A Recipe For Gougeres

What is the french word for dentures?

Apéritifs.

Peering into the diary it is now less three months before I begin work again as a gastronomic cycling guide for DuVine Adventures. A summer of fine dinning and fine wine awaits while I lead cycling holidays in Burgundy and Champagne, but as I begin to ponder what lies ahead in the coming months it’s the simple moments of French life from last year that my memory has clung too.

The Sunday morning ‘Vide Grenier’ where a man can peruse tabels of unwanted treasure and leave with a prize. A cool glass of aligote to quench my thirst at the end of a days ride and perhaps a warm gougeres to nibble on. Made from ingredients that are almost always at home, these warm cheesy puffs make a perfect snack for any Apéritifs.

50g butter
250g flour
Large pinch of cayenne pepper
Large pinch of salt
250g grated comte (any hard cheese will do)
2 teaspoons fresh thyme leaves plus a little pinch for decoration
4 large eggs

1.Preheat oven to 400°. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Bring butter and 250ml water to a boil in a heavy saucepan. Remove from heat.

2. Add flour, cayenne, and salt; stir vigorously with a wooden spoon. Return to heat and stir vigorously over a low heat until mixture forms a sticky ball.

3. Transfer mixture to a blander. Add 1your cheese and thyme and blend with the blunt blade. Add 4 eggs, one at a time.

4. With two tea spoons scrape the mix onto the baking sheets in small rounds about an inch apart. Sprinkle with any remaining cheese and garnish with a few thyme leaves.

5. Bake gougères until puffed and golden brown and centers are cooked through but still moist, 20–25 minutes. Let cool slightly and serve.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, January 2nd, 2013 at 9:18 am and is filed under Bourgogne, Burgundy, Recipes. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed or trackback from your own site. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.