Buckwheat Crepes, Two Ways
The smell of buckwheat flour is anything but sweet. It’s pungent, it’s herbal, it’s almost medicinal. And it tastes grassy. Even its color is offputting, a cross between volcano ash and moon dust. Yet its assertiveness makes it a fine counterbalance to a good many things.
The French—bretons especially—use buckwheat flour for making galettes, buckwheat crepes essentially, but sans the milk and eggs, so they’re dairy-free, just a mix of flour and water really. I decided to make buckwheat crepes the easy way, because as David described it, making galettes requires a billig, a râteau, coordination, and finesse, all four of which I’m completely lacking.
And so, the other morning, I got up early and raided our fridge for possible toppings to go in my breakfast galette. There were lots of options—we hoard omelette material like no other—but I settled on something sweet for myself and something savory for Chris.
Et voilà! Behold, that’s how my peach, Greek yogurt, honey, and slivered almonds filled crepe came into being. It was très très bon (uh-oh, watch out, I’m starting to pull out my high school French).
I actually made Chris a ham, brie, scallion, and egg crepe, as per these instructions, but didn’t get to take pictures as he gets irritable when he’s hungry. (Are all men like this?)
Next up, for lunch, I filled a galette with peppery turkey, ricotta cheese, and scallions.
Both were exceptional, with the flavor of the buckwheat definitely present, but not loud. Like the non-obnoxious kid in class who makes astute comments but doesn’t jump at every chance to speak, does that make sense? I enjoyed it a lot actually, especially compared to regular old crepes, which inherently don’t have a whole lot of flavor.
I must say though, I preferred the combination of plain yogurt, peaches, almonds, and honey. The richness of the Greek yogurt turned my crepe into a luscious dessert… except it had all the wholesomeness of breakfast, n’est-ce pas?
BUCKWHEAT CREPES
Recipe from David Lebovitz
Makes about 12
Ingredients:
2 cups whole milk
1 Tbsp sugar
1/4 tsp sea salt
3 Tbsp butter, melted
1/2 cup buckwheat flour
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
3 large eggs
Directions:
In a blender or with a whisk, combine all the ingredients until smooth. Cover and chill overnight.
The next day, take the batter out of the fridge and let it sit on the counter for about half an hour. It should be the consistency of heavy cream—if not, add a Tbsp of milk.
On medium-low heat, wipe a thin layer of neutral oil in a saucepan (or toss in a small pat of butter, let it melt, then wipe it around). After a few minutes, pour 1/4 cup of the batter into the center of the pan and swirl it quickly. When the surface is bubbly, flip it carefully. They’re fragile and break easily, so take it easy and don’t tug too hard. After 30 seconds or so, both sides should be browned, so remove it from the heat. Don’t stress if it comes out oily or just plain ugly—the first one usually is. (And the second and third, in my case.)
Once you get the hang of the right heat setting—for me, I started out with the stove on low, but notched it up to medium after the first crepe—you should be flipping them out pretty quickly.
Serve them warm. I tossed the cold ones into the toaster oven, but you can warm them up in the oven as well. And we don’t have a microwave so I can’t test it out, but you could probably zap them in there for 20 seconds or so and nobody would know the difference.
Toppings: the sky’s the limit. I’ve tried them with tomato, basil, and mozzarella—delicious; egg, gruyere and ham—delicious (and according to Clotilde, this is what they call complète). I also suspect these guys would make for a very satisfying dessert, with a scoop of pistachio ice cream and a nice smear of Nutella maybe?
Related Posts
Subscribe for New Racipies
Get mental health tips, updates, and resources delivered to your inbox.
Maple Barbeque Chicken Bites
Here’s a little Superbowl inspired treat for you. I realize it’s not a sweet, but it does have maple syrup in it and barbeque sauce, and bacon. Come on, you can’t go wrong with bacon. Just so you know, I was not born into a sports loving family, not did I marry into one. The closest I get is every four years my husband watches World Cup Soccer and I may watch a game or two, but we are not fanatics about it. So Superbowl day is just another day for me. I just had this idea for a chicken appetizer and thought it would make a great game day snack for those that party it up.
Apparently I didn’t notice the bottle of mayo was upside down when I took the picture. Silly me!
You can cook your bacon anyway you like, in the oven, in the microwave, or on the stove-top. You just need to chop it into little bits after it is cooked. As for the chicken, you can use fresh cooked chicken (about 2 cups), but I just used canned chicken. It doesn’t taste that much different when cooked and it’s a time-saver.
This recipe is based on the Pampered Chef Lemon Herb Chicken Ring I used to make all the time for parties. It’s an easy recipe to make and adaptable. I used to make the ring on a round stone, but I got rid of my stoneware a while back, because I got tired of trying to clean it. Now I just use a perforated pizza pan. It works just as well. I lay out all the crescent triangles in a circle with each piece slightly overlapping, then I use a small roller to seal them together and stretch them out a bit.
Then I spoon the filling onto the wider part of the triangles and spread it out evenly with a spatula. Next I started tucking the points of the triangles in towards the center of the ring and under the wide part of the triangles. Not all the filling will be covered by the crescent rolls. In the end, you should have a nice crescent wreath.
After it is baked, it will be a nice golden color. You need to let it cool off a bit before you cut it up into appetizer sized portions.
See all those bits of bacon. Nom, Nom! It tastes great just as is, but I wanted to make a dipping sauce to go along with it. I used the same barbeque sauce and maple syrup that I used in the ring to make the sauce.
The maple syrup really enhanced the flavor of the barbeque sauce, especially the smoky flavor. I can see this sauce poured over quite a few dishes. I only made a little bit of sauce for dipping or drizzling over each slice. If you are going to slather it on, I suggest doubling the sauce recipe.
My husband and daughter really enjoyed these Maple Barbeque Chicken Bites with the dipping sauce. We ended up having them for dinner. I had placed them in the fridge this afternoon and just warmed them back up in the oven before serving. I even warmed up the sauce a little in the microwave. Ooh, it’s so delightfully tangy and sweet. A perfect compliment to the Chicken Bites. Bacon, chicken, barbeque sauce, and maple syrup, my new favorite flavor combination.
Maple Barbeque Chicken Bites
by The Sweet Chick
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes
Keywords: bake appetizer entree sandwich snack bacon maple syrup chicken barbeque sauce Super Bowl American
Ingredients (24-26 servings)
For the chicken bites
- 1 can (10 oz.) chunk white chicken (or two 5 oz. cans), drained
- 4 slices cooked bacon
- 1 cup (4 oz.) shredded Swiss cheese
- 1/4 cup mayonnaise
- 2 tablespoons pure maple syrup
- 2 teaspoons Kraft Original Barbecue Sauce
- 2 packages ( 8 oz. each) refrigerated crescent rolls
For the dipping sauce
- 1/4 cup Kraft Original Barbecue Sauce
- 1/4 cup pure maple syrup
Instructions
For the chicken bites
Preheat oven to 375° F.
Finely chop the cooked bacon and chicken. Place them in a medium size bowl.
Add shredded cheese, mayonnaise, maple syrup, and barbecue sauce. Mix by hand until well blended.
On a round pizza stone or pizza pan, arrange crescent triangles in a circle with wide ends overlapping in the center and points toward the outside.
With a small roller, or by hand gently flatten out the wide ends and seal the overlapping pieces together.
Spoon the chicken mixture onto the widest end of the triangles and spread evenly with a spatula.
Bring points of the triangles up over the filling and tuck the ends under the wide ends of the dough at the center of the ring. (Filling will not be all covered.)
Place in oven and bake for 15 minutes or until crescents are golden brown.
Remove from oven and let cool a few minutes before cutting into appetizer sized pieces. Serve warm.
For the dipping sauce
Whisk together the barbecue sauce and maple syrup until well blended. Serve room temperature or slightly warm.
Recipe adapted from Lemon Herb Chicken Ring – The Pampered Chef Season’s Best Recipes – 2002
This post may be shared at these fabulous link parties.
Related Posts
Subscribe for New Racipies
Get mental health tips, updates, and resources delivered to your inbox.