I was reminiscing about my trip to Burgundy France last month and all of the delicious food I ate. One of my favorite things was gougères. I LOOOVE them! They originated in Burgundy and they’re basically, cheese puff pastries – but they’re so much more than that! They’re cheesy, fluffy, melt-in-your-mouth, deliciousness that I’ve usually seen served as an amuse-bouche before a meal, but I suppose you could serve them as bread with your meal. And, the great thing about gougères is that they’re easy to make - a perfect addition to a holiday meal. So, with Thanksgiving around the corner, you may be looking for something new (and easy) to try. I found a super easy recipe on Food and Wine from Alain Ducasse (one of my favorite chefs) that I thought I’d share with you. I haven’t tried it yet, but it’s on my “to do” list!
Gougères
Ingredients
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup milk
1 stick (4 ounces) unsalted butter, cut into tablespoons
Large pinch of coarse salt
1 cup all-purpose flour
4 large eggs
3 1/2 ounces shredded Gruyère cheese (1 cup), plus more for sprinkling
Freshly ground pepper
Freshly grated nutmeg
How to Make It
Step 1
Preheat the oven to 400°. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. In a medium saucepan, combine the water, milk, butter and salt and bring to a boil. Add the flour and stir it in with a wooden spoon until a smooth dough forms; stir over low heat until it dries out and pulls away from the pan, about 2 minutes.
Step 2
Scrape the dough into a bowl; let cool for 1 minute. Beat the eggs into the dough, 1 at a time, beating thoroughly between each one. Add the cheese and a pinch each of pepper and nutmeg.
Step 3
Transfer the dough to a pastry bag fitted with a 1/2-inch round tip and pipe tablespoon-size mounds onto the baking sheets, 2 inches apart. Sprinkle with cheese and bake for 22 minutes, or until puffed and golden brown. Serve hot, or let cool and refrigerate or freeze. Reheat in a 350° oven until piping hot.
Notes
When making the choux pastry, it's important to be sure that each egg is fully incorporated into the batter before adding the next. Don't worry if the batter separates and looks curdled at first. Keep beating, and it will come together nicely.
Gougères freeze well. After baking, allow them to cool completely. Then, spread the gougères out on a baking sheet, cover the sheet with plastic wrap and freeze them until they are firm. Then store them in sturdy plastic bags for several months.
And, if that doesn’t look easy enough, here’s another recipe I found on the food blog Olivia’s Kitchen
Happy Thanksgiving! Enjoy and let me know if you try either try either recipe - on Facebook or in Traveleidoscope’s comment section!
