Buckwheat pancakes filled with asparagus, broccoli, and mushrooms

April 12, 2014 at 10:51 pm (Cruciferous rich, French, Rebecca Wood, unrated)

I wanted to use up some buckwheat flour, and so I went straight to the buckwheat section of The Splendid Grain by Rebecca Wood. The first recipe we picked was a very simple recipe for Sarrasin Crepes, the buckwheat crepes that are typical in Brittany. The recipe looked pretty typical, except that it calls for ground coriander.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup buckwheat flour
• 2 Tbs. all-pupose flour
• 1 tsp. ground coriander
• 1/8 tsp. sea salt
• 1 3/4 cups water
• 2 large eggs
• 4 Tbs. unsalted butter, melted and cooled

Instructions:

1. Combine the buckwheat flour, all-purpose flour, coriander, and salt in a medium mixing bowl. Whisk together the water, eggs, and 2 Tbs. of the butter in another bowl. Stir into the dry ingredients, mixing until no longer lumpy. Set aside for 15 minutes.
2. Heat a 7-inch crepe pan, brush it with some of the remaining butter, and grasp the pan in 1 hand. Fill a 1/4-cup measuring cup with batter, then pour it onto the pan while rotating it so that a thin layer of batter covers the surface. Return pan to the heat. Cook for 2 to 3 minutes, or until the top dries. Turn and cook 1 minute more, or until the bottom is just lightly browned.
3. Serve warm with the filling of your choice.

My notes:

We filled the crepes with cheese and a mixture of lightly sautéed broccoli, asparagus, and mushrooms. Derek had intended to buy goat cheese, but somehow ended up with a creamy, mild St. André and a roquefort. I quite liked the combination of the St. André with the vegetables.

The dinner was tasty, but the crepes were surprisingly mild. I was expecting a really strong buckwheat flavor. I had this same problem the last time I made a recipe using this flour. I think this brand of buckwheat flour is somehow just not very buckwheat-y. We also couldn’t detect the ground coriander at all.

The main issue I had with the dinner was that the crepes were simply not very filling. Even with the cheese and vegetables, I felt like I could eat an endless number of crepes.

Wood gives a vegan version of the recipe: she says to decrease the buckwheat flour to 3/4 cup and increase the all-purpose flour to 1/4 cup, then allow the batter to rest for at least 1 or up to 8 hours.

Derek wasn’t too excited about the recipe, giving it a B-. That said, he did love the dessert version he made with blue cheese and honey.