Holy Crepe Week, Batman! Vegetarian Roasted Red Pepper, Mushroom, and Goat Cheese Crepes (Plus a Bonus!)

Well.  If you've been following the #CrepeWeek hashtag on Twitter, you'll know that it's been a whirlwind week round these parts.  We've got 12 bloggers, 4 cookbook giveaways, and one can't-miss crepe recipe.  Winning-er than winning, if I do say so myself.
If you haven't been in the reindeer games, let me bring you up to speed:
America's Test Kitchen has kindly worked with us this week as we all played with their fabulous, can't-possibly-screw-up-it's-that-easy crepe recipe (Don't believe me? Click the link to watch the video - you'll be sold.  And while you're there, I encourage you to sign up - ATK has amazing, time-tested recipes that you will want to use again and again).  All of us used this recipe as our base while filling the crepes with all sorts of amazingly drool-worthy recipes.  ATK has also provided four of their cookbooks as fabulous (Seriously - they are FABulous!  You want all of them!) giveaway items.
But more on the cookbooks in a minute.  First, the crepe recipes.
We paired a savory and sweet crepe each day, providing you with a litany of possible meal combinations.  It's up to you to determine which one you have to have today, and which one can wait until later today:

• Comfortably Domestic and Wanna Be a Country Cleaver kicked things off on Monday with, respectively, Tuscan crepes and Grand Marnier berry crepes.
• Tuesday, we were served up some southwestern crepes with cilantro pesto by Tenaciously Yours, as well as Inside NanaBread's Head's lemon cream crepe cakes for two.
• On Wednesday, pork belly and wild mushroom crepes by Climbing Grier Mountain and blueberry ginger crepes à la mode (because why would you NOT want ice cream?) from Munching in the Mitten were on the menu.

(Are you dying yet?  Because I am.)

• Bakeaholic Mama brought us "The Vermonter," a beast of a crepe with Vermont cheddar, Vermont ham, apples, and sage, and The Hill Country Cook made an amazing blackberry orange crepe with cream cheese and mascarpone filling on Thursday.
• Friday nearly finished off the week with The GromMom's prosciutto and asparagus crepe with a (screaming this part) MANGO CREAM SAUCE (plus a bonus - don't miss it!) and La Petite Pancake's strawberry crepes au lait.

Yes.  Our dinner parties would be EPIC.  It's pretty much a given that we need to all get together somewhere with a huge kitchen and basically throw down.  And then hibernate for 6 weeks while we recover from said food fest.

And don't forget to enter to win any or all (you want all) of these amazing books from America's Test Kitchen:

• Baking Illustrated (offered over at Comfortably Domestic)
• Cook's Illustrated (offered over at Wanna Be a Country Cleaver)
• Weeknight Faves (offered over at Climbing Grier Mountain)
• ATK Family Baking (offered over at The Hill Country Cook)

And that brings us to today.  I've paired up with our newbie, Ann at From My Sweetheart, and boy, oh boy, do we have some goodies for you.  Seriously.  I can't even begin to tell you about Anne's red velvet crepes with sweet mascarpone cream.
I screamed a little bit lot while typing that.  And maybe peed a little.  I'm pretty excited.  OK, a lot excited.  Actually, I had to be stopped from buying a plane ticket to go to her place for dessert.
This is clearly one of those Run-Don't-Walk-Eat-Dessert-First situations.  I mean, I like my crepes a whole lot, but we're talking red velvet here.  That's a completely different level.

Once you've snarfed those babies down, I've got a twist on one of my favorites.
When The Husband was finishing up his master's, he had a fellowship with the city of Washington, DC.  While I stayed in Michigan that last year, he was down there in a postage stamp sized apartment.  I love DC for all that it has to offer, especially the food.
Mere blocks from the apartment was L'Enfant's, a Belgian crepe bar.  We went there fairly regularly when I would come to visit, and the roasted red pepper and goat cheese was always a go-to when I wasn't sure what I wanted.  For my version, I beefed it up with a bit of mushroom.
And for heaven's sake, don't forget the Hoegaarden!

Roasted Red Pepper, Mushroom, and Herbed Goat Cheese Crepes
(serves 2)

• 2 organic red peppers, washed, cut in half, and seeded
• 2 Tbsp coconut milk (or organic whole milk)
• Oregano (preferrably fresh), to taste)
• Salt and pepper, to taste
• Juice of 1/2 lime
• 1 pound mushrooms, any variety, chopped
• 1/2 onion, any variety (I prefer red onion here), chopped
• 5 oz herbed goat cheese (or plain goat cheese that you have mixed with your favorite herbs)
• Cooking oil (your choice)

Put your sweetie to work making those amazing ATK crepes.  The Husband is Official Crepe-Maker (hehe - crepe-maker!) in our house, so I took the opportunity to share a snap of him.

On a hot grill or under the broiler (or actually on a stovetop burner), roast the peppers, turning to ensure that the skin gets evenly charred. Remove and immediately place into a plastic zip-top bag; allow to rest for 5-10 minutes.  Remove peppers from the bag and peel off/discard the skins.
(Sorry I don't have a pic of this - my hands were covered in red pepper skin, and TH was chasing HRH around the house to keep her away from the kitchen)
Place 1 1/2 pepper along with the coconut milk, oregano, salt, pepper, and lime juice into a food processor and blend until  smooth.  Set aside, but keep warm (not hot).
Chop the remaining 1/2 pepper
In a large saute pan, heat 2 Tbsp of your favorite cooking oil (this recipe works well with canola, olive, and coconut oils) over medium-high heat.  Add mushrooms, onions, and the remainder of the red pepper and saute until the mushrooms and soft and the onions are translucent.

Add mushroom mixture to a bowl where the goat cheese is already waiting and mix. thoroughly.  Adjust seasoning to taste.

To assemble crepes:
Spoon 2-3 Tbsp of the filling into each crepe and roll up.  Drizzle red pepper sauce over crepes just before serving.

For an added kick of pepper, you can add cayenne or hot sauce to the red pepper sauce and put inside the crepe with the filling as well as on top.  Which is what we did.  Because we go big.

Note - these crepes are not a looker - it's my experience that anything that is mixed with a soft cheese or  various gravies usually look blobby.  But don't you fret.  These babies might not be that photogenic, but they don't disappoint on the trip to Flavor Town.

Of course, in the Philistine house, we can't just have one kind of crepe.  Whenever we have crepes for dinner, we have to have them for dessert, too.  I'll be honest - that there were leftover crepes for my breakfast the next morning was a complete anomaly, one that I took measures to ensure would not repeat itself at lunchtime.

So here's a special bonus crepe recipe, just for you!

Pineapple Mango Crepes with Coconut Cream and Macadamia Nut Drizzle
(serves 2)

For the crepes:

• 1 large red mango (or two yellow mangoes), roughly chopped
• 1/2 cup crushed pineapple (or chunk pineapple, chopped to be a bit smaller), drained
• 2 Tbsp pineapple juice
• 1 Tbsp cornstarch or tapioca flour

Add all ingredients to a small saucepan and bring just to a boil.  Simmer 10 minutes and then remove from heat.  Allow to cool slightly, but the filling should remain warm.

For the coconut cream:

• 1/2 cup coconut milk (full fat only, please!)
• 2 Tbsp maple syrup, honey, or agave nectar
• 1 Tbsp cornstarch or tapioca flour
• 1/3 cup macadamia nuts, chopped
• 1/3 cup toasted coconut or dried coconut flakes
• In a small saucepan, bring the coconut milk, syrup, and cornstarch just to a boil and reduce to simmer.  Simmer until the mixture has reduced and thickened; set aside so it stays warm.

To assemble crepes:
Add 3 Tbsp filling to each crepe and roll up.  Drizzle the top with the coconut cream, and then top with macadamia nuts and coconut.  Try to breathe between bites.

We are huge fans of tropical fruit in our house, and we especially liked this recipe because it was fruit sweet but not overly sweet.  By adding just a touch of sweetener to the coconut cream, we balanced out the acidic sweetness of the pineapple with the creaminess of the drizzle.
And then we licked the plates clean.

I hope that you enjoyed Crepe Week as much as we all did.  A huge thanks to America's Test Kitchen for helping us throw this party - the crepe recipe is amazing and easily adaptable, as you've seen, to both sweet and savory crepes that are perfect for any meal of the day!

***Disclaimer: all opinions expressed in this post are my own.  I was not remunerated by ATK for it in any way, but I just really like the show, the books, and the website, and I think you will, too!