"We thoroughly enjoyed Francesco's 40th birthday present. Just realized that Mum's methods are not always right ! Learned many new tricks, dishes, fancy decorating & enjoyed the excursions just as much. Very impressive! All the best of luck."

Rainer Günzel
Germany
October 2009

Walnut Grove Recipes

Smoked Ham & Emmental Galette

Ingredients

250g buckwheat flour
1 egg
500ml water
2 tsp olive oil
1 tbsp salt
2 slices of ham
grated Emmental or other hard cheese

Method

1. Separate the egg yolk from the white. In a large mixing bowl add the egg yolk to the buckwheat flour, oil & salt.

2. Start adding enough water to mix to a firm batter, when the batter is smooth with no lumps incorporate the rest of the water.

3. In a small bowl whisk the egg white until it is peaking. Gently fold into the batter and leave to rest for at least an hour.

4. When you are ready to cook your galette's, pre-heat a large non-stick frying pan (preferably a crepe pan, with no sides to it) until it is very hot but not smoking and pour a120ml ladle full of mixture into your pan. Either tip the mixture around until it covers the pan, or if you have a T shaped galette utensil use this to quickly spread the mixture across the pan.

5. When the edges are starting to lift up from the pan, flip the galette over. Lay a wide strip of smoked ham (about 7cm wide) down the middle and then sprinkle with Emmental cheese. When the sides are just browning fold the two edges over the ham & cheese and continue to cook for another minute or two. Turn over and cook for another minute or so until the cheese is all melted.

6. Transfer to a pre-warmed oven dish and keep in the oven on a low temperature (around 120°C/250°F) while you cook the other galettes.

Culinary vacation

Serving Suggestions

We like to have galette's for lunch with a fresh green salad but if you want to have galette's for dinner, just have two! There are endless varieties of fillings you can use; finely sliced mushrooms that have been fried already, you can beat an egg and spread this down the center of the galette - it will cook in the galette, cooked & drained spinach is stunning with egg and ham - tuna, smoked salmon - the list is limited only by your imagination! Being a traditional Breton meal it would always be served with cider. You can also fold the ends of the galette over, so it forms an envelope.

Advanced preparation

The mix needs to rest for at least an hour, after that it can be kept in the fridge for at least 24hrs, just mix it well before using and perhaps add a drop more water if it has thickened very much. You can also fry the galette's first and have a stack of them to cook & fill later, but we find they cook so quickly it isn't really worth it! Bon appetit!

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