Buckwheat Crêpes

My favorite French street food, these are easy crêpes to make. If you keep them in the freezer, you can pull one out and top it with blanched spinach and a fried or poached egg for a quick and delicious meal. In France the crepe is made on a large, flat, hot griddle, and the egg is cracked right on top of it. That doesn’t work well in a home crêpe pan. It’s easier to have the crêpe already made and then top it with the fried egg.

Ingredients

• 1 cup low-fat (2 percent) milk
• ⅓ cup water
• 3 large eggs
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ⅔ cup buckwheat flour
• ½ cup unbleached white flour
• 3 tablespoons canola oil

For the buckwheat crêpes with spinach and egg

• 6 ounces baby spinach
• Salt, preferably kosher salt
• freshly ground pepper to taste
• 2 buckwheat crêpes, above
• 2 eggs, poached or fried for four minutes
• 2 tablespoons grated Gruyère cheese

• Nutritional Information

  • Nutritional analysis per serving (8 servings)

    248 calories; 12 grams fat; 2 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 5 grams monounsaturated fat; 3 grams polyunsaturated fat; 24 grams carbohydrates; 2 grams dietary fiber; 2 grams sugars; 10 grams protein; 140 milligrams cholesterol; 421 milligrams sodium

  Note: Nutrient information is not available for all ingredients. Amount is based on available data.
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About 12 8-inch crêpes

Preparation

1. Place the milk, water, eggs and salt in a blender. Cover the blender, and turn on at low speed. Add the flours, then the canola oil, and increase the speed to high. Blend for one minute. Transfer to a bowl, cover and refrigerate for one to two hours.
2. Place a seasoned 7- or 8-inch crêpe pan over medium heat. Brush with butter or oil, and when the pan is hot, remove from the heat and ladle in about 3 tablespoons batter. Tilt or swirl the pan to distribute the batter evenly, and return to the heat. Cook for about one minute, until you can easily loosen the edges with a spatula. Turn and cook on the other side for 30 seconds. Turn onto a plate. Continue until all of the batter is used.
3. Bring a large pot of generously salted water to a boil, and add the spinach. Blanch for 20 seconds, and transfer to a bowl of ice water. Drain and squeeze dry. Chop and season with salt and pepper.
4. Heat the crêpes in a dry skillet over medium heat (or use the skillet you used to fry your eggs). Top with a spoonful of spinach, and top the spinach with the egg, setting the egg to one side so you can fold the crêpe over. Sprinkle the cheese over the top, fold the crêpe over, and transfer to a plate with a spatula. Serve hot.

• Advance preparation: These freeze well for several weeks. Stack them between pieces of wax paper or parchment, and wrap airtight before freezing. You can make and refrigerate them up to a day ahead of serving.
• Advance preparation: You can have the spinach blanched and the eggs poached hours before you assemble these. Martha Rose Shulman can be reached at martha-rose-shulman.com.