GOUGERES WITH PECANS
Gougeres, French cheese puffs, are hard to beat when it comes to a tasty hors d’oeuvre to accompany cocktails or aperitifs. They are easy to prepare and very convenient if you have freezer space. I like to serve some and freeze some of the scooped dough on a parchment-lined baking sheet to bake and serve at a later time. I freeze them and then pop them into a zipper-style plastic bag and put them back in the freezer. This recipe is augmented with chopped pecans, which adds pleasing richness to the gougeres. Its source is “Everyday Dorie” by Dorie Greenspan (Houghton Mifflin, $35). Greenspan notes that her formula has a structural tweak. Instead of the usually 5 eggs used to make the dough, she uses 4 plus a white, a change that makes the puffs sturdier. In addition, she uses a small cookie scoop to form the puffs, a timesaving tip.
Yield: 55 to 65 small gougeres
INGREDIENTS
1⁄2 cup whole milk
1⁄2 cup water
4ounces (1stick) butter, cut into 4 pieces
1 1⁄4 teaspoons salt
1 cup all-purpose flour
4 large eggs, room temperature 1 large egg white, room temperature
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard 2cups coarsely grated cheese, such as Gruyere, Comte, or sharp cheddar
2⁄3 cup pecans, chopped
PROCEDURE
1. Position oven racks to divide oven into thirds and preheat it to 425degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone mats.
2. Bring the milk, water, butter and salt to a boil in medium saucepan over high heat, stirring to melt butter. Add flour all at once, lower the heat to medium and immediately start stirring energetically with a heavy spoon or whisk. The dough will form a ball and there’ll probably be a light film on the bottom of the pan. Keep stirring another 2minutes or so to dry the dough: Dry dough will make puffy puffs.
3. Transfer dough to bowl of stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or work by hand in a large bowl with a wooden spoon and elbow grease). Let the dough sit for a minute, then add eggs one by one, followed by the white, beat until each one is incorporated before adding the next. The dough may look as through it is falling apart — just keep going and by the time the white goes in, the dough will be beautiful. Beat in mustard, followed by the cheese and pecans. Give the dough a last mix-through by hand.
4. Using a small cookie scoop (1 1⁄2-teaspoon size), scoop out dough (leave some extra dough on top of the scooped dough, don’t level it off) and place scooped dough on parchment lined baking sheets, leaving 2-inch spaces between them. I often find that it makes as many as 70 small gougeres.
5. Place baking sheets in preheated oven and immediately lower heat to 375 degrees. Bake 12 minutes. Rotate pans from front to back, top to bottom. Continue baking until gougeres are puffed, golden brown and firm enough to pick up, about 10 to 15 minutes. Keep an eye on them because sometimes they take as little as 8minutes of additional baking in my oven. Serve immediately if possible, or at room temperature.
Source: Adapted from “Everyday Dorie” by Dorie Greenspan (Houghton Mifflin, $35)