In my post regarding crêpes, I left out an important player in the crêpe world. The original Buckwheat Crêpe. The reason was simply that I had used all my buckwheat flour the last time I made Pizzocherri alla Valtellinesi, and had not replaced it yet. But being OCD, it has been bugging me that I, knowingly, did not paint a complete picture of the crepe world. So in order to soothe my conscience, I obtained some Buckwheat flour from the health food section of my closest grocery store (I only needed 3/4 of a cup) and decided to go ahead and make real Crêpes Salées (Salted or Savory Crêpes).
Technically "Galettes" or "Galettes Bretonnes au Sarrasin" would be a more proper name, as this is what they are called in Breton (Brittany) where the crêpe & galette originated so many moons ago. Galettes were savory and crêpes were sweet. Galettes were made with buckwheat flour and crêpes were made with wheat flour and sugar (Crêpe Sucrée). Then something changed somewhere along the way and savory galettes were suddenly being made wheat flour as well. My guess is that this first began in Paris, although my copy of Larousse Gastronomique is fairly vague on the subject (Did I just commit blasphemy?) oops.
So here is the recipe I use for Galettes. I DO cheat though.... I will admit that I am too chicken to not use at least a little bit of Wheat flour to kind of hold things together. Buckwheat is gluten-free, and after working with buckwheat to make Pizzocherri, just let me say that a little gluten can make a BIG difference. My mixing method is slightly different too, since I already have to use a bowl to whisk the flours together, I whisk it all up in the bowl instead of the blender.
or Galettes Bretonne au Sarrasin
1/2 tsp Kosher Salt or Fleur de Sel
3 Large Eggs
1 cup plus 2 TB Whole milk
3 TB Water
3 TB Unsalted Butter, Melted
3/4 cup Buckwheat Flour
1/4 cup AP Flour
Olive or Canola oil for crepe pan
Combine all liquid ingredients in a blender with salt and blend thoroughly.
In a small bowl, whisk both the flours together.
While whisking, begin pouring the liquid ingredients into the flours until a homogeneous mixture is created.
Cover the batter with plastic wrap and chill for 1 1/2 hours.
Heat a 7 in skillet or poêle à crêpes and brush lightly with oil or sprayed with vegetable spray.
Pour ~ 3 TB of batter into the heated pan;
while tilting the pan to spread the batter over the bottom. (I tried my darnedest to get a picture of this)
Cook the crêpe/galette for 30 seconds.
Flip it and cook an additional 10 seconds.
Turn out onto paper towel & cool.
Once cooled, they can be stacked, wrapped in plastic wrap and stored in the refrigerator for a week or in the freezer for up to 2 months.
Mangia!!
~~
Technically "Galettes" or "Galettes Bretonnes au Sarrasin" would be a more proper name, as this is what they are called in Breton (Brittany) where the crêpe & galette originated so many moons ago. Galettes were savory and crêpes were sweet. Galettes were made with buckwheat flour and crêpes were made with wheat flour and sugar (Crêpe Sucrée). Then something changed somewhere along the way and savory galettes were suddenly being made wheat flour as well. My guess is that this first began in Paris, although my copy of Larousse Gastronomique is fairly vague on the subject (Did I just commit blasphemy?) oops.
So here is the recipe I use for Galettes. I DO cheat though.... I will admit that I am too chicken to not use at least a little bit of Wheat flour to kind of hold things together. Buckwheat is gluten-free, and after working with buckwheat to make Pizzocherri, just let me say that a little gluten can make a BIG difference. My mixing method is slightly different too, since I already have to use a bowl to whisk the flours together, I whisk it all up in the bowl instead of the blender.
Crêpes Salées
(Buckwheat Crêpes)
(Buckwheat Crêpes)
or Galettes Bretonne au Sarrasin1/2 tsp Kosher Salt or Fleur de Sel
3 Large Eggs
1 cup plus 2 TB Whole milk
3 TB Water
3 TB Unsalted Butter, Melted
3/4 cup Buckwheat Flour
1/4 cup AP Flour
Olive or Canola oil for crepe pan
Combine all liquid ingredients in a blender with salt and blend thoroughly.
In a small bowl, whisk both the flours together.
While whisking, begin pouring the liquid ingredients into the flours until a homogeneous mixture is created.
Cover the batter with plastic wrap and chill for 1 1/2 hours.Heat a 7 in skillet or poêle à crêpes and brush lightly with oil or sprayed with vegetable spray.
Pour ~ 3 TB of batter into the heated pan;
while tilting the pan to spread the batter over the bottom. (I tried my darnedest to get a picture of this)
Cook the crêpe/galette for 30 seconds.
Flip it and cook an additional 10 seconds.
Turn out onto paper towel & cool.
Once cooled, they can be stacked, wrapped in plastic wrap and stored in the refrigerator for a week or in the freezer for up to 2 months.Mangia!!
~~
8 comments:
you do such a great job, making it look so easy. and I'm scared to death to try these. But I will have to this weekend.
I might actually be able to help you on the buckwheat vs wheat issue, although maybe not much. Wheat and buckwheat have both been used for centuries, regardless of the sweet/savoury purpose. The term "crêpe" designated the finished product (also known as "krampouezhenn"), and the term "galette" designated the batter, sweet or savoury.
The difference in name and designation came about 30 or 40 years ago, and actually comes from South Brittany where they made a difference between "krampouezh gweniz tu", which we know now as galettes, a buckwheat crêpe with savoury filling, and "krampouezh douz," the sweet, wheat version.
I am probably jumping the gun here, but what filling would you put in the buckwheat crepe? When I was a child I hated when my mother would make buckwheat pancakes, now I really enjoy the flavor.
Danielle - It really is easy... Remember, they will be thin, but they don't have to be paper thin... It's ALL good.
Aline - Thank you for shedding some light on the subject... :)
Patti - I was going to try to make the standard Gruyere melted on the galette and then add a "sunny side" up egg, but my galettes were just a tad bit too small for a proper folding, which leaves the yolk visible. :) I will go ahead and post anyway tonight, so you can see what I am talking about...
I didn't know that crepes could be frozen. Can all crepes be frozen? That's a great tip!
Shane - you're very welcome :) glad if I was able to help you for once
Patti - you can put just about anything you want on a buckwheat crêpe. The classic one is cheese and ham, sometimes with an egg on top, but I've seen some with raclette and potatoes or foie gras and fig jam. My mom likes hers with smoked salmon, lemon juice and dill. My personal favourite is goat's cheese and honey. It's really up to your imagination.
Thanks for some tasty ideas Shane and Aline.
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