Lovely Alternative (gluten free - bonus!) Pancakes ~ Galettes de Sarrasin

I've been racking my brains (such as they are) to think of a good idea relating to pancakes for Shrove Tuesday, and I've thought of something entirely yummy, worthwhile and useful to write about which is also relevant – Galettes de Sarrasin.

I ate these wonderful Breton buckwheat pancakes years ago when in France and then promptly forgot about them till a recent trip where a scallop and leek galette I dined on in Quimper, Brittany was one of the finest meals of my life.

These are crèpe type pancakes, similar to those my Mummy served on Pancake Day, and not at all similar to American style thick fluffy pancakes.  They have a lovely light and crisp texture, a delicious nutty flavour and, as a bonus, they are gluten free! 

I decided to try and reproduce my wonderful meal, made my own Scallop and Leek Galettes and they worked a treat. The only thing missing was the lovely sunshine, the pretty little walled town and my good friend Carol.  Apart from that – perfect!

Buckwheat Pancakes – about 6 pancakes depending on your pan

100g buckwheat flour

pinch of salt

1 egg

300ml milk

50g butter – melted

~ Stir together the salt and the flour and make a well in the middle.
~ Break the egg into the well and start whisking it in gradually adding the milk till a batter the consistency of single cream is achieved.
~ Chill for a couple of hours then stir in the melted butter.
~ Proceed to make pancakes as per usual, ie. lightly grease a frying pan, bring to good heat and ladle in about 2 tablespoons of batter.
~ Roll the pan to spread the batter thinly and cook till the underside is golden.
~ Turn with a deft flip of the wrist or more carefully with an implement.

I cooked the Scallop and Leek Filling in the same way as I did the salmon here. 

These pancakes are excellent with the traditional sugar and lemon of our childhoods and lend themselves to pretty well any filling you can dream up, savoury or sweet including, of course, delicious leftovers.

If you are interested, in my standard American style Pancake Recipe see this post from Pancake Day last year.

The normal crèpe recipe my Mum used is pretty well the same as the buckwheat recipe above but with plain flour instead of buckwheat and maybe a tad more milk.

 

And here is a picture of an enormous Caramel Crèpe I ate a while back, as it happens this was in France too! 

Although today is known throughout Britain as Pancake Day it is, of course, Shrove Tuesday and is particularly associated with pancakes as they are an ideal way to use up sugar, eggs, milk etc. that we will, of course, be spurning for the next 40 days of Lent.  

Happy Pancake Day!