Recipe: Asparagus Crepes with Mushroom Sauce (make ahead)

ASPARAGUS CREPES WITH MUSHROOM SAUCE

1 large egg
1 1/4 cups milk
1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
A little melted butter for the pan
1 1/2 pounds asparagus (average thickness), trimmed and steamed until tender
Mushroom sauce (recipe follows)

TO MAKE THE CREPES:
Place the egg, milk, flour, and salt in a blender and whip until smooth.

Heat a 6- or 7-inch nonstick crepe or omelet pan. When it is warm, brush it lightly with melted butter. Wait another 30 seconds or so until the pan is quite hot.

When the pan is hot enough to sizzle a bread crumb, pour in 1/4 cup of the batter. Lift the pan, and tilt it in all directions until the batter thoroughly coats the bottom. Pour off any excess batter. (The pancake should be thin.) Cook on one side until set (about 20 seconds), then turn it over and cook for just another second or two on the other side.

Turn the crepe out onto a clean, dry dinner plate and repeat the procedure until you have used up all the batter. (If you keep the pan hot you won't need to add much - if any - additional butter.) You can pile the finished crepes on the plate; they won't stick together.

TO FILL AND SERVE:
Place 3 or 4 stalks of cooked asparagus on one side of each crepe, and roll or fold the other side over.

Serve warm or at room temperature, with hot or warm Mushroom Sauce puddled onto the plate underneath and/or spooned over the top.

TO MAKE AHEAD:
You can make the crepes - and cook the asparagus - up to several days ahead of time. Leave the pancakes stacked on the plate, then wrap the whole thing tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate until you're ready to fill them and serve. Refrigerate the cooked asparagus in a sealed plastic bag.

MUSHROOM SAUCE:
Makes about 2 1/2 cups

3 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 pound mushrooms, thinly sliced
6 medium-sized shiitake mushrooms, stemmed and thinly sliced (optional)
1/2 teaspoon salt (possibly more, to taste)
3 tablespoons brandy or dry sherry
3 tablespoons unbleached all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups warmed milk*
Freshly ground black pepper

Melt the butter in medium-sized skillet. Add all the mushrooms and the salt, and cook over medium heat for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Add the brandy or sherry, and cook for 5 minutes more.

Gradually sprinkle in the flour as you whisk the mushroom mixture. Whisk and cook for another 5 minutes over medium heat.

Stir in the warmed milk. Cook over low heat, stirring often, until thickened and smooth (about 5 more minutes). Season to taste with black pepper and additional salt, if desired. Serve hot.

*It's easiest to warm the milk directly in a measuring cup in a microwave oven.

Makes 4 to 5 servings (about 2 crepes apiece)
Source: The Vegetable Dishes I Can't Live Without by Mollie Katzen