce with plain yogurt for separate mild portions.

make the crepe’aladas
2-3 cobs organic corn
1 tbsp organic vegetable oil
1 large organic onion, chopped
2 bunches organic swiss chard, cleaned, trimmed, roughly chopped
1/4 c organic chicken or vegetable broth
2 tbsp organic butter
8 oz organic baby bella mushrooms, cleaned and sliced
8 oz organic shitake mushrooms, cleaned and sliced
cilantro, chopped (optional)

1. Boil the corn and cut off the cob. Set aside.

2. In the meantime, heat oil in a pan over medium-high heat. (I like using a wok for this part.) Saute onions until golden brown. Add greens and cook until wilted. Add broth. Let cook for about 2 min, until broth is almost completely cooked off.

3. Push greens to the sides of your pan and add butter in the center. Once it melts, add mushrooms and mix everything together. It will seem like the mushrooms immediately absorb the liquid and fat—don’t worry. They will exude moisture as they cook. In fact, after a few minutes it may seem like there is too much liquid. Still—don’t worry. Keep cooking until all the liquid thickens and veggies are soft.

4. Preheat over to 350 degrees. Assemble the crepe’aladas: coat the bottom of an oven safe pan with a few spoonfuls of the cream sauce. Fill crepes with chard and mushroom mixture (no need to reheat crepes if you’re pulling them from the fridge). Roll and place in the coated pan. You should have enough filling for about 8 or so crepes. Pour poblano cream sauce over the crepe’aladas—how much depends on you (I use about 1/2 of the sauce).

5. Sprinkle corn on top of crepe’aladas. Bake for about 30 min, until edges start to turn golden brown. Garnish with cilantro. Enjoy!

Note:

As mentioned, you’ll have a few leftover crepes and some leftover sauce. The sauce goes great over simply sauteed chicken breasts. It should stay good in the fridge for up to 5 days. As for the crepes, we gobbled the leftovers, stuffed with strawberries (that had been left to sit for 30 min in a few spoonfuls of sugar) and topped with creme fresh, for dessert.