18 February 2010

Mardi Gras - Part 1 - Buckwheat crêpes

In France and even more so in Brittany we have a tradition on Mardi Gras (Fat Tuesday), the day before Ash Wednesday (this year it was on Tuesday 16th Feb.), to make galettes and crêpes, the galettes are typically topped with a savory filling, while the crêpes are sweet, here is a recipe that works quite well for the galettes.

Galettes au sarrasin – Buckwheat crêpes (savory)
For about 15 galettes/crêpes 9” diameter
Ingredients
1.5 cup / 220 gr     Buckwheat flour
3 Tbsp / 22 gr       All purpose flour  (10% of the buckwheat)
1.5 tsp /  6 gr       Salt 
1 Egg
1.35 Tbsp / 20 ml  Sunflower oil 
½ cup / 120 ml     Whole milk 
1 cup + ¼ cup / 230 ml + 50 ml    Cold water  (or more if needed)

Method
In a bowl measure the buckwheat and all purpose flour.
In a separate bowl mix the salt, egg, oil and milk.
Pour the liquid mix over the flours and using a wooden spoon or your hand mix all into a ball, then slowly add the cold water while always mixing and beating the batter, when all the water has been added continue beating the batter for 15mn to air it well (traditionnaly in Brittany this is done by hand in a big bucket, but you can use a stand up mixer with the paddle attachment).
Pour some water on top of the batter to cover it and place the lid on then let it rest covered and refrigerated a few hours, overnight for better results (the galette will have a more appealing look, they will be brownish instead of greyish).
When ready to cook the galettes check that the batter is VERY liquid, if not enough add more cold water to it.
Pour a ladle full of batter to a preheated oiled crêpes pan (non stick if possible), swirling the pan to coat the bottom evenly with batter (if it is not liquid enough it will "ball up" and the galette will be "for the dog" as is the tradition for the first couple of missfits).
Cook over medium heat until the sides of the galette come loose from the bottom of the pan (1mn or so), turn over for a few seconds and set aside, repeat until all the batter is gone.
Serve with various fillings, place the cooked galette in your preheated pan and place filling on top.
Reserve all cooked galette in a plate covered over a pan of hot water so they won’t dry out.

Filling suggestions
Egg, cheese, ham, white sauce with mushrooms, spinach, blue cheese and walnuts, goat cheese and Espelette chilli powder, smoked salmon/Lox and crème fraîche… If you combine egg, cheese and ham it is called “une complète”.

2 comments:

  1. Moi qui vit en Bretagne depuis six ans, je suis ravie d'avoir enfin une recette de galette !!!, je vais l'essayer sans tarder ! merci Anne . Paule

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  2. Elle marche bien et il vaut mieux préparer la pâte la veille pour le lendemain il s'opére une petite fermentation qui améliore le résultat final. Bien important: il faut qu'elle soit bien liquide au moment de la faire cuire (d'ou le rajout d'eau au dernier moment). Bon essai! Amitiés. A

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