Bayonne Gougere Food

FRENCH CHEESE PUFFS (GOUGERES)

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 220°C / 425°F (200°C fan). Lightly grease 2 trays then line with parchment / baking paper.
• Place water, butter and salt in a saucepan over medium high heat. Bring to a boil until butter is full melted.
• Remove from stove, add flour, salt, pepper and nutmeg. Mix until incorporated.
• Return to stove on LOW heat and mix for 1 minute (this dries the mixture out, see video for before/after).
• Remove from stove, leave for 2 minutes.
• Add 1 egg, mix vigorously until incorporated - batter splits at first, but it always comes together!
• Add 3 more eggs, one at a time, mixing until incorporated before adding the next. Good arm workout! (Or use electric beater)
• Stir in 2 cups cheese.
• Drop 1 tablespoon mounds onto trays (small cookie scoop is ideal, otherwise use a measuring tablespoon and a teaspoon to scrape out. Can make larger - good for dunking!)
• Brush with yolk, then top with a pinch of reserved Cheese for topping.
• Bake 25 minutes.
• Allow to cool for 15 minutes so they become crusty and inside dries out a bit.
• Serve warm as pre dinner nibbles, finger food at gatherings, or dunk into soups and stews!

GOUGERE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Grease a 9-inch pie pan. Put the milk, butter, salt, pepper, and nutmeg in a large, heavy saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring frequently, until the butter has melted and the mixture comes to a full boil.
• Take the saucepan off the heat and add in the flour all at once, stirring hard with a wooden spoon. Return the pan to the heat. Stir vigorously and constantly for 2 to 3 minutes, until the mixture comes away from the sides of the pan. This recipe will give you good arm muscles. (There are recipes for making gougere in a food processor, but that involves a lot of sticky cleanup. A saucepan and spoon are actually easier in the long run.)
• Take the pan off the heat again (this time, turn off the burner). Beat the eggs, 1 at a time, into the hot dough, stirring vigorously after each addition until the egg is completely incorporated and the dough is smooth. The dough will be very stiff and thick. Beat in the Parmesan cheese. Fold in chopped ham.
• Scrape/pour the dough into the prepared pie pan. Brush with the egg-water mixture and sprinkle with the extra Parmesan cheese, if desired. Bake for 50 minutes without once opening the oven door. The gougere should be quite brown and puffy. Without taking it out of the oven, make a few slashes in the top with a sharp knife; this will let out some of the steam in the center and help the gougere stay puffy once it's out of the oven. Bake for 10 more minutes. Serve the gougere hot, at room temperature, or cold.

GOUGERES

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
• In a small mixing bowl, add the grated cheese and plenty of freshly cracked black pepper to the half-recipe of pate a choux. With a rubber spatula, scoop the pate a choux into the pastry bag and pipe out approximately 25 (1-inch) rounds, spaced 1 to 2 inches apart on the parchment paper-lined baking sheet. Brush lightly with the beaten egg and place in the oven. Cook until golden and puffed, about 25 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool briefly on a baking rack. Serve hot or at room temperature.
• In a small saucepan over high heat, bring the water, salt, sugar, and butter to a boil, making sure the butter is completely melted. Off the heat, add the flour all at once and beat vigorously with a wooden spoon. Return to the heat and continue beating until the dough forms a solid, smooth mass and pulls away from the sides of the saucepan. Take off the heat and empty the dough into a clean mixing bowl. Little by little add the beaten eggs, beating vigorously in between each addition, until the dough forms a smooth, supple mass. Divide the dough into 2 even quantities, 1 part to be used for the gougeres, the other for profiteroles.

GOUGERES

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.
• Heat the milk and butter in a medium-large saucepan over medium-high heat. When the mixture simmers and the butter is melted, add the flour all at once and stir. Add the salt and pepper. Reduce heat to medium and stir for 1 to 2 minutes to dry the mixture out. Turn off heat and stir a bit more to cool slightly.
• Add the eggs 1 at a time, beating well to incorporate each egg before adding the next. Stir in the cheese, mustards, and cayenne and mix until smooth. Transfer the mixture to a pastry bag with a large plain tip.
• Pipe the mixture onto to a parchment paper-lined cookie sheet in rows of kisses, about 1- inch in diameter.
• Smooth out any bumps with a fingertip dipped in flour.
• (The recipe can be made to this point up to 8 hours in advance and refrigerated, or frozen for up to a week. Thaw at room temperature before baking.)
• Bake for 10 minutes. Reduce the heat to 375 degrees F and continue baking until golden brown, about 8 to 10 minutes more.