Crepes with Creamy Mock Chicken, Mushrooms, and Gruyere

These elegant and delicious crepes were inspired by a recipe by Mable Hoffman in her book Crepe Cookery. The original recipe, however, uses real chicken and chicken broth. I vegetarianized it and, as always, made other changes to reflect my own personal style.

Serve with a green vegetable or a tossed salad for a balanced meal.

RECIPE:

2 tablespoons butter, divided
1 cup chicken-style seitan, or other non-breaded mock chicken product, thawed if frozen, diced
1 cup fresh white mushrooms, sliced
2 tablespoons quick-mixing flour (such as Wondra), or sifted all-purpose flour
1 cup mock chicken broth (such as Imagine No-Chicken broth)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
1 egg yolk, beaten
1/4 cup heavy cream
6 to 8 Basic Skillet Crepe Shells
1/4 cup shredded Gruyere cheese
1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

In a medium skillet, melt 1 tablespoon of the butter over medium to medium-high heat. Add the seitan, and saute until the seitan is lightly golden. Remove the seitan from the skillet and set aside.

Melt the remaining 1 tablespoon of butter in the same skillet. Add the mushrooms, and sautee over medium to medium-high heat for 3-4 minutes, until soft. Remove the mushrooms from the skillet, leaving any butter and mushroom juices in the skillet. Set the mushrooms aside.

Whisk the flour into the pan juices, and then slowly whisk in the broth, salt, and pepper. (Go easy on the salt, as the broth is salty.) Whisk over medium heat for about 2 minutes, until thickened. Lower heat to medium-low.

In a small bowl, mix the egg yolk and cream. Stir 1 tablespoon of the broth mixture into the egg yolk mixture. Then whisk the egg yolk mixture into the skillet.

Add the seitan and mushrooms back into the skillet. Simmer, stirring occasionally, for 3-4 minutes, to blend the flavors.

In a baking dish or pan, fill the crepes with seitan-mushroom mixture. Fold each side over to enclose the filling. Sprinkle with the Gruyere.

Cover and bake for 20 minutes, until the cheese is melted and the crepe filling is bubbly.

Uncover and bake for an additional 5 minutes, until the cheese is lightly golden.

Transfer to serving plates and sprinkle with the parsley.

-- 3-4 servings (2 crepes per serving)