Gougères by Dorie Greenspan and Julia Child

Crisp on the outside, still soft and airy on the inside,
Gougères (goo jher) are still one of my favorite appetizers.
Julia Child liked them too.

"Pâte à Choux is one of those quick, easy, and useful preparations like béchamel sauce which every cook should know how to make." Julia Child, Mastering the Art of French Cooking, 1961.

My first recipe for Gougère Puffs was printed in a January 1975 Apartment Living magazine in a article titled One-Handed Nibble #1 (no author noted)--not sure if they ever printed a nibble #2 or #3. The cheese puff balanced atop the model's 1970s manicured thumb, seemed like the perfect new appetizer for future parties. And they were French--always an excellent choice in the mid-70's.

Julia Child's cooking show The French Chef was popular on PBS, and she had just published a second less formal cookbook called Julia Child's Kitchen. Her first two books, Mastering the Art of French Cooking Volume I and Volume II, intimidated me and were too expensive for my budget. Instead, I borrowed a copy from the local library. When Julia suggested on page 175 of Volume 1, that her recipe for  pâte à choux was quick and easy; with 7 pages of detailed instructions, I decided to attempt what appeared to be the more user-friendly version.

Natural nails c1975 and a cheesy puff.

Not that I had fancy cocktail parties at all in 1975. A Texas girl living in New Jersey, most of my entertaining involved paper napkins and a buffet of sour cream based dips with potato chips or Ritz crackers, a cool copper chafing filled with Swedish or Italian meatballs, tiny cocktail wieners in barbecue sauce, or Polish sausage bites served with yellow mustard. I certainly didn't drink Burgundy wine or French champagne. I was more of a Lancer's Rose girl.

The recipe fit my entertaining style, my modest budget, and my novice cooking skills. All I needed was a small saucepan (check), a spoon (check), Swiss cheese (kind of a check), and an oven (check). The recipe called for natural Swiss cheese, which at the time, I assumed to mean the one with the big holes that we used for ham and cheese sandwiches--what the Swiss called Emmentaler. I would later learn that a true French gougère used aged Gruyère or Comté. But in 1975, I was just happy to find something other than sliced American yellow cheddar or shredded Parmesan cheese in a can on the spaghetti aisle.

Years later, after catering far too many cocktail parties, I learned to make a nice pâte à choux dough to create holiday croquembouche, sweet profiteroles, beignets, and churros. I moved on to more trendy appetizers: stuffed mushrooms, phyllo triangles filled with feta and spinach, a variety of mini quiche bites, and artful displays of seedless grapes rolled in Roquefort and chopped walnuts. So 80s, but so good. These past catering menus are a fun personal culinary journal, and like photos of my old hairstyles--they often make me chuckle. Seriously, who in their right mind stuffs a hundred snow peas?

Phyllo triangles were filled with spinach and feta cheese....
or if your budget allowed-lump crab meat or lobster!

Flash forward to 2010:

Dorie Greenspan was in Austin promoting her new book Around my French table. After attending her cooking class at Central Market, I signed up for the Twitter cook-along group--French Fridays with Dorie (#FFwD). A tiny bubble of energy, Dorie was full of stories about working with Julia Child and living and cooking in France--you just couldn't help but like her. The quirky hair cut, funky librarian glasses, glowing skin, signature neck scarf, and long apron, all made you wish you could some day keep it all that simple......and still look so modern and cool!

Dorie in her trademark glasses, apron, and scarf at Central Market in Austin.

FFwD's first recipe selection was gougères. As I beat flour into melted butter and milk, added room temperature eggs one by one, using my stand mixer instead of a wooden spoon, a beautiful, glossy and sticky dough (pâte à choux) emerged. Finished off with a handful of freshly grated aged Gruyère cheese, I was reminded of just how much I had enjoyed making and eating these savory tidbits.

A tray of cheesy gougère puffs hot from the oven.

My most recent preparation with added crispy fried pancetta, formed and ready for the freezer.

I like to play with the ingredients now: maybe adding freshly grated Parmesan Reggiano cheese or a smokey American cheddar instead of gruyère; perhaps a handful of crispy Italian pancetta or maple-flavored bacon; or just a pinch of cayenne for a little heat. I never seem to tire of preparing them. The stand-mixer's ease of preparation, instead of the tedious beating with a wooden spoon, might also make a difference.

Living in Texas, I have to "fiddle" with the recipe for an AusTex-Mex version: fresh minced jalapeno or serrano chiles, bits of chorizo, maybe an aged Manchego cheese and just a touch of chipotle peppers in adobe sauce for interest, all brushed with egg white and dusted with chopped pepitas--now how bad could that be?

These cheesy puffs are hard to resist hot out of the oven, even without a glass of wine.

Gougères
Recipe by Dorie Greenspan
Makes about 3 dozen

Follow these step-by-step directions. 

Heat oven to 425°F. Adjust racks in oven into thirds.

Bring milk, salt, and water to a boil in a heavy-bottomed pan over high heat.
Add flour all at once, lower the heat to medium-low and stir constantly
until dough comes together and a light crust starts to form on the bottom of the pan.
Keep stirring for a few minutes until the dough becomes smooth and shiny.
This all happens quickly.

Place the warm dough in a stand mixer with a paddle.
You can also beat by hand with a wooden spoon.

Start beating the dough on medium for a minute just to cool it down a bit.
You want to incorporate the eggs--not cook them.

Start adding room temperature eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition.
Dough will break apart and look like this--don't panic!

Keep beating dough and adding in eggs.

Last egg in and the dough begins to come back together.

Don't be afraid to beat the dough--the air you incorporate
will create puffy pockets within the cooked gougère.

The dough will become shiny, golden, and quite sticky after the last egg is added.

Cook pancetta, if using, and drain on paper towel.

Add the cheese, and pancetta, if using.

A quick stir and dough is ready for baking or freezing.

The dough is beautiful, even before it is baked.
Use spring-loaded ice cream scoop sprayed with Pam, two spoons or a piping bag to make rounds.
This tray is ready for the freezer. When frozen, they will be placed
in an airtight container for future baking.

To bake, turn pre-heated oven down to 375°F.
Place puffs on a parchment or Silpat lined baking sheet, at least 2" apart.
Bake for 12 minutes.
Rotate the pans from front to back and top to bottom.
Continue baking for another 12-15 minutes (add a few more minutes if frozen).
Gougères are done when a deep golden all over, firm, and puffed.  

Wish you could smell these goodies!
Watch carefully.
You want them golden all over, not just on the tops,
or they will deflate when you take them out.
Serve warm.

Enjoy and  Happy 2013!

Dorie's recipe for gougères is in the first chapter of Around My French Table, titled nibbles and hors d'ouevres. You can also find the recipe and learn more about Dorie on her blog.