Buckwheat Crêpes Food

BUCKWHEAT CREPES

Steps:

• Melt 5 tablespoons butter in an 8-inch nonstick skillet. Combine the melted butter, both flours, the milk, eggs and salt in a blender and process until smooth (set the skillet aside). Let the batter rest at room temperature at least 1 hour or overnight. Stir in the parsley, if desired.
• Preheat the oven to 300 degrees. Heat the skillet over medium heat until a drop of water sizzles in it. Lightly butter the skillet, then add a scant 1/3 cup batter and quickly swirl to coat the bottom of the pan. Cook until the crepe sets and browns around the edges, about 2 minutes. Carefully lift with a rubber spatula, flip over and cook about 30 more seconds. Transfer to a plate.
• Repeat with the remaining batter, adding more butter as needed and stacking the finished crepes. Wrap the crepes in a damp dish towel and place in the oven to reheat, about 10 minutes.
• Serve with assorted fillings.
• Heat 2 tablespoons butter in a large skillet over medium-low heat. Add 2 sliced onions and 2 thyme sprigs. Season with salt and pepper and cook until the onions are lightly browned, about 20 minutes.
• Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add 12 ounces spinach and cook until just wilted, about 4 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.
• Heat 3 tablespoons butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add 1 pound chopped wild mushrooms and 2 thyme sprigs; saute until the mushrooms are golden, about 10 minutes. Season with salt and pepper and add 2/3 cup heavy cream; toss to warm through. Remove from the heat and add a handful of parsley.
• Saute 1 1/4 pounds shrimp (peeled and halved lengthwise) in 2 tablespoons butter with 1 strip lemon zest, 2 tarragon sprigs and salt and pepper until the shrimp turn pink, 3 to 4 minutes. Add a squeeze of lemon juice and 1/2 cup white wine and simmer 1 minute. Remove from the heat; add 4 tablespoons chopped cold butter and some parsley.

BUCKWHEAT CRêPES

Steps:

• Place the milk, water, eggs and salt in a blender. Cover the blender, and turn on at low speed. Add the flours, then the canola oil, and increase the speed to high. Blend for one minute. Transfer to a bowl, cover and refrigerate for one to two hours.
• Place a seasoned 7- or 8-inch crêpe pan over medium heat. Brush with butter or oil, and when the pan is hot, remove from the heat and ladle in about 3 tablespoons batter. Tilt or swirl the pan to distribute the batter evenly, and return to the heat. Cook for about one minute, until you can easily loosen the edges with a spatula. Turn and cook on the other side for 30 seconds. Turn onto a plate. Continue until all of the batter is used.
• Bring a large pot of generously salted water to a boil, and add the spinach. Blanch for 20 seconds, and transfer to a bowl of ice water. Drain and squeeze dry. Chop and season with salt and pepper.
• Heat the crêpes in a dry skillet over medium heat (or use the skillet you used to fry your eggs). Top with a spoonful of spinach, and top the spinach with the egg, setting the egg to one side so you can fold the crêpe over. Sprinkle the cheese over the top, fold the crêpe over, and transfer to a plate with a spatula. Serve hot.

GALETTES COMPLèTES (BUCKWHEAT CREPES)

Steps:

• In a large bowl, whisk 3 eggs with 1 cup water until frothy and uniform. Sift in buckwheat flour, and whisk until as smooth as a new can of paint. Season with salt and whisk to combine. Cover batter and refrigerate overnight (at least 8 hours, or up to 24 hours).
• Heat a 10-inch nonstick skillet over medium-low. Ladle in 1/4 cup of batter, then quickly tilt the pan in a clockwise motion to swirl the batter all the way to the edges into a perfectly round, very thin pancake. The batter should disperse quickly; if it is too thick - and doesn't swiftly radiate to cover the width of the pan - you'll need to stir a few extra tablespoons of water into the batter and try again with a second crepe. Expect to lose the first two or three crepes as you get used to the swirling motion, the amount of batter to add and the hotness of the pan. When all three factors align, you can make six savory crepes in about as many minutes.
• When you feel you have the hang of it and are ready to go live, ladle in 1/4 cup batter, swirl and allow crepe to set for just 10 seconds. Crack an egg in the center, and use the back of a spoon or a small rubber spatula to spread the egg white, which will allow the egg to cook evenly in the amount of time it will take the cheese to melt and the galette to crisp. Sprinkle about 1/3 cup Gruyère across the surface, then tear 2 or 3 pieces of ham and set them flat on top, surrounding the egg yolk.
• Allow the crepe to crisp up and brown on the bottom while the egg cooks sunny side up, and the ham warms through, 3 to 4 minutes. In Brittany, these are cooked on a large, round cast-iron griddle, and the four sides of the galette are folded in to become a large square before being slid onto a plate. This is harder to do in a slope-sided pan, but try it if it suits you - you'll want to fold the sides about 1 minute before the egg is done cooking. Otherwise, an open round is just fine. Slide it onto a plate, and repeat with remaining galettes.
• Season with salt and pepper. Drink with hard cider, not too cold.

BUCKWHEAT CRêPE MADAMES

Steps:

• Mix the flour, 1 egg, the milk and a pinch of salt in a jug or bowl. Set aside for 30 mins, or up to 3 hrs. Mash together the mustard, cream and cheese in another bowl. Heat the oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6, and line two baking trays with baking parchment or foil.
• Melt the butter in a large frying pan, then once foaming, add enough batter to just cover the pan, swirling it to cover the surface in a thin layer (pour any excess back into the batter bowl). Cook until the surface is set and the underside is browning, carefully flip and cook for another minute or 2, then take off the heat.
• Spoon a quarter of the cheese mixture onto the middle of the pancake, using the spoon to create space in the centre to hold an egg. Crack one into the space and lay a few pieces of ham around the edges. Fold each side of the pancake in towards the centre to make a square. Cook in the pan for another 30 secs-1 min, then transfer to a baking tray. Repeat with the rest of the pancakes, then bake for 6-7 mins until the egg whites are set. Serve with fried mushrooms or wilted spinach, if you like.

BUCKWHEAT CREPES WITH HAM, GRUYERE AND CARAMELIZED ONIONS

Steps:

• For the caramelized onions: Melt the butter in a medium saute pan over medium heat. Add the onions and sugar and cook, stirring occasionally, over low heat until soft and caramelized, about 30 minutes. Stir in a few tablespoons of vinegar and cook for 1 minute longer. Add the thyme and season with salt and pepper. For the buckwheat crepes: Combine the milk, 3/4 cup water, the flours, oil, salt, pepper and eggs in a blender and blend until smooth. Cover and refrigerate for 2 hours and up to 8 hours. The longer it sits, the more tender the crepes. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Brush a crepe pan or 8- to 10-inch nonstick pan with some of the melted butter and heat over medium heat until it begins to sizzle. Lift the pan at a slight angle and pour 1/4 cup of the batter into the center, tilting the pan to spread the batter to the edges. Return the pan to the heat and cook until the crepe is golden underneath, 1 to 2 minutes. Using a spatula, flip the crepe over and cook until golden on the other side, 1 to 2 minutes more. Transfer to a plate and cover. Repeat with more butter as needed and the remaining batter. For assembling the crepes: Return a crepe to the warm pan. Spread some onions over the surface, scatter some grated cheese over the onions, and tear a ham slice and drop across the surface. Fold the crepe in half, then in half again to make a triangle, and heat through to melt the cheese. Serve.

GALETTE DE BRETAGNE (BUCKWHEAT CREPES FROM BRITTANY, FRANCE)

Steps:

• Put the dry buckwheat flour and salt into the bowl, then with a spoon push the mix to the edges of the bowl leaving a hole in the center.
• Then pour some of the milk and add some of the eggs into the center of the bowl.
• With a spoon slowly fold in a little of the flour into the liquid and mix, always keeping the liquid soupy in texture.
• Continue to slowly add the milk and eggs to the center of the bowl and fold in the flour in this way so the mix is never sticky but rather always soupy.
• Doing this results in a non-lumpy mix that is very smooth.
• Mix for a few minutes with an electric mixer, while slowly adding the water to the bowl while mixing.
• Add the water as the flour thickens so that the mixture doesn't become sticky.
• The final mixture should be more watery than you would expect for North American pancakes, roughly the the consistency of melted chocolate.
• note: A secret tip for this recipe is to add at this point a table spoon of beer to the mix for every egg you added, as the malty beer really brings out the flavor of the buckwheat.
• Leave for a few hours in the fridge.
• After the mix is chilled, check the consistency, if it is too hard (most likely) then add enough extra water to make mix smooth.
• Again, it should be smooth, silky and as runny as melted chocolate.
• The mix is now ready to use.
• To make each galette, heat up two elements on your cooker.
• One at maximum temperature, the other on a medium heat.
• Place a very flat griddle or large frying pan on the maximum temperature hottest element of the cooker to heat up.
• Add 5 grams of butter to the heated frying pan and wait till it melts and turns brown.
• Then wipe the whole frying surface with paper towel to remove the butter leaving the pan lightly greased.
• Don't be afraid to reuse your paper towel and skip fresh butter between galettes.
• Lift your frying pan slightly off the grill, and add one ladle of mix to the hot pan, so it covers a large surface very thinly.
• Quickly tilt the pan so the mix runs over the whole surface evenly to the edges.
• Try not to add a second ladle to the pan - this doesn't work well, better to live with some holes in the galette.
• Cook the galette for 10-15 seconds on the highest heat, then start to lift the edges of the whole galette up from the pan with a non-stick flat mixing spoon.
• When you can get a good edge up with the spoon, move the pan to the lower heat element of the cooker.
• Lift up a good edge of the galette from the pan with the spoon, and with your fingers lift up the whole galette off the non-stick pan and then flip it over.
• The underside should be golden brown with a very few brown spots.
• Keep the pan on the lower medium heat.
• Now add the fillings to the top of the galette's cooked side.
• filling note. A usual filling is made like this: sprinkle on a little grated Gruyère cheese, then break an egg yolk (discard the white before hand) over the cheese in the center of the galette.
• To this, add 2 slices of diced ham onto the runny egg yolk, and then top it off with a handful of torn spinach leaves.
• The trick is not to overfill the galette.
• Alternatively try different types of cheese, like brie or cheddar, or skip the egg, or skip the ham/spinach.
• Try out loads of combinations - it's like pizzas, you can design your own.
• Let the toppings cook for up to about 1 minute.
• This is the reason to only use egg yolks, if runny they are nice, egg whites however are not nice undercooked.
• Now, Fold the cooked edges of the galette into the center to make a square, to hold the filling.
• Use a spatula to press down on the folded mix so it holds its shape.
• Carefully flip over the parcel, again press down on it with a spatula.
• The galette should have nice golden colour and some little brown spots on it.
• Serve immediately.

BUCKWHEAT CREPES

Steps:

• Whisk eggs, sugar, and salt together in a large bowl. Pour in milk and whisk to combine. Gradually add 1 1/2 cups plus 2 1/2 tablespoons buckwheat flour and whole wheat flour, whisking to combine. Don't be afraid if the mixture looks too watery; it works well. Stir in 1 tablespoon vegetable oil.
• Heat a frying pan over medium-high heat. Brush the bottom with a little oil and pour in 1 ladle of batter in a swirl, so it spreads evenly into a thin layer. Cook until bubbles form and crepe is browned on the bottom, 1 to 3 minutes, then flip and repeat on the other side. Remove to a plate and repeat to cook remaining crepes, adding more oil as needed.