This dish is very close to my heart and unfortunately I don't think I quite did it justice. In 2018 I broke up with boyfriend of 5 years, quit my job where I had a lot of friends and moved to Oxford to start my MSc. When I first moved I was terrified, I was starting afresh and I was scared that because my course was part time, I would be living a 15 min drive out of Oxford, I was broke as anything and I would be working almost full time that I wouldn't make any friends. On my course that turned out to be mostly true, while I got to know everyone enough to have pleasant catch ups in the hallway, I didn't make any good friends.
However, in college I forced myself to be uncomfortable for the first three weeks and go to as many events as possible and sit with as many strangers as I could before all the cliques formed and I was left out of them all. This was a horrible process that really went against the person I had become in my previous relationship, it was made bearable by the lovely people I met! However, it was at one of these events where I forced myself to do things I never would have done otherwise that I ended up joining the committee to organise the college winter ball and I volunteered to do the food and drink alongside Christina and Sabrina who would both become good friends.
The first meeting of the food and drink sub-group ended up being just me and Christina going to the market to scope out potential food vendors that could come to the ball, and we both bonded over delicious food that kept us returning to the market every week and bringing new people with us regularly. One of our regular dishes at the market was this Hungarian chicken stuffed crepe which was creamy and delicious, or occasionally Langos and Goulash! So for Christinas birthday this year I tried to re-create it as covid-19 has really prevented us from going to the market - this recipe is delicious but it unfortunately didn't quite hit the nail on the head. Mainly that's my fault because after reading other recipes I decided to add red pepper because I thought it would add depth of flavour. However, most of the other recipes suggest removing the red pepper and discarding, but I hate wasting food so I decided to leave it in diced - which sadly although tasty overpowered the dish. I will have to try again sometime. I followed Tara's recipe which you can find here and I have copied below for ease! The recipe can be made with veal or pork but as the one in the market was with chicken I went with that!
Makes 6
Ingredients
For the chicken:
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup diced onions
1 pound minced chicken (you can ask your butcher to mince you some!)
300g diced tomatoes
1 diced pepper
1 cup water
4 teaspoons paprika
1/4 teaspoon caraway seeds
2 tablespoons freshly chopped parsley
1/2 cup sour cream
salt and pepper to taste
For the Crepes:
4 eggs
1 cup flour
1 cup milk
Oil for pan
For the Sauce:
Drained liquid from meat
1/4 cup flour
1 cup sour cream
Method
In a large pan, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add onions and red pepper and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened. Stir in the chicken and break it up into small pieces. Cook, continuing to break it up, until browned.
Add tomatoes, water, paprika, caraway seeds, and parsley. Cook, stirring occasionally, until sauce thickens. Stir in the sour cream.
Place a fine mesh sieve over a medium bowl. Pour meat sauce into the sieve and let drain. Set both the juices and meat aside.
In another medium bowl, whisk together eggs, flour, and milk until a smooth batter forms.
Heat a large non-stick skillet over medium low heat. Brush with about 1/4 teaspoon oil. Pour in about 1/4 cup batter and quickly tilt the pan to coat with a thin circle of batter. When the top begins to dry, flip to cook the other side. Cook until the bottom begins to turn golden, about 1 minute. Repeat with remaining batter, brushing the pan with oil as needed.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees Lightly grease a 9x13 inch baking dish or 2 smaller baking dishes. Now it's time to fill the crepes.
Place a layer of drained chicken mixture along the lower third of a crepe, leaving a 1 inch border on the edges. Fold in the sides and roll up. Place in prepared baking dish, seam side down. Repeat with remaining crepes and filling.
Whisk 1/4 cup flour and 1 cup sour cream into the drained liquid from the meat until smooth. Pour over the prepared crepes. Bake in preheated oven until heated through and sauce is bubbly, about 15 minutes.
Serve hot.
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