Magic Pan
The Magic Pan chain popularized crepes in North America. (At the company’s peak, there were 110 restaurants across the United States and Canada.) The first one opened in San Francisco in the 1960's. The founders were Hungarian immigrants Lazlo and Paulette Fono.
Lazlo Fono had invented a crepe-making machine, and patented it. This device -- as like a big ships wheel, with heated pans on the top -- sped up production of the thin, flat pancakes. These machines were the "magic pans" and used in all the chain’s initial restaurants and were on the main floor of the restaurant (cannot be verified they were used in later restaurant openings). The original 1970’s menu featured the cooking device, prominently.
In the 1970s the Fono's sold to Quaker Oats. This was not a perfect match. The menus suffered, the Fono's were not engaged in marketing. The restaurants lost all their charm. Quaker Oats did not embrace the vision. This was very obvious between the original menu, and later ones.
Early 1970’s menu:
The chain changed hands in the 1980s. This time to an Oakland, California, company called Bay Bottlers (a Royal Crown/Canada Dry affiliate).
The late 80’s menu was unfocused, with veal scallopini, seafood and pastas. The Magic Pan was just like every other chain restaurant of the era.
It failed. Why? The original concept lost, the crepe fad waned, or the restaurant just became predictably mundane.
The last Magic Pan restaurant (in McLean, Virginia) closed in 1995. With that closure came the loss of the proprietary recipes for the chain.
(Magic Pan had never produced a recipe book, although Paulette Fono did write a book about crepes in 1969.)
Magic Pan recipes and some scaled-down restaurant recipes can be found on the web. These are a few that I have collected. (The basic crepe batter is in the patent papers for the Magic Pan table):
Magic Pan Basic Crepe Batter
4 eggs
6 teaspoons sugar
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
1½ cups milk
1 cup flour
2 tablespoons melted butter
Beat eggs with sugar and vanilla, and add milk. Add in flour, and stir until mixed. Add melted butter, and stir in. Refrigerate for 30 to 60 minutes. Before cooking, take out and whisk (or use electric mixer) until well blended and smooth.
Heat small amount of oil in skillet, and add enough batter to barely coat bottom of pan with a thin layer. Rotate pan to spread batter. Brown one side, and then flip and brown other side. Stack cooked crepes on plate, and if they seem to be sticking together, insert sheets of wax paper between layers.
Magic Pan Ham Palascintas Covered In Creamy Mustard Sauce
½ pound honey-baked ham, ground or finely minced
½ cup sour cream
coating:
3 tablespoons flour
2 eggs
2 tablespoons milk or cream
1 cup dry bread crumbs
topping:
2 tablespoons butter; 2 tablespoons flour
1 cup chicken broth
1 cup cream or half-and-half
¼ cup Dijon mustard
2 teaspoons lemon juice
¼ teaspoon white pepper
Make a dozen crepes, using above recipe. Mix ham and sour cream. Place spoonful of ham mixture into center of each crepe, fold tops and bottoms to hold in filling, and roll up. Beat eggs with milk. Roll crepe in flour, then in egg/milk mixture, and then in bread crumbs.
Heat skillet with ample amounts of cooking oil (one inch or more). Fry each coated crepe until puffy and golden-brown on all sides.
To make sauce, melt butter on medium heat in skillet and add flour. Blend until a smooth roux. Add chicken broth, and cook until sauce begins to thicken. Add cream, and reduce heat to low. Stir constantly until sauce begins to thicken and bubble. Remove from heat, and stir in mustard, lemon juice, and pepper.
Spoon generous helpings of sauce over filled fried crepes.
Magic Pan Chicken Divan
12 cooked crepes (see recipe above)
filling:
1½ pounds broccoli, cooked, drained, and mashed
2 cups chopped cooked chicken
topping:
¼ cup butter
¼ cup flour
2 cups chicken broth
2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
3 cups grated cheddar cheese
2 cups sour cream
In skillet on medium heat, melt butter and add flour to make a smooth roux. Add broth and Worcestershire sauce, and cook until mixture begins to thicken. Reduce heat to low, add 2 cups of cheese, and cook until cheese is melted. Pour this sauce into 2 cups sour cream, adding gradually and stirring constantly. Set aside.
Mix mashed broccoli and cooked chicken together. Place a tablespoon of filling into each crepe. Fold top and bottom of crepe so filling doesn’t leak out, and roll crepe. Place in greased ovenproof pan. Pour sauce over crepes, and add remaining cheese. Put in 350-degree oven for 20 to 30 minutes or until cheese melts.
Magic Pan Chicken Crepe Elegante
6 crepes (see recipe above)
filling:
3 tablespoons butter or margarine
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 cup chicken stock
2 cups diced cooked chicken
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon ground pepper
1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
1 tablespoon chopped fresh chives
2 egg yolks
½ cup cream or half-and-half
¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Melt butter in a saucepan on medium heat. Add flour, and mix until a smooth roux. Add chicken stock, and bring to boil. Cook until mixture is reduced by about half and is thickened. Remove from heat, and stir in chicken, salt, pepper, parsley, and chives. Beat egg yolks, cream, and two or three tablespoons of filling in mixing bowl. Stir cream/egg mixture into hot filling. Mix until evenly blended.
Put generous amount of mixture into center of crepes. Roll up, and place in greased ovenproof baking dish. Add remainder of mixture over top, and top with grated cheese. Bake 10 to 15 minutes. Serve at once.
