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12 March 2011

Buckwheat Crepes

In Russian these are called blini (блыли) which is also a mild curse word, because you know how when you make crepes or pancakes, the first one off the griddle usually doesn't work right, so you say "блын!" like you would say "darn it!"
filled with mushrooms spinach and feta cheese

Buckwheat has an interesting flavor, not interesting in a bad way,  just different than whole wheat flour. It is still very mild, though. And it has a strange color to it, especially when mixed into the batter. I would recommend trying it for a nice change of pace from regular wheat things. It is nice to get some more variety when it comes to the grains we eat.

note the strange color of the batter - it's supposed to look like this

I think you can just substitute buckwheat flour for all-purpose flour in your favorite crepe recipe. But I noticed that the batter was very thick after resting, so I added about 1/2 cup more water. I used a 1/4 cup of all-purpose flour, I thought they would need a little of the gluten to help them hold together, but now I think they will hold together just fine with just the eggs, they would be a little more delicate, but still manageable. So theoretically they can be gluten-free and I think you could also use just water, no milk and make them dairy-free too. But I have not tested either theory yet. ** see edit below **

Buckwheat Crepes (adapted from Mark Bittman's "How to Cook Everything Vegetarian) 
1 c. buckwheat flour
1/4 c. all-purpose flour (optional)
1/2 c. milk
1 1/2 c. water (approximately)
pinch of salt
2 eggs
2 Tbsp. melted butter, cooled

Blend everything together really well. Let rest for at least an hour or overnight. Add more water if the mixture thickens too much. Heat up a crepe pan or your favorite pancake griddle to medium hight heat (you'll probably need to turn it down a little after the first 4 or 5) and pour on a little less then 1/4 cup of the batter (depending on your griddle size) turning the pan as you go to coat the whole surface with batter before it sets up too much. Let it cook for a minute or two - the top will be dry and the edges will start loosening and curling up - then flip it over and let the top cook for another 30 seconds or minute. Flip it onto a plate and repeat the process with more batter. Fill the crepes with your favorite savory filling and either eat as you go, or put them in a pan in the oven on low heat until they are all assembled. We ate some leftovers the next day with scrambled eggs. I think that these would be good as a dessert crepe with something fruity, but we have not tried that yet either. ** see edit below **
cooking the second side of the crepe

** edit ** I made these again with just buckwheat flour (1 c.), eggs (2), water (2 c.) and salt (pinch) and they worked great. So they can be gluten and dairy free, I even forgot the butter. And they were delicious with both apricot jam and Nutella as dessert-y crepes.

1 comment:

  1. We love crepes. I've never done anything with buckwheat and I don't really even know what it is, but I'll have to try this. And I think we will have crepes for dinner tonight!

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