The Brunch Bunch - Gateau of Crepes with Veggies

This is a recipe adapted from one of Julia Child’s classic recipes that would work perfectly as part of a Mother’s Day Brunch as well as for a picnic, since everything can be assembled hours or even a day ahead and then baked on the morning of the brunch.  It seems really hard because it has several components, but if you take time to read the recipe and instructions carefully, and set your ingredients all out in the ‘mise en place’ tradition of chefs and seasoned cooks, it should be fairly easy. 

I first started making this recipe when I had my first cooking school in South Carolina.  This was part of a picnic class we offered.  The attendees came early in the morning and the picnic food was prepared.  Then we took vans to a winery about 45 minute drive distance.  We would do a winery tour and wine tasting, then would go to their gardens and set out our picnic.  This class was so popular I resurrected it again when I opened my cooking school in Hawaii several years later.

Broccoli Filling:
2 cups broccoli flowerets chopped
2 Tablespoons butter
1 Tablespoon minced shallots
Dash salt to taste
Dash McCormick white pepper
Dash McCormick nutmeg

Melt the butter and sauté the shallots.  Add the broccoli flowerets and seasonings and stir over medium high heat for 2 minutes to evaporate the moisture.  Simmer slowly for 8-10 minutes. 

Duxelle Filling:
1 Tablespoon butter
1/4 pound minced mushrooms

1/4 cup minced shallots

Dash of salt to taste

Dash of McCormick white pepper

Dash of McCormick nutmeg

In a sauté pan, melt butter and stir in the mushroom and shallots.  Stir and cook down until all the liquid from the mushrooms have evaporated.  Add seasonings to taste.

Carrot Filling:

2 cups shredded carrots

1 Tablespoon butter

Dash of salt to taste

Dash of McCormick's white pepper

Dash of McCormick’s nutmeg

Melt butter and sauté carrots for a few minutes.  Add seasonings to taste

The Cheese Sauce: (makes 3 cups) (*)
4 Tablespoons butter
5 Tablespoons flour
2 cups boiling milk
3/4 cup vermouth
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon McCormick white pepper
1/8 teaspoon McCormick nutmeg
1/4  cup heavy cream
1 cup grated Swiss cheese

(*) Don’t make the cheese sauce until all the other components are ready to start assembling.

Melt butter and stir in flour to make a roux; cook for one minute without browning.  Stir in the boiling milk, vermouth and seasonings.  Boil 1 minute.  Reduce to a simmer and stir in the cream, a little at a time.  Remove the sauce from the heat.  Stir in the cheese.

To assemble:

Charlotte or any other deep convenient mold

12 to 14 crepes

Butter the bottom and sides of the mold.  Fold several crepes around the sides of mold, overlapping to cover, letting a small bit lay on the bottom.  Put one crepe at the bottom.  Put in the broccoli filling and ladle 1/3 of the cheese sauce.  Put 1 crepe over the broccoli filling and then fill this section with the mushroom and shallot duxelle.  Ladle another 1/3 of the cheese sauce and continue by laying another crepe on top.   

Continue by filling the top portion with the carrot filling and ladle the rest of the cheese sauce.  Finish by placing one more crepe to cover the carrot filling and then folding the tops over towards the center.  If you have one more crepe, use it to cover the top.  Cover the top with a piece of parchment paper.

Bake in a bain-marie by putting the covered mold in a pan of water and bake in a 475 F degrees oven for 25-30 minutes.  Let it cool a bit so it can set before inverting.  Invert to unmold. 

Cut as you would a cake.  We used to serve it with a fresh raw tomato and Italian parsley sauce we poured over the slices.

The following photo was taken during a cooking class picnic brunch by Charlie Crittenden, one of the class participants.  Check the next recipe post for the Peach Champagne Punch we served with this dish!