Sunday, January 8, 2023

Gougeres aka Cheese Puffs @LucyBurdette

 



LUCY BURDETTE: This is a recipe from Dorie Greenspan (since I mentioned how I admire her yesterday,) although I think the same directions can be found in many cookbooks, from Mastering the Art of French Cooking all the way to The Joy of Cooking. I remember my mother making these puffs for parties. She was a plain cook, but this was one of her fancy company dishes. She would stuff them with tuna fish or maybe shrimp salad and serve them as hors d’oeuvres. Hayley Snow's mother Janet also served puffs like this at a funeral reception in A DISH TO DIE FOR.


Mom with party food


There are so many ways to riff on this recipe, but I decided to make this simple for the first time. But they turned out so well that I will definitely be making again, probably leaving out the cheese so I can serve them as profiteroles (stuffed with ice cream and drizzled with hot fudge sauce.)


Dorie makes a double batch of these and freezes half of them before baking to have on hand for drop in visitors. She is a consummate entertainer!





Ingredients


1/2 cup whole milk

1/2 cup water

8 tablespoons unsalted butter

1/2 teaspoon fine salt

1 cup all purpose flour

Five large eggs, room temperature

1 1/2 cups a.k.a. 6 ounces coarsely grated cheese (Gruyere is traditional but cheddar or other cheese is fine too)


Preheat your oven to 425 and line 2 baking sheets with parchment.


In a medium pan, bring the milk water salt and butter to a rapid boil. Turn the heat down and add the flour all at once and stir vigorously for a few minutes. 






At this point, you can either move the batter to a KitchenAid mixer with a paddle attachment, or try using an old fashioned mixer, or mix by hand (as I did.) Add the eggs one at a time and beat well until each egg is incorporated into the dough. 




Beat in the grated cheese.





Scoop the dough into rounds on the prepared baking sheets. (A cookie scooper is perfect for this job.) You want about a tablespoon of dough for each puff, leaving 2 inches between the puffs so they can rise in the oven.





Slide the trays into the oven, turn the temperature down to 375. Bake for 12 minutes, then rotate the pans top to bottom and back to front. Bake for another 12 to 15 minutes until the puffs are golden.





Served hot or at room temperature and watch them leap off the plate!


Do you have a go-to, standby appetizer recipe for friends and parties?

86 comments:

  1. These look absolutely delicious, Lucy . . . thanks for sharing the recipe.

    The usual request around here is for bacon deviled eggs, baked potato dip [sour cream, shredded cheese, chives, crumbled bacon . . . mix together, dip warm waffle fries] so I guess those are our go-to appetizers . . . .

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    1. BAKED POTATO DIP??? What? I am swooning. Can you tell us more?

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    2. Here are the details, Hank:
      Mix together: two cups sour cream . . . two cups shredded cheddar cheese . . . 1/3 cup fresh chives, minced . . . eight strips of bacon, cooked and crumbled. [If you like, you can add a teaspoon or two of hot sauce. I never do this; instead, I sprinkle in a bit of freshly ground white pepper.]
      Refrigerate the dip while you bake or air fry the waffle fries; let them cool slightly so you can pick them up and dunk them into the dip.
      Enjoy!

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  2. These sound fantastic, Lucy. Thank you for the recipe.

    My family tends to go overboard on party food but a must-have is Nacho Dip. Layers of refried beans and a sour cream/taco seasoning/taco sauce/lemon juice mixture topped with cheese and tomato, onions and or black olives. Super easy and certain relatives have been known to pull up a chair to the tray and chow down.

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  3. These look and sound soooo delicious. I suppose my go to party dish for years has been samosas, an Indian savory: potato stuffed with spices and deep fried. Can't make them again, though, until our shipping arrives next month. We are cooking with a bare minimum of cookware and dishware. :-(

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    1. I made those a long time ago from one of the Moosewood cookbooks. I remember them as a lot of work, so we will let you bring them to our party!

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    2. Elizabeth, we love Samosas. They can be prepared in so many different ways and I always order them when they are on the menu. My one attempt was a fail, but I think I just need a different recipe. Hmm

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    3. Judy, I recommend Madhur Joffrey's vegetarian cookbook. Her directions are failsafe, which gave me courage to take the plunge.

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    4. My daughter's housekeeper in Nairobi made a batch of beef samosas for us. They were in the freezer, ready to microwave in one minute, when we were hungry for a snack. So good!

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    5. Kit and Charlotte make samosas in A KILLING OF INNOCENTS. I had a lot of fun reading recipes but have never tried making them myself.

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    6. Deborah, I'll check out A Killing of Innocents for sure. Lucy, you'd be surprised: they aren't as much work as they look in the cookbook. And Madhur Jaffrey makes directions so clear.

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  4. Yummy! I made a big batch of Chex mix over the holidays, and yesterday made another. It would be a fun thing to dish out for a party (and is a relatively healthy snack food).

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  5. My mother used to make the cheese puffs as she called them, and if you were late to the table you might not get one! Sometimes she would make a few that were bigger like a burger 🍔 bun and had tuna salad in them.Thank you for the recipe. I am so happy to have it! Maureen

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    1. You're welcome! They do go fast. I loved the ones that had shrimp salad inside...

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    3. They are so delicious with shrimp salad. I have a vague memory of eating those at the Neiman-Marcus cafe in downtown Dallas, when it was run by Helen Corbitt.

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  6. YUM! I usually make several dips to eat with crudites & tortilla chips; guacamole, roasted red pepper and/or hummus. So easy.

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    1. I love both of those Grace, but I'm never satisfied with my own hummus...

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    2. I use plenty of good quality tahini & a squeeze of fresh lemon juice to make the hummus really tasty.

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  7. We have hosted many parties that were just appetizers and desserts. In that case (we are Kosher style at home), I make a hot artichoke cheese dip that is divine, baked brie with almonds, a grilled eggplant and olive pate/tapanada (that is the biggest "patchkeri" in the world) and usually a vegan soup like Sweet Potato-Apple. I am definitely adding your cheese puffs to this menu, Lucy!!

    If the menu has meat, then all the dairy items cannot be included so I sometimes make sweet and sour meatballs, sometimes latkes, and almost always grilled tuna steak, sliced thin and served with homemade horse radish sauce. Appetizers are a big deal at my parties.

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    1. I forgot, I often make my own tapenade. Yum!

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    2. Sweet potato-apple soup sounds wonderful!

      DebRo

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    3. Deb, glad to share recipe 😀
      Facebook message me your email and I'll send it.

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    4. Baked Brie was my go to over the holidays. So yummy. And with cranberry relish on top! Rhys

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    5. Judy, your appetizers sound fantastic. I'd come to your parties anytime!

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    6. It all sounds delicious, Judy. I love appetizers for dinner. Or lunch. Or anytime.

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  8. Roberta, I saw your post as I was seating to eat my raspberries and yogourt. I immediately thought how good it would be to have two of your cheese puffs to complete my breakfast.
    I no longer receive large groups of people only a couple ones at a time and I don’t serve appetizers.
    I’m finding that the appetizers cut off the appetite for the meal.
    When I did, it was like Grace, vegetables and chips with dips.
    Danielle

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    1. yes it does seem like appetizers can defeat the purpose of having dinner--unless, like Judy, you do all apps and forget about the dinner:)

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  9. They are beautiful and fancy! Thanks for sharing the recipe!

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  10. oh so good/ thank you Lucy/Roberta. I notice parchment paper is back in a lot of recipes. Do you know why it is an item again?

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    1. Coralee, I use parchment paper to line pans. The ones I buy from the King Arthur Co. are already sized for a regular baking sheet so it is very convenient. I prefer parchment to foil to line the pans although I use them in a pinch.
      Lucy, the cheese puffs look beautiful and not too difficult!

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    2. I use parchment paper for everything--sheet pan dinners, cakes, toasted cheese--clean up is so much easier.

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    3. I use parchment paper for loads of things, but especially for wrapping bread from our fabulous bakery before freezing portions in ziplocks.

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  11. Oh, they look yummy. I've printed the recipe for later use. Thank you!

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    1. Oops - I forgot to mention that my go-to appetizers are my mom's hot crab dip (very retro from the 1950s) and a marinated cheese recipe.

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    2. We can serve that with my retro Chex mix!

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    3. We could have a retro party. Who makes a good Jello mold??????? My mom had a great carrot pineapple one in orange Jello. That recipe has been lost in time.

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    4. Kait, I have a recipe for a blueberry Jello mold with a sweetened sour cream topping that is extraordinary!

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  12. Thanks for sharing, Lucy! This time I'm copying the recipe. Always looking for something new to try. I like that these can be savory or sweet. Lately our go-to appetizer is a hot artichoke-spinach dip served with assorted crackers or pitas.

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  13. Yum! That looks so good, Lucy! Another lifetime ago I was able to eat these yummy scones. Cannot eat dairy nor wheat anymore. Now I bake gluten free versions of banana bread.

    Diana

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    1. I made some very good gluten-free cornbread recently, though it did have yogurt in it. You have a challenge!

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    2. Lucy, too true. I had doughnut and Italian pastries at a party this weekend. I took severe sinus medicine when I arrived home to try to ward off the sinus 🤞🤞. We will find out when I wake up tomorrow morning!

      Diana

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  14. Roberta, did you use this recipe for a Mystery Lovers Kitchen post? It sounds familiar, and I may have made it once. Pre-Covid, but I can't recall anything else, like what occasion it was for. Maybe Thanksgiving.

    Last spring I made an incredible app from chickpeas and harissa, for a dinner we hosted for everyone who contributed to Steve's film project. It was a hot dish, served with pita triangles, and was a huge hit.

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    1. That sounds delicious. Karen, we need to establish a recipe exchange!!

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    2. Yes it was on MLK Karen. And your dip sounds fabulous...

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    3. I thought I bookmarked the recipe, but may have lost the link. I'll try to see if I made a .doc file of it.

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    4. The recipe is on the Washington Post website. https://www.washingtonpost.com/recipes/baked-hummus/18224/

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  15. For many years I made a Raw Radish Sauce. Finely chopped radishes, cream cheese, garlic, dried dill, lemon, salt and pepper. Serve with veggies. But it is really thicker than a sauce, so I often add sliced a baguette.

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    1. I'm crazy for radishes, so this appeals to me too!

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    2. This sounds delish, and I have a big bunch of radishes from yesterday's market.

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  16. These look superb! And BTW, happy birthday!

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  17. Gougeres! A blast from the past... I used to make them when we'd have friends over for drinks... we lived in an apartment building so it made sense. So delicious.

    Deanna's raw radish sauce looks fabulous. I do like cream cheese (or sour cream) mixed with almost anything.

    In warm weather I like to put out an antipasto platter -- grilled red pepper and grilled thin slices of zucchini/eggplant drizzled with olive oil and sliced aged provolone and prosciutto and italian salami and tomatoes -- served with a loaf of french bread sliced thing and toasted. Slices of cantaloups the side. Let everyone make their own.

    If I'm ambitious I mix up chopped tomatoes and chopped olives and chopped smoked salmon and basil and mozzarella and oil and vinegar and let people ladle it onto that posted bread. It's a lot of advance prep but easy peasy to serve.

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    1. Yes, got to agree! Anything with cream cheese or sour cream works. Once i had some leftover grilled salmon, and I crumbled it with chives and sour cream and cc, and whoa. Delish.

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    2. I can remember eating your antipasto Hallie--wonderful meal!

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    3. Steve is really talented at smoking fish, so if we have some I'll serve it with crackers and dill mayo with a bit of lemon stirred in. So good.

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    4. Karen, smoked fish dip is one of my very favorite things. Caroline Todd loved it, too, and we always looked for it on restaurant menus.

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    5. There's a marvelous bluefish paté that comes from Legal Seafoods--I could never duplicate it, but wow..

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  18. OH, those look GREAT! I am looking at all your recipes..yum! I often (in the before-times) have a whole brie with fig jelly--I know it seems unlikely but its fabulous. More than the sum of the parts.

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    1. I've made baked brie in puff pastry with cherries, pecans, and honey--so good. But yours is so simple and I can almost taste it...

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    2. Hank, I serve brie with a fig-orange spread. Delish.

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  19. Lucy, thank you for the recipe and great photos! I love gougeres and somehow never thought of making them. Now I am inspired. (And someone in my house would be thrilled to have them with ice cream and choc sause) Go-to appetizers? Not anymore. One of the things pandemic took was socializing. And our get-together style was always casual anyway. I love appetizers, personally, and have recipes for an elegant alternate life I don't actually have. BUT. On a hot summer night, nothing beats meal than a Mediterranean cold plate - dips like humus and tarama and tsatsiki; : olives; cheese; bread. Appetizers for supper!

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    1. I love that, recipes for an alternate life that doesn't exist:)

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  20. Gougeres! That brings back a happy memory. My granddaughter and her mom were in Houston, down from Ohio to tour the culinary school Julianna wanted to attend. We were invited into to one of the labs where the students had just baked gougeres and other treats with the choux pastry. The chef invited us to help ourselves. Everyone was so relaxed and happy and I knew this would be a good school.
    As for an appetizer little mushrooms stuffed with cream cheese or herbed goat cheese is always good. Pop out the stem, put some cheese in, sprinkle with garlic powder or parmesan cheese, and bake until nice and hot. My guacamole is simple: avocados mashed up, lime juice, and seasoning. Sometimes it's Lawry's seasoned salt, sometime Trader Joe's chili lime.

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  21. I've kind of forgotten how to entertain the last couple of years! But I love putting out fancy cheese boards with fig spreads, Marcona almonds, olives, etc. Hummus with veggies. And of course here in Texas you cannot miss with guacamole.

    PS I could just live on Hallie's antipasto spread. Who needs dinner?

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  22. Ooooh, I do love me some profiteroles :) These look amazing, Lucy. The baker in me is very inspired.

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  23. Ah, oui, les gougeres! A favorite at the small boulangerie/patisserie I visit in Noyers, Burgundy, although they make them large enough to make a single one a good companion to a bowl of soup. Bonus: the plate is the sane pattern as the one I had and still have some pieces of. Merci!

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  24. These look so good, Lucy, and I love the picture of your mother at one of her parties! She seems like a woman I really would have enjoyed knowing.

    My mom also made little puff pastries for entertaining - I recall hers filled with something like chicken in gravy in winter and chicken salad in summer. Food trends - they're not just for the Instagram era!

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  25. This recipe looks delicious, Lucy, but tell me...how do you afford to add 5 eggs to any recipe these days? LOL!

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  26. Kait, my mother also used to make hot crab dip--that's a great memory. I wonder what we used to dip in it? Maybe small triangles of toast? Lucy, the cheese puffs sound wonderful, and I'm going to give them a try. As for me, I do prunes wrapped in bacon (sometimes with an almond stuffed in the prune) and very often hummus with toasted pieces of pita.

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  27. Lucy, these sound and look so delicious! And, I like that they don't seem too hard to make. Something I was going to serve as a treat for Christmas, before my Covid canceled it, were Cranberry Brie Bites (Rhys, I see you like cranberry and brie, too). Here's the recipe link. https://www.delish.com/cooking/recipe-ideas/a56610/cranberry-brie-bites-recipe/

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  28. Ooh yum! Am going to make these!

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