Store cupboard special – galettes with buckwheat flour

Galettes: success at last with buckwheat flour

Just when I was scratching my head about what on earth to do with some long-abandoned buckwheat flour, Ceri over at Natural Kitchen Adventures posted a recipe for Breton Buckwheat Galette Complète with Ham, Comté Cheese and Egg.


Perfect.

I have no idea why I originally bought buckwheat flour. Maybe I had grand plans about making glamorous smoked salmon blinis for a party? I do remember attempting blueberry pancakes with buckwheat flour one weekend when I was out of ordinary flour. They were not well received.

This flour has been such a long-term resident in my storecupboard that it probably has squatters’ rights. Embarrassingly the best-before date is October 2011. Oops. However, applying the common sense tests that it looks fine, smells fine, and I hate food waste, I was keen to use it rather than just bin it.

So last week, when I wanted something quick, warm and comforting to cook, I had a go at galettes.

Ceri’s batter recipe uses 100g buckwheat flour, 180 ml water and an egg. Mixed to the consistency of pouring cream, these quantities made three galettes, so I could have one, and my husband enthusiastically devoured two.

Ceri mentioned not having a crepe hot plate, and using a large frying pan instead. I gave it a whirl using a circle of Bake-O-Glide on top of the Aga, which actually worked really well. Maybe I should try it with our normal small fat pancakes too?

Cooking galettes on top of the Aga. The edges got a bit neater as I went along…

As a filling, Ceri suggested using a very authentic combination of Comtécheese, ham, egg and a few spinach leaves. I didn’t have any Comté, but I did have some Gruyere, and I’d quite happily make them with cheddar too. The only spinach in the house was some hefty lumps in the freezer, earmarked for curry, so I left that out.

Using a slice of ham, an egg and 20g grated cheese for each galette was really easy, although I needed to add the toppings quickly, so I could still fold the edges of the galettes onto the top before the batter set too much.

I think they made a great alternative to using ham and cheese to make toasted sandwiches or omelettes, and using a strongly-flavoured cheese meant a little cheese went a long way.

I reckon the ingredients I used cost 80p per galette (Dove’s Farm Buckwheat Flour 1kg for £1.69, 15 x free range mixed weight eggs from Morrisons for £2, 4 slices Morrisons Deli breaded ham for £1, 200g Gruyere cheese from Morrisons for £2.69), but there are cheaper options for all of these.

We ate the galettes with salad and appreciative noises from my husband. Which is good, as I still have another 500g of buckwheat flour to get through…