Ficelle Picarde Recipe (Crepe Gratin)

Ficelle picarde, which literally translates to "Picard string" in French, sounds like a fancy dish, but really, it's just a savory crêpe gratin filled with sautéed chopped mushrooms (called duxelles). It's a specialty from the region of Picardy, located in the North of France. The authentic dish is made with ham but I replaced it with soy chorizo to make it vegetarian. First, mushroom stuffed crêpes are rolled, then placed in a casserole dish, covered with Mornay mushroom cream sauce and sprinkled with Gruyère cheese. The last step is 5 to 10 minutes in the oven until bubbly and golden.

Crêpes are a fairly frequent dish at our home. The batter can be prepared in advance and you could also store pre-cooked crêpes in the freezer for faster assembly time. Whether they are served as a savory dish or as a dessert (or both!), we always find a new way to pair them with interesting combinations of flavors.

French Buckwheat Crepe Recipe (Galette de Sarrasin ou Galette de Ble Noir)

Galettes de sarrasin, also known as galettes de blé noir, are savory crêpes made from buckwheat flour. They're also called crêpes bretonnes (Breton-style) as the dish originated in Brittany, France. The lacy crêpes are made in a very similar manner to sweet crêpes, but the difference is that buckwheat crêpes are cooked only one one side.

Originally, the "true" galettes were supposed to be served plain with salted butter, but these days, they're usually garnished with charcuterie meat, smoked fish, cheese or vegetables. The most popular version is called La complète which is composed of ham, emmenthal cheese and a cracked egg cooked directly on top of the galette. Another common one, La soubise, is filled with caramelized onions and salted butter. I filled mine with sautéed button mushrooms, red bell peppers and raclette cheese.

If you're only familiar with sweet crêpes, it's definitely worth giving these buckwheat crêpes a try. C'est absolument délicieux!