Buckwheat crepes, or Crêpes de Blé, are filled with savory ingredients and widely eaten across France. Hard cider is the drink of choice to go with these thin pancakes, and we would not want to stray from that tradition. This recipe is for buckwheat crepes filled with a mixture of goat cheese and goat milk yogurt, topped with smoked trout and chives. All of these ingredients can be sourced from the Northeast region, and are to be paired with some local hard cider. Our pick is the Autumn’s Gold from Eve’s Cidery.
For the Crepes:
1 cup unbleached white flour
½ cup buckwheat flour
3 large eggs
½ teaspoon salt
1 ½ cups milk (divided)
½ cup butter (1 stick), melted
½ cup cold water
Mix together the flour, eggs, salt, and ½ cup of the milk in a bowl. Whisk until smooth. Add the remaining ingredients, adding the water last until the batter is quite thin. If you need to, use a blender to get the batter completely smooth. However, a few little lumps will do no harm.
Heat up a skillet on a medium high flame to be hot, and pour in some batter. Tilt the pan immediately to spread the batter all around in a thin layer. Once the edges are cooked through and there are little bubbles everywhere, use a spatula to flip the crepe over in the pan. It takes a few sacrificial crepes to get the hang of what you are doing, so do not get discouraged if your first ones are not perfect circles. The dough makes enough for about 12 crepes.
For the Filling and Garnish:
1 log of fresh chêvre (if you can get one with chives, even better)
4 tablespoons of goat milk yogurt
Fresh chives
1 filet smoked trout
1 tomato or roasted red pepper, medium dice
Mix the cheese and yogurt together, along with some freshly chopped chives, until the mixture is smooth and creamy. This mixture should be thick, but easily spreadable.
Spread a dollop of the yogurt/cheese mixture in the center of the crepe. Fold it over in half, then in half again. Repeat for the remaining crepes. Use a fork to flake the trout filet, and then top the crepes with the diced tomato and fresh chives.
