Gourgères: Cheese Puffs
My all-day, all-night gallivanting in Paris has caught up with me… I slept in till 11am on Saturday. If Stephanie didn’t call, I would’ve kissed my Saturday away. We had a good chat about Lolita by Nabokov, the basis of our next reading group discussion on Reading Lolita in Tehran by Azar Nafisi. We yakked and yakked about Lolita, Nabokov’s writing, his life before realizing that it was noon and Stephanie said “It’s time we get back on the wagon!” Time and tide wait for no one on a Saturday in Paris! It’s time to get moving and all errands done before shops close at 6pm.
It was hard to get motivated to do anything really, especially on an empty stomach… I mean… all the way to the market… in the rain? Nah… First things first: a cup of tea and a little poke into the frigo (fridge). Whoopee! A whole chunk of Swiss gruyere (grew-yair)… and half an hour later: Voilà – Gougères! (Pronounced as goo-gair)
Gougères are usually eaten for lunch or as appetizers during les apéros (cocktails). Gougères are made with the basic “la pate a choux”: a bit of butter, a bit of water and a few eggs. It is the same pastry base for profiteroles, éclairs, ramequins etc., only without sugar or milk. Pate à choux is one of the easiest things to make, once you get the hang of it. If it’s your first time, use moderate heat and don’t panic.
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Gougères or Cheese Puffs
Ingredients: Heat oven to 190 deg C. Butter the tray well or use an Exopat Mat. Heat the water and butter together. Stir, with a wooden spoon till butter is melted and you see a bit of bubbly white foam on the rim of butter-water mixture. Remove from the heat. Add the flour all at once and mix well. Put the pot back onto the stove. Either on high heat or moderate heat, dry out* the dough. Once the dough is dried out, stir in two tablespoons of egg and stir well. Do this until all the egg is incorporated. Add the cheese cubes and incorporate well. Use two tablespoons to shape the dough into little eggs and place them on the tray, about 4cm apart. The gougères will expand and puff up. |
*To dry out the dough, spread it out thoroughly on the bottom of the pot and then turn it over immediately. Repeat until the dough comes away easily from the sides of the pot, and does not stick to the spoon. Drying out the dough is an important step. Gougères made with “wet dough” will look nice and golden brown on the outside, but soft, doughy and uncooked on the inside.
Feel free to experiment with other cheeses like comté, Roquefort, feta, goat cheese etc. You can also add ham, olives, tomatoes. My tip is to cut up the ingredients into little cubes, so that the dough does not get weighed down. You want your gougères to puff up!
Comments
Oh, I was just thinking about making these, so thanks for the tips!
Posted by: Cin | August 22, 2006 03:08 AM
Hello Cindy: Have fun making gourgères! Will you use gruyère or other types of cheeses? Let me know... I'd love to know how your gougères turn out.
Posted by: LPC | August 22, 2006 11:22 AM
These looks absolutely fluffy and delicious!
So you're going to US? Don't forget to add Reeze's Peanut Butter Cups to add on your list :) - highly addictive! highly recommended!
Posted by: Mae | August 22, 2006 02:25 PM
Wow! Looks like you've been busy!! Your recipe looks great...might have a try myself...but i think you've forgotten to mention when and where we put in the cheese.
Posted by: Claudia | August 22, 2006 06:27 PM
Mae: Yes - very fluffy and very delicious... I know that I will have to make an extra batch the next time round.
Claudia: Thanks for the comment and for the heads-up! I've just added the cheese in... it's right after all the eggs are incorporated.
Posted by: LPC | August 22, 2006 07:15 PM