Cheddar-Chive Gougeres by Tori Ritchie

Cheddar-Chive Gougères
by Tori Ritchie
from Party Appetizers: Small Bites, Big Flavor
(Chronicle, 2004)
Makes about 15 servings (40 to 50 gougères)

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Making pâte á choux was one of the first things I learned in cooking school, and I've had the pastry formula rattling around in my head ever since. When flavored with cheese and baked, it puffs into addictive gougère. The French tend to make theirs with Gruyère, I use Cheddar, and either way they beg to be eaten with Pinot Noir. For parties. I make one-bite gougères and people tend to eat 3 or 4. You can also split these and fill them with chicken, ham, or lobster salad for substantial hors d'oeuvres.


convert		Ingredients
1 cup		water
8 tablespoons		unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1/2 teaspoon		salt
1 cup		all-purpose flour
4 large		eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons		dry mustard
1/4 teaspoon		cayenne pepper
1 1/2 cups (about 6 ounces)		shredded sharp Cheddar cheese
2 tablespoons		minced fresh chives

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Method

1. Preheat the oven to 375°F (190°C). Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.

2. Put the water, butter, and salt in a medium, heavy saucepan and place over medium-high heat. Cook, swirling the pan a few times until the butter melts; once it has melted, increase the heat to high and bring the mixture to a rolling boil. Turn off the heat and dump in the flour. Beat the mixture with a wooden spoon until it starts to pull away from the sides of the pan.

3. Take the pan off the stove, set it on a counter or hot pad, and let it cool, without stirring, for 5 minutes.

4. Now, work in the eggs, 1 at a time, beating the mixture well with the spoon after each addition (you have to put some muscle into it to incorporate the eggs fully). With each addition, the dough should look glossy and slick at first, then stick to the sides of the pan before you add the next egg. After beating in the last egg, beat in the dry mustard and cayenne, then the cheese and chives.

5. Scoop up a heaping teaspoon of dough and with another spoon, push it off onto the paper-lined baking sheet (it should form a mound about 1 inch in diameter). Continue with the remaining dough, leaving an inch of space between the gougères (work in batches as necessary, the dough can stand, covered with buttered waxed paper or parchment, for up to 1/2 hour).

6. Bake until the gougères are puffy and light golden, about 25 minutes, switching pan positions halfway through. Remove from oven and let cool slightly before serving, or turn off oven and let gougères remain in oven, with door ajar, for up to 1 hour.

Reviews

[Leanne Abe] Addictive is an understatement! I could eat half this recipe all by myself (and nearly did). I've been wanting to make something like this, and this was the perfect excuse. I found it simple and easy to make, fairly quick, and extremely tasty. I like how the bits of cheese on the outside get crispy.

[Mary Capps] I cannot recommend this recipe highly enough. It was incredibly easy to make and so tasty that my husband and I spent part of the evening discussing all the different things we could do with these. Using Gruyère instead of cheddar is our next experiment.

[Dan Kraan] These tasty bites are hard to leave alone once you start eating them. They didn't last long enough to think about filling them!

[Vicki Ventura] I thought this recipe was new and interesting. The instructions were great and easy to follow, and the results were light and fluffy appetizers that I would love to serve with one of the meat/seafood fillings recommended. Can't wait to try it for a new and fancy party appetizer for our happy-hour group!