I made Jon some crepes this evening. I filled them with bavarian cream and dusted them with a little powdered sugar. It was the first time I had ever made crepes. He really loved them.

I found lots of filling recipes using fruit but Jon doesnt like any fruit. I was wondering if you guys had some savory filling ideas?

Janie, for openers, next time you're at the library see if they have, or can get on the ILL, Mable Hoffman's book Crepe Cookery. It's filled with all sorts of recipes, including many savory ones.

Basically, you can use anything as a filling that the crepe will wrap around. And that's pretty much anything. You could, for instance, make a thick sawmill gravy, and use it as a filling instead of pouring it over biscuits. Or use a Sloppy Joe filling.

Think in terms of the fillings used in ravioli, blintzes, sanbusak, and similar dishes.

Something else to consider are crepe cups. Take a finished crepe and fit it into a regular sized muffin tin. Then put your filling inside it, and bake until the filling is bubbly and the crepe browned and stiff enough to hold it's shape. Just makes a different presentation.

Anyway, here's one of the recipes from the Hoffman book:

Chicken Saltimbocca Crepes

10 thin slices cooked ham
5 slices mozzerella, halved
10 cooked crepes
1 cup chopped cooked chicken
1 small tomato, finely chopped
Seasoned salt
2 tbls grated Parmesan
1/2 cup bread crumbs
1/4 cup melted butter

Place one slice of ham and a half slice cheese on each crepe. Top with chicken and tomato. Sprinklw with seasoned salt. Fold over right and left side of crepe and roll up.

Combine Parmesan with bread crumps. Dip rolled crepes in butter, then in breadcrumb mixture. Heat in shallow baking pan at 350F, 20-25 minutes.

Crepes can be rolled and coated ahead of time and kept in the fridge until heating them just before serving.

Here's an example of the crepe cups I referred to:

Turkey Mushroom Quiche Crepe Cups

24 cookped crepes
2 cup finely chopped cooked turkey
2 (2 1/2 oz) cans sliced mushrooms
4 slighly beaten eggs
1 can cream of chicken soup
1/4 cup milk
1 1/2 cps grated cheddar

Line greaswed muffin pans or custard cpw with crepes. Place turkey and drained mushrooms in each. Sprinklw with cheese.

In a small saucepan combine soup and milk. Heat just to boiling, stirring constantly. Gradually stir soup mixture into eggs. Pour soup mixture over cheese.

Bake at 350F for 20 minutes or until filling is set. Let stand 5 minutes. Serve hot.

from Mable Hoffman's "Crepe Cooker"

My Mom would make blintzes as a special treat when we were growing up. These are merely a central European version of crepes. The pancakes are filled, folded, and either pan fried in butter or baked.

The rolding is simple. The sides are brought in towards the middle, and then the pancake is rolled. Very similar to making eggrolls.

My favorite were her potatoe blintzes. But she made all kinds, both sweet and savory. Here are a few, all of which will work with your crepes:

Potato Filling

1/2 cup minced onions
4 tbls butter or chicken fat
2 cps mashed potatoes
1 egg yold
1 tesp salt
Dash cayenne

Lightly brown the onions in the butter. Stire in the potatoes, egg yolk, salt and cayenne. Let cool ten minutes

Cheese Filling

2 cups drained cottage cheese*
1 egg yolk
3/4 tsp salt
1 tbls melted butter
2 tbls sugar (optional)
1 tsp lemon juice (optional)

Beat the cheese, egg yolk, slat and butter together. Add the sugar or lemon juice if using.

*I've use ricotta instead of the cottage cheese, and mixed them half & half. It's all good.

Meat Filling

2 cups ground cooked meat (or chicken or turkey)
2 tbls grated onion
1 egg
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
2 tbls minced parsley

Mix all ingredients together.

Janie, I haven't tried it, but it occurs to me that the filling used in my Pork & Olive Finger Pies would likely work as a crepe filling. I've made it with pork, chicken, and venison, btw, so there's lots of room to play:

Pork & Olive Finger Pie Filling

1 lb ground pork
2 tbls unsalted butter
1 med onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 cup dry white wine
1 tbls fresh lemon juice
1 1/2 tbls flour
1/3 cup chicken stock
1/3 cup beef stock
1/2 tsp black pepper
8 large green Ialian olives, pitted and coarsely chopped (I sub black
olives, like Kalmata, when using chicken)
1/4 cup minced parsley

Cook the meat in a hot skillet, breaking it up, until browned and most of the liquid has evaporated, about 15 minutes. You may have to do this in two batches.

Add the butter to the skillet and reduce heat to moderate. Add the onion and cook with the meat until the onion is transluscent and starting to brown, about 5 minutes. Stir in the carlic and cook 2 minutes longer. Add the wine and lemon juice and simmer until almost evaporated, about 3 minutes. Sprinklw the flour over the meat and cook, sirring, until the mixture is thick and pasty, about 2 minutes more.

Gradually stir in the chicken and beef stocks and 3/4 cup water. Bring to a simmer. Season with the pepper. Cover, reduce heat to low, and simmer gently for 30 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the olives and parsley. Season to taste with salt & pepper. Let cool completely.

Can be made 1 day ahead and refregierated overnight.