Galette Complete
Galettes, or buckwheat crepes, are traditional to the French region of Brittany, the northwest corner of France. I had these once for the first time at a Monterey restaurant called "Crepes of Brittany!", and I was blown away by the wonderful texture. It was crispy on the outside, soft on the inside, and was simultaneously light and substantial. I wasn't quite able to replicate that texture, but overall I think it went pretty well. You can fill these with pretty much anything savory (I'd recommend the classic crepe recipe for sweet fillings). Here I made a galette complete, which is a pretty common filling -- cheese, ham, and a sunny-side up egg. Smoked salmon is also a classic filling (paired with lemon creme fraiche or brie + caramelized onions, amazing). Spinach, mushrooms, prosciutto, other types of cheese / meat / etc, honestly anything that you could feasibly imagine adding to a sandwich or omelette would probably be good in this.
Active Time: 30 min
Total Time: 2 hr 30 min
Ingredients
> buckwheat flour (1 cup, 120g)
> salt (1/4 tsp)
> eggs (2)
> milk (1 cup)
> unsalted butter (1 tbsp, melted)
> water (~1/3 cup)
galette complete:
> ham
> gruyere cheese (grated)
> egg
> (optional) chives, finely chopped
Instructions
1. Combine all the ingredients and mix together until there are no more lumps. If necessary, use a strainer to remove any remaining clumps of flour.
2. Cover the batter and let rest in the refrigerator, ideally for at least 2 hours, up to 2 days.
3. Thin the batter with a bit of water and mix to combine.
4. Use either a crepe pan or a non-stick pan. Add a touch of oil / butter /pan spray. Add some batter to the pan (exactly how much depends on your pan and desired thickness, around 1/4 cup is a good place to start). Use a crepe roller or swirl the pan around to distribute the batter over the pan evenly.
5. Cook for about 1-2 minutes on each side, until it's golden and lifts from the pan easily.
assembling the galette complete
1. While the second side is cooking, generously add grated gruyere cheese to the center of the galette, roughly in a square pattern. Place a few slices of ham on top.
2. In a separate pan, cook a sunny-side up egg. Place it in the center of the galette, over the ham.
3. Fold over the sides of the crepe, forming a square. Make sure not to cover the yolk of the egg.
4. Optionally top with some finely chopped chives. Enjoy!
Notes/Tips:
> You could also use a blender to mix everything together, which would probably result in slightly better results than mixing by hand. Just make sure to add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and not the other way around ... otherwise things might not mix correctly.
> Letting the crepe batter rest helps with improving the texture of the crepes. It's not essential, but it does make a difference.
> For thinner crepes, add a bit more water to thin it out (closer to 1/2 cup). For thicker crepes, add a bit less water (closer to 1/4 cup). Of course, adjust the amount of batter you add as well. I can't give exact amounts on how much batter to add because it depends on the size of your pan and desired thickness. I usually eyeball it, and end up getting it down by the second or third crepe.
> A long, flat spatula helps a LOT with flipping the crepes. Honestly that's probably the most valuable part of the crepe making machine that I got.
> One tip that I learned over time with making crepes -- don't add too much oil to the crepe pan. It'll make using the crepe roller quite a bit more difficult. Rather, you want it to kind of "stick" at the very beginning when you first add the batter, so it doesn't rip when you use the crepe roller. It'll loosen up over time as it cooks.