It is Tuesdays with Dorie, or as Lenny liked to call it, lovingly, of course, Tuesday with the Devil; because there were too many delicious baked treats at home. Now we have French Fridays with Dorie. You see I love her book Baking From My Home to Yours because every recipe is always right now and comes out perfectly. It is the bible of baking as far as I am concerned. I have this warm feeling in my soul that her newest book Around My French Table will be just as great as her other one.
The day the book arrived, the first thought besides, what to make, was “I wonder if anyone will start a virtual cooking club such as TWD”. I tossed around the idea of maybe I should; but, then schedules, work, traveling, started clouding over those thoughts. I was so excited when I saw a little tweet out there that Laurie had started French Fridays with Dorie and I was even more excited to read that there was not the “participation rule” (you see I got the boot out of TWD as my work (and hips) schedule was not allowing me to bake at least 2 – 4 times a month).
Gougeres are basically a cream puff, similar to the Les Chouquettes I love to make for breakfast; but they are savory. I have made them many times as they are the perfect small bite with a nice glass of Floc or Champagne before dinner. I normally add a bit of dijon or maybe a little fresh cracked black pepper along with whatever cheese I have on hand. This time I made them exactly as Dorie specifies in her book with lots of Gruyere or cheddar; I used Gruyere. I tossed around the idea of cutting the recipe in half as it said it would make 36 (which it did); but, decided to just go for it. Glad I did as Lenny had the first batch finished before dinner was on the table. I served the puffs with dinner as we were having soup and I wanted something different from the stand in a warm loaf of bread. The Gruyere Gougeres were the perfect companion with a warm bowl of butternut squash soup.
Don’t be afraid to make this small little bite known as the Gougere. They are easy to make and Dorie makes them even easier, you don’t have to stand over a stove, beating in your eggs by hand; her recipe has you using your trusty mixer. What are you waiting for, whip up a batch this weekend?
Gougeres
Ingredients
1/2 cup whole milk
1/2 cup water
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into 4 pieces
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup all-purpose flour
5 large eggs, at room temperature
1 1/2 cups coarsely grated Gruyère or cheddar
How To
Sneh Roy
Monday 11th of October 2010
Stunning looking things! I have not made these before but am going to. They'll go well with soup I reckon!
Dana
Tuesday 5th of October 2010
Glad to know the book is a keeper. I had a love/hate relationship with the big baking book and ended up giving it away. I didn't feel like her stuff always turned out. But I certainly trust your taste and will give this book a look. I love making gougeres because they seem so fancy but are actually so easy. Yours are beautiful!
jayne
Tuesday 5th of October 2010
I loved the book, too, right away. So glad to be cooking my way through it with everyone. Your gougeres look fantastic!
dorie
Saturday 2nd of October 2010
Denise, I'm thrilled that you've joined ffwd and hope that Lenny will now stop thinking of me as the devil : - )
Your gougeres are so beautiful -- they almost look like you snipped the tops, the way brioches are sometimes snipped. Lovely.
Renee (Kudos Kitchen)
Saturday 2nd of October 2010
I think you gougeres look picture perfect. Well done.