Best Galettes Complètes Buckwheat Crepes Recipes

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.

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.