This was one of my most adventurous recipes that I’ve tried in quite a while. Over my French travels, one of my most enamored food ventures has always been the galette, specifically the ones in the Brittany region. They are like crepes for savory food. So. Delicious. My attempt to recreate these wonders was close to the original in taste, but I lack the blood of the French, as well as years of skills in the kitchen to recreate the wonder that are galettes bretonnes.
Just look at that egg oozing out and tell me you don’t want to rush to your kitchen and whip up a batch of these…come on!
I followed this recipe as closely as possible. Like all recipe adventures, small pieces here and there were changed. If you’d like to follow along, be my guest. You’re in for a treat for sure!
- Sift 1 and 3/4 cups of buckwheat flour, 1 3/4 cups all purpose flour, and 2tsp of salt in a bowl together. If you can’t find buckwheat flour, don’t fret my friends…you can buy buckwheat groats (found at whole foods), and grind them in a coffee grinder, or…by hand if you’re super strong and persevering. Please, please, sift this before measuring the 1 3/4 cups. I did not, and my galettes turned out rather clumpy. I’m sure you’d have much better results if you used fine buckwheat flour than chunky. This was my first mistake. boo.
- Pour one cup of milk into the center of the bowl. Whisk until this forms a paste.
- Slowly add another cup of milk in two batches.
- Cover and let rest for 30 minutes.
- Stir in 2 cups of water, and beat for 1 minute
- Stir in 1/2 cup of clarified butter. (Make a cup when preparing, and use the rest for the griddle or pan you’ll be using later. I used this recipe for clarified butter.) The clarified butter does not burn, and it’s important that you use this instead of regular butter.
- Heat the pan over medium heat, and wait five minutes.
- Dip a paper towel into a bit of the clarified butter and rub over the griddle. Wait 2 minutes more.
- Pour some galette mixture onto the griddle or pan. This will vary based on the size of your pan, but you want a very thin layer when all spread out. I’d say about 1/4 – 1/2 cup of mixture for a 14-16″ frying pan.
- Spread out the mixture thinly, and cook for 30-60 seconds on the first side. Flip, and repeat on the other side. You’ll be cooking these again later, so if they’re not crispy and browned, that’s ok.
- Place on a paper towel, repeat, and keep on stacking those glories up!
- If the first galette seems thick, add a bit of milk to the batter before the next. This is all up to you.
- Now it’s time to add your toppings!
- Place a galette back on the pan, and add away.
- Traditional galette: emontaille cheese, egg in the middle, and spring onions. Fold sides in to create a square where the egg yolk pops out slightly. Remove from pan and enjoy!
- My favorite salmon galette: Place smoked salmon on galette, top with emontaille cheese, spring onions, and creme fraiche. Fold as you would the traditional galette.
Well….that sure was an adventure. A delicious one. If you decide to take on this challenge, please let me know how it goes, or if you have any other topping suggestions…I could always add french cooking inspiration to my life. Yum.
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