Salmon Crêpes; La Chandeleur

Saturday was Crêpe Day here in France…. more properly called La Chandeleur.

It’s a religious holiday celebrating the presentation of Jesus at the temple, and which was celebrated in 5th century Rome with a candlelit (chandelles) procession

But it’s really about the crêpes.

There were crêpes being made at my supermarket so naturally I had to buy some, still warm.  It took great effort to get them home.

Since it was Friday, aka Fish Hell Day, I decided to make Salmon and Smoked Salmon crêpes.

My crêpes were paper thin and huge (about 16″, 40cm in diameter) as is proper.  Four were plenty for dinner and I folded them in half before adding the filling and rolling them up.

You will have to use your own judgement regarding the crêpes you can find.

Or use tortillas….

Click here to Pin Salmon Crepes

Salmon Crêpes

Print Recipe

This is a complete dinner on a plate: fish, veg and crepe….. Easy for dinner or a dinner party.

• Author: Katie Zeller
• Prep Time: 30 minutes
• Cook Time: 15 minutes
• Total Time: 45 minutes
• Yield: 2 servings 1x
• Category: Fish & Seafood

Ingredients

Scale 1x2x3x

• 1 small leek, trimmed, sliced
• 8oz (240gr) fresh spinach, large leaves chopped
• 4oz (120gr) smoked salmon, roughly sliced into strips
• 6oz (180gr) fresh salmon
• 8 tbs shredded cheese
• 1 tbs olive oil
• 4 large crêpes
• 1/2 cup (4oz, 120ml) white wine
• 1/2 cup (4oz, 120ml) chicken stock
• 1 tbs Dijon-style mustard
• 3 tbs fresh dill
• 1 tbs cornstarch (maizena) dissolved in 2 tbs water
• 1/2 cup (4oz, 120ml) Greek yogurt or sour cream

Instructions

• Put fresh salmon in a skillet, Add water to come half way up salmon
• Cover and simmer over medium heat until just cooked through, 10 – 15 minutes.
• Remove salmon, and, using a fork, break unto chunks.
• Heat oil in medium nonstick skillet.  Add leek and sauté until tender.
• Add spinach and sauté until wilted. Remove from heat.
• Lightly oil baking dish large enough to hold 4 crêpes
• Divide spinach / leek place down the center of each crêpe
• Divide salmon and smoked salmon and place on spinach.
• Top each with 2 tbs cheese.s Remove from heat.
• Fold crêpe over once, then roll up like a cigar and place in a lightly oiled baking dish
• Repeat for all 4 crêpes.
• Bake at 400F (200C) for 15 minutes, just until heated through.
• Sauce: heat chicken stock, white wine and dill to boiling.
• Simmer for 5 minutes.
• Dissolve cornstarch in water and stir cornstarch into sauce.
• Remove from heat and stir in yogurt.
• Keep warm until serving.
• When ready to serve, remove crêpes and place 2 on each plate. Top with sauce and serve.

Notes

You could make the filling and sauce ahead, then fill the crepes and bake just before dinner.

Keywords: salmon, crepes, smoked salmon, spinach

The remaining two crêpes that I bought were  eaten in the traditional French way to celebrate La Chandeleur: warmed slightly in a skillet, brushed with melted butter, sprinkled with sugar, then rolled tightly and eaten with our fingers.

Okay, being Americans, we added some cinnamon…..

Strangely, even the the French are eating crêpes and the Americans are eagerly awaiting the prognostications of a rodent, both countries have similar superstitions regarding February 2.

For the Americans if the groundhog sees his shadow there will be 6 more weeks of winter and if not, spring is on its way.

Living in Minnesota I always hoped he saw his shadow as 6 weeks was better than than 8 or 10 or 12. Spring was not possible any sooner that that.

In France, a rainy day will bring another 40 days of rain… which seems to happen regardless. We are always inundated with rain this time of year.

It’s all just wishful thinking – but I’d rather wish with crêpes.