Tuesday, July 15, 2008

Galettes Bretonnes

Okay ladies and gentlemen, in honor of my upcoming séjour in France, here is the recipe for true Brittany crêpes, personally translated (and units converted) from the best and most authentic recipe on the French internets.

Ingredients:

2 eggs
1 1/4 cups buckwheat flour
1 1/4 cups whole milk, cold
2 tbps sunflower oil (it doesn't exist, really. Just use olive oil or whatever.)
1/2 sachet of baking powder. No, I don't know what a sachet is. Just add what seems right.
Salt
Pepper

Add the flour, milk, salt and pepper in a medium or large bowl. Dig a little hole in the middle and break your eggs into it. Carefully mix together with a whisk and add the oil a little at a time, then the cold milk.

Let it sit for at least 30 minutes, unrefrigerated. Or you can leave it your fridge for several hours, whatever works best.

Then, the fun part. Heat up a 12-inch nonstick pan and add some butter or additional oil. Then scoop up a ladle-full of batter and play French chef by gracefully pouring it into the pan with one hand while using the other hand to briskly swirl the pan and distribute the batter. It should coat the entire pan with a very thin layer, and if you do it like I do then it will get splotchy and gunky and you'll freak out and think it's all ruined. It isn't. Just wait and pretty soon you'll start to get really excited when you realize it actually resembles a true Bretagne crêpe. That is, if you've ever seen one.

Lay them out on plates or cooling racks until the last of the batter is used up. Then (the other fun part), add whatever ingredients you want to the middle, fold them over or roll them up, reheat them briefly in the skillet, and serve. This recipe works for both sweet and savory, so feel free to get creative. But don't use American cheese, because that's just sacrilege.