Gougeres

While preparing to host a small get together, I went looking for a quick, easy recipe for an appetizer and thought to look through Saveur Magazine's 101 Classic Recipes and came across this great recipe for Gougeres (Cheese Puffs). 

Ingredients:

1/2 cup milk
8 tbsp unsalted butter, cubed
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1 cup flour
4 eggs, at room temperature
6 oz Gruyere cheese, grated

I opted for Red Apple Cheese's Apple Smoked Gruyere rather than regular Gruyere.  I'm a fan of smokey flavor whenever possible and the cheese worked very well in the recipe.

After heating the oven to 425 degrees, I brought the milk, butter, salt and 1/2 cup of water to a boil in a 4 qt. saucepan over high heat.  Once boiling, I added the flour and reduced the heat to medium. 

I continued stirring and cooked until the dough had dried a bit more, about 2 minutes.

After transferring the dough to my trusty Kitchen-Aid stand mixer - I added an egg and mixed completely and repeated the steps with the eggs, mixing each completely before adding the next.  The dough was still very warm so I was concerned that I would end up with scrambled egg puffs, but the eggs didn't seem to curdle, or if they did they incorporated into the dough well enough that there were was no visible evidence of the eggs.

Following the addition of the eggs, I folded in the grated cheese (at least the remaining cheese that made it past the taste test phase).

The sticky dough didn't drop neatly - but I got there.  I used Silpat sheets as opposed to parchment paper - but in hindsight, parchment paper would have probably worked a little better.

Once the sheets are placed in the over, reduce the heat to 375 degrees and bake until golden brown - about 30 minutes. It is important to have an oven thermometer to make sure that your oven is at the correct temperature.  I neglected to turn the oven down from 425 degrees to 375 for the first five minutes of baking on the first set, which caused them to finish cooking after 20 minutes.  They were slightly burnt and a bit gooey on the inside.  The second set of trays were baked using the temps listed in the recipe and they turned out much better.  The puffs had a chewy crust that gave way to a terrific, slightly moist interior.  The closest food I could compare it to would be a great french cruller doughnut.  As for flavor, the Gruyere was not overpowering, rather an undertone and the puffs were not as salty as I had expected.

Gougeres - Schuler Version

It took about 15 minutes of prep and an hour of baking time (it would have been only 30 minutes if I had a few more baking sheets) to make the recipe (which yielded 30  puffs) and they were a hit with my guests.

While the final product was tasty - I'm looking forward to tinkering with the recipe a bit.  I can't wait to try the recipe with some extra sharp cheddar, some gouda or even provolone.  I'm also going to play with the addition of some herbs.  Maybe a provolone and chive cheese puff or a rosemary/asagio puff...mmmm...I'm drooling just thinking about it!

14 down, 87 to go!