Best Savory Buckwheat CrÊpes With GruyÈre Recipes

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.

BUCKWHEAT CREPES WITH ASPARAGUS, HAM AND GRUYèRE

Steps:

• Make the batter: Whisk together flours, eggs, buttermilk and salt until well combined. Put the batter in the fridge for at least 2 hours or, preferably, overnight. If necessary, thin batter with a little more buttermilk or water, to the consistency of heavy cream.
• Heat a crepe pan or well-seasoned cast iron skillet, about 8 inches in diameter, over medium-high heat. Use a piece of paper towel to rub a little butter in the pan, then quickly ladle in about 1/4 cup of batter. Swirl the pan to spread the batter all the way to the perimeter. Let crepe brown on one side for a minute or so, until crisp. Flip it over with a spatula (or carefully with your fingers) and cook one minute more. Don't worry about browning the second side. Adjust heat if crepe browns too quickly; the pan needn't be scorching hot. Remove from heat if crepe is cooking too quickly.
• Remove the crepe from the pan and set it aside while you continue to make 5 more. Stack crepes on top of each other as they are finished. (Crepes may be made in advance.)
• Bring a medium pot of generously salted water to a boil. Cook the asparagus for 2 minutes, or just until it is firm-tender, then drain and spread on a clean kitchen towel to cool.
• Heat oven to 400 degrees. Fill the crepes by laying each one top-side down, place a slice of ham on top, sprinkle generously with cheese, and lay 3 asparagus spears on top, off to one side. Fold over to make a half-moon.
• Put the filled crepes in one layer on a baking sheet. Drizzle with a little melted butter, then bake until they are crisp and the cheese is melted, about 5 to 7 minutes. Serve immediately.

SAVORY FRENCH CREPES

Steps:

• Combine eggs, milk, and 2 tablespoons butter in a blender. Add buckwheat flour, all-purpose flour, and a pinch of salt; puree until smooth. Allow batter to rest in the refrigerator overnight.
• Melt 3 tablespoons butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Stir in cremini mushrooms and cook until golden brown, about 10 minutes. Add tomatoes and spinach; cook and stir until wilted, 3 to 4 minutes. Set the filling aside.
• Melt 1 teaspoon butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Pour about 1/4 cup batter per crepe (depending on the size of your pan) into the hot skillet and immediately tilt and swirl the pan to evenly distribute batter along the bottom. Cook until the center is set and edges begin to brown, 3 to 4 minutes. Sprinkle 1/4 of the filling in the middle of each crepe and sprinkle each with 3 tablespoons Gruyere cheese. Reserve remaining cheese. Fold the crepes in thirds over the filling, forming triangle shapes. Serve crepes with remaining Gruyere sprinkled on top.

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 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.