Long-Run Buckwheat Pancakes
There is something about a long winter run that just makes us want to eat pancakes. Stacks and stacks of pancakes (after an appropriate amount of stretching of course). Well, we were thumbing through Kate Percy’s great e-book FuelSmart for Race Day and found this awesome “Breton galettes” variation on the old pancake recipe.
This is indeed a “long-run” recipe as it works best if you let the batter set for a few hours. So mix it up, put it in the fridge, and when you get home and are tallying up your kms, make up some of these delicious crepe style cakes. We went with the ham and cheese option suggested by Percy (and added maple syrup too, natrually), but we can only imagine how much fun it will be to stuff these with all kinds of goodness.
What follows is reprinted with permission from FuelSmart for Race Day (measurements have been adjusted from mls/grams to cups).
Buckwheat Pancakes with Ham and Cheese
By Kate Percy
Despite its name, buckwheat, or sarrasin, is a member of the rhubarb family and has absolutely nothing to do with wheat. It is naturally gluten-free and has a deliciously sweet, nutty flavour. It is traditionally used in Brittany in ‘galettes de sarrasin’, or buckwheat pancakes.
Breton galettes are great to eat immediately after a long run to replenish depleted glycogen stores and minerals lost through sweat (prepare the mixture before you leave) and can be filled with any number of fillings. You could try this recipe with traditional savoury fillings, such as slices of brie, goat’s cheese, smoked salmon, caramelized onions or eggs, or with sweet fillings – banana and syrup is one of my favourites.
Buckwheat is also a very good source of manganese. Magnesium and dietary fibre. It contains flavonoids and good-quality protein, and is said to control blood sugar levels.
Prep time: 5 minutes
Cook time: 5 minutes
Ingredients:
¾ cup buckwheat flour
½ cup plain flour (wholemeal or white)
1 pinch of salt
1 egg
½ cup milk
1 cup water (add a bit more if batter is too thick)
2 tablespoons of melted butter, plus extra for cooking
1 cup cheese
8-10 slices of good-quality cooked ham
Makes 8-10 pancakes
Kcal 383 cal
Carbohydrates 35 g
Protein 28g
Fat 17g (8g saturates)
Instructions:
- Mix the buckwheat and plain flour together, add a pinch of salt and make a small well in the centre.
- Break the egg into the mixture and then add the milk and half the water
- Beat together with an electric hand whisk until the mixture is nice and smooth. Mix in the rest of the water and the melted butter. The mixture should be the consistency of thin cream.
- If possible, leave the mixture to rest for a few hours or overnight.
- Heat a pancake pan or large non-stick frying pan over medium heat. Add a knob of butter and move the pan around so that the butter melts to cover the base of the pan. Lift the pan off the heat and add a small ladleful of the batter and quickly swirl it around so that you have a very thin layer of batter covering the whole of the pan. You can use a palette knife or a spatula to spread out the mixture.
- Let this cook for 2 minutes over a medium heat, or until the pancake comes away easily from the pan when you shake it. Then toss the pancake over and cook for a minute or two on the other side.
- Flip the pancake back over and pop a very small knob of butter, a thin slice of ham and a tablespoon of grated cheese onto one half of the pancake.
- Fold the plain half of the pancake over the filling and then fold in half again and cook on a gentle heat until the cheese has melted.