I'm intolerant. For a woman raised for all intents and purposes as a vegan, I suffer from a cornucopia of "health food" culinary prejudices. First, of all things, I have little to no patience for the above mentioned vegans. If I fell into a worm hole and ran into my college self, I'd shove a cheeseburger in her bleating pie hole and stomp her Morrissey tape to oblivion while screaming, "Hey whiney, you wonder why you're moody and tired? Eat some !#*@(#*! protein!" The burger would be free range, organic, grass fed and kosher; my food prejudices run a perverse gamut.
Add to that, my pathological aversion to anti-gluten rhetoric when not accompanied by a valid claim to Celiacs and let's not get started on the anti-dairy faction, lactose intolerance notwithstanding.
I can't ignore that my entrenched belief system is brutally flawed, that I'm a food crank of Andy Rooney proportions. My antipathy also runs contrary to my pastry self, the girl who is forever intrigued by the chemical transformation wrought by a change up in ratio and ingredient substitution. I'm working on it, turning my bakery into a bastion of culinary tolerance and experimentation. It's a slow going therapy but I'm not displeased with some of the results. It doesn't hurt that my latest project, buck wheat crepes, are steeped in French tradition and deliciousness, so I was pretty much guaranteed a satisfying gluten-free denouement. A gluten and butter logged woman has to start somewhere.
Gluten Free/Lactose Free Buckwheat Crepes with Sautéed Maple Pears
(makes about 8 crepes)
Ingredients
3/4 cup buckwheat flour
1/4 cup garbanzo/fava flour
1 1/4 cup almond milk
3 eggs
4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon maple sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
non-stick spray for the pan
Procedure
-Blend all the ingredients in a blender or food processor. Traditionally, it's required that you refrigerate crepe batter for a few hours to hydrate the batter. Since there's no gluten present, I just ignored the usual crepe requirements and got to cooking.
-Spray a non-stick pan with non-stick spray and whirl about 1/4 cup of batter in the pan to create an even layer of crepe batter. Cook over medium heat until cooked through. You can flip the crepe to cook the top side a bit more but I like to cover the pan with a lid during cooking for supreme tenderness.
For the pears, half and core one pear and thinly slice. Sautée in 4 tablespoons of maple syrup over medium-low heat until soft. Top your buckwheat crepe with a dollop of pear and an additional drizzle of maple.
15 comments:
I have eaten innumerable french crepes on various trips to France and I adore them! This summer I spent three weeks in France and my favorites came from a vendor at a little village farmers market ..... oh my the wonderful memories! Thanks for the recipe ... not sure I am a fan of buckwheat but will give it a go.
Love your wisdom today wise and funny good way to start my blog catching-up! ... and I'm a huge fan of buck wheat anything (from childhood) yeah a bit bitter perhaps! It's also good to see your recipes take a stroll out into a variety of other food types, being such a diverse world and since your bakery is open to so many palates to please! Oh and love the photos, yummy and delightful!
I kept coming back to your blog and the Johnny cakes and decided to make a real breakfast on Sunday,, so I proceeded to whip up some oatmeal with cortland apple slices and brown sugar accompained by turkey sausage links.. and after seeing this post,, my gourmet breakfast pales in comparison. Would you like to come over next weekend and cook for me???
While I don't pretend to be anything other than a lover of all things baked and fried, I confess I live for every gluten-free recipe you throw our way! My youngest son is 14 and has Aspberger Syndrome. Gluten-free makes a huge difference for some autistic kids. Your gluten-free sweetsare very often the light at the end dinner.
You are hilarious! I'm in the same boat as you. Maybe I should start at buckwheat crepes too.
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I am a CREPE Mastah!!! but not gluten free. What a funny post. Its not easy to get an Andy Rooney reference with Crepes. LET THE CREPE BAKE OFF BEGIN!! :)
I had a boyfriend once, from South Louisiana, BLESS HIS BLACK HEARTED SOUL, who's grandmother made the best crepes EVER - she called them Sammie Snakes. Well besides their color, these look EXACTLY like that.
I'm thinking I'm back in the kitchen this weekend to remember Maw-Maw!
Gesine,
I am so happy that I've discovered you and your recipes! I picked up your book during our honeymoon to Austin. We stopped at your sisters cafe and had a few treats and went on our way. My passion is cooking. I cannot bake for the life of me. I mean, I can, but I hate following rules and with baking, there are tons of them! While reading your book, you've inspired me to take on a little baking. My friends and I plan to get together to bake and then share our treats with local shelters. Too many sweets in our homes = me eating it all, another reason why I stray from baking. Anyway, it is nice to see that by taking a leap of faith in something you love, you found happiness. My dream is to one day open a cafe/restaurant with my dad. He is my cooking partner.
Hope to some day make the journey to your little shop, as it sounds like a dream! Happy baking!!!
- Gina.
PS. I know from your book that you hate this, but you must know. . . my best friend looks just like your sister. She is constantly hearing it from complete strangers! And it is through my friend and her little connection to Sandra that I discovered you!
Gesine ..... any suggestions on what decent stand-mixer you would recommend?? And also what food processor??
Of course it needs to fit my budget which is about the middle of the pack and my limited kitchen space is also a consideration.
There are so many out there that I eventually just get boggled by the variety and stop researching.
So, for the simple home-maker who likes to bake and experiment to some degree what are your recommendations?
I randomly came across your blog one day, and "follow" it b/c I love checking it out periodically. Just wanted to say thank you for posting all these awesome recipes!
My biggest gripe is people who are intolerant but call themselves 'allergic' I just want to stick my daughter's Epi-pen into them :)
There is a lot of 'alternative' foods out there that are like your buckwheat pancakes which have involved through years of tradition and therefore are delicious in their own right because they've had to survive generations of cooks wanting to cook them and pass on the recipe.
....but with my 25yrs of baking cakes I'm still waiting to find an egg/nut/banana/soya/bean free cake for my allergy suffering daughter that doesn't taste like pants!!
I love this post! Too funny.
Check out making crepes w/ teff. I taught a Cross-Cultural Kids camp this summer and 2 of the kids were allergic to gluten. So of course, last minute had to scurry and adapt the menu. Amazingly, the kids all liked the gluten-free adaptations more than the original. Go figure. Needless to say on 'Ethiopia' day, the injera bread rocked. Add a little sugar and voila, dessert crepe. Pretty darn tasty, gotta say.
I have been looking for a recipe on gluten free Crepe's.
Cannot wait to try this recipe!
i'm sure you can dig on this, because you're definitely NOT the verbally faint-of-heart sort, but in my restaurant career behind the scenes my fellow-workers and i have been known to refer to the aforementioned intolerants as glutards. and yes, i do have my own intolerance to whiny-ness, and my own theories on the phenomenon.
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