Gougères
I am born of an old-school mother. A lady who believes in time and attention in the form of extra special touches when hosting a dinner. I’ve adapted and made some of her traditions my own but still have not mastered the art of not being in a dead run a half-hour before guests arrive. Mother always looks so cool and calm when entertaining. Unfortunately, or fortunately, when I truly started observing her (and was called upon to assist) I was very young and didn’t realize that this woman, in her mid-forties had already been married for nearly 20 years and had experienced; deflation of puffed things, stains on party clothes from not wearing an apron, mis-timings of meats and veg etc. So I cut myself some slack as I still run harried to and fro making sure all is well before the first guest dings the bell.
Something special that instantly elevates a dinner party is the preparation of a starter to be consumed – hot or cold by the guest as they arrive. At the beginning of the year, Vicky and I mutually accepted a challenge to master five new recipes by the end of 2016. After assessing our strengths and interests we culled through recipes from various sources to select our five. One of my five was something special that I felt would add to dinner parties and definitely add that something extra special that mother always encouraged.
Gougères or cheese puffs, are simple to make. Warm from the oven and directly into an expectant guests waiting napkin, this puffed cheesy quick bread has been well received and is best served with something festive and sparkling. At their most recent dinner party appearance the gougères were served with “Sparkling Date Drink” from one of my favorite local boutique food outlets here in Saudi Arabia, Bateel. Not being a drinker, this suited me just fine, however champagne or prosecco would also be an acceptable compliment to this snack.
Vicky and I recently became obsessed with Mimi Thorisson, who lives in Medoc, France and blogs about her beautiful food and family filled life there. While I based my recipe from Mimi’s, I am an avidly experimental home cook in the most rudimentary sense of the word and modify nearly recipe to suit my feelings about the overall meal and also to balance out what I feel may be too many calories in a recipe. Not aiming for anything near perfection, I don’t pipe my gougères like Mimi’s but simply free form them making sure the serving size is round about a heaping teaspoon.
Delectable, easy to freeze, (the dough) and best served fresh, gougères are something special we hope you will enjoy during your Live Well experience.
Gougères (cheese puffs)
Makes about 40
Ingredients:
1 cup water
3.5 ounce salted butter
1 1/4 cups plain flour
2 cups grated Hungarian kashkaval cheese with pepper (if this is not available, add 1/4 tsp of red pepper flakes to your mix) hold about an 1/8 of a cup back for sprinkling.
4 eggs
1/2 cup fresh basil finely julienned
1 egg yolk for glazing
A dash of dried thyme
A dash of salt
Method:
Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees F.
In a saucepan, bring the water and butter to a boil. Add the flour, stirring very fast and take immediately off the heat. By now the batter will be roughly in the form of a soft ball. Add the eggs, one by one and stir. It’s important to add the eggs slowly – you must temper the batter so as to ensure that the eggs won’t scramble.
Removing the batter from the stove, you will notice that the batter is lumpy and thick at first but roll up your sleeves and keep stirring at a brisk pace until the batter becomes smooth. Finally add the cheese, salt, herbs (pepper flakes if necessary) and stir till relatively lump free.
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. You have two choices for preparing the gougères: either put the dough in a pastry bag with a standard tip and pipe walnut sized mounds, or spoon, as mentioned above a heaping teaspoon of dough and shape as perfectly or imperfectly as you’d like.
You can allow your gougères a rest while you pretty yourself up (or keep wildly prepping in my case). Delay baking until about 15 minutes before the start of your event to insure that they come fresh from the oven. After, nip to the kitchen quickly glaze with egg yolk and sprinkle the gougères lightly with that 1/8 cup of held back grated cheese.
Leave an adequate space between each gougères and bake for 25 minutes approx or until puffy and golden. Serve immediately.