We went up north this past weekend and visited our property. (If you are interested, I'm writing about our move to northern Michigan at Building on Dog Hill.) I took a walk looking for signs of spring and found several patches of ramps! The ramps (also known as wild leeks) were still small but I couldn't resist bringing some home. I've used them a couple of times instead of green onions in my go-to coconut vegetable curry. But, I also came home with local, free range eggs from Mayfair Farm. The eggs were a beautiful clutch of various sizes and colors. Well, I figured I had the pungent, foraged ramps and flavorful, local eggs and I had to find a novel way to put the two together. After some searching I found a buckwheat crepe recipe on Epicurious. Their suggestion was to cook an egg inside the crepe with either bacon or spinach. I made the batter dairy-free by substituting soymilk for the cow's milk, Earth Balance for the butter and adding a little toasted sesame oil since browned Earth Balance does NOT taste like browned butter. Then, I filled the crepes with bacon, egg and ramps and they were great! Alex had a couple of bites of the eggy crepe but didn't care for the one bite he got with a lot of ramps. Then, he gobbled up a plain crepe spread with Earth Balance and sprinkled with cinnamon sugar. We'll definitely make these crepes again with different fillings.I'm entering the image to the right in the Art You Eat: Go Local event. Visit and see all the local food submissions at the beginning of May.
Buckwheat Crepes with Egg, Ramps and Bacon
Makes 8 crepes
Batter:
3/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon buckwheat flour
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon margarine, melted
½ teaspoon toasted sesame oil
1 1/2 cups soymilk
3 eggs
Filling:
8 eggs
4 slices thick-cut bacon
1 tablespoon olive oil
6 ounces of ramps (12-14 ramps)
Salt and pepper
Oil or margarine and a non-stick frying pan or crepe pan
-First make the batter. Sift together the dry ingredients. In a separate bowl mix together the wet ingredients. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and beat until smooth. Cover and chill the batter for 30 minutes.
-Turn on broiler and place an oven rack in the top position. Lay out a sheet pan or cookie sheet.
-Chop bacon and cook until crispy, drain and set aside. Slice and wash the ramps keeping the green tops separate from the white bottoms. Cook the ramp bottoms in a pan with the olive oil over medium low heat. When the bottoms are softened add the green tops and toss. Remove the pan from the heat and season with salt and pepper to taste.
-Make a crepe by heating the non-stick skillet over medium high heat. When the pan is hot coat the inside with oil or margarine. Dump a ¼ cup of crepe batter and immediately swirl to coat the pan evenly. Cook until the edges dry out and the top is mostly set. Loosen the crepe around the edges with a spatula and then flip.
-As soon as it is flipped, add 1/8th of the cooked ramps in the middle of the crepe and crack an egg on top. Sprinkle on 1/8 of the bacon and flip up the sides of the crepe to form a rough square with the egg exposed in the center. Slide the filled crepe out of the pan and onto the sheet pan. Repeat 8 more times.
-Place the sheet pan under the broiler and cook until the egg whites are set (30 seconds to 1 minute). Plate with salt and freshly ground black pepper on top.
http://www.grouprecipes.com/49542/buckwheat-crepes-with-egg-ramps-and-bacon.html
Makes 8 crepes
Batter:
3/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon buckwheat flour
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon margarine, melted
½ teaspoon toasted sesame oil
1 1/2 cups soymilk
3 eggs
Filling:
8 eggs
4 slices thick-cut bacon
1 tablespoon olive oil
6 ounces of ramps (12-14 ramps)
Salt and pepper
Oil or margarine and a non-stick frying pan or crepe pan
-First make the batter. Sift together the dry ingredients. In a separate bowl mix together the wet ingredients. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and beat until smooth. Cover and chill the batter for 30 minutes.
-Turn on broiler and place an oven rack in the top position. Lay out a sheet pan or cookie sheet.
-Chop bacon and cook until crispy, drain and set aside. Slice and wash the ramps keeping the green tops separate from the white bottoms. Cook the ramp bottoms in a pan with the olive oil over medium low heat. When the bottoms are softened add the green tops and toss. Remove the pan from the heat and season with salt and pepper to taste.
-Make a crepe by heating the non-stick skillet over medium high heat. When the pan is hot coat the inside with oil or margarine. Dump a ¼ cup of crepe batter and immediately swirl to coat the pan evenly. Cook until the edges dry out and the top is mostly set. Loosen the crepe around the edges with a spatula and then flip.
-As soon as it is flipped, add 1/8th of the cooked ramps in the middle of the crepe and crack an egg on top. Sprinkle on 1/8 of the bacon and flip up the sides of the crepe to form a rough square with the egg exposed in the center. Slide the filled crepe out of the pan and onto the sheet pan. Repeat 8 more times.
-Place the sheet pan under the broiler and cook until the egg whites are set (30 seconds to 1 minute). Plate with salt and freshly ground black pepper on top.
http://www.grouprecipes.com/49542/buckwheat-crepes-with-egg-ramps-and-bacon.html
