If Dorie Greenspan thinks that just because she publishes a souped up, fancy schmancy, new and improved recipe for gourgeres I’m going to kick her oldest recipe for gourgeres the curb, well, she has another thing coming. (“My Newest Gourgeres”, page 8, “Everyday Dorie: The Way I Cook”)
No ma’am. I am way too loyal to her classic recipe! I won’t turn my back on the faithful, classic recipe I fell in love with just because some shiny new version comes to town and winks at me while showing me her ample poufs.
Oh, and wink at me these newest gourgeres do! Who knew that younger-model gourgeres would be the temptresses they are? Ms. Greenspan certainly knows how to turn on her savory wiles and seduce even the most resistant gourgeres monogamist. With only a few bumps and grinds to the original recipe she had me forgetting all about the commitment I made to her original recipe.
FACT: Dorie has been turning my head for eight years now! It is this history together which causes such conflict when confronted with these sexy newest gourgeres. How can anyone resist these delicious, sexy, flavorful mouthfuls of pleasure? How does one stay faithful to one’s first love when the honeymoon is over?
My Newest Gourgeres – Everyday Dorie
This week I’m jumping back into this blog, albeit temporarily. It was eight years ago this month that a group of bloggers began to cook their way through Dorie Greenspan’s masterpiece, “Around My French Table”, one recipe at a time, one week at a time. And even though I was much too young and immature to make such a long-term commitment, I exchanged vows, pledged my troth, then proceeded to cook my way through the entire book with my fellow several dozen Doristas. That relationship ended a couple of years ago. (Crickets here at sisboomblog.com since then.)
Guess what? With the publication of Dorie’s new book the Doristas are at it again! I won’t be joining them with any regularity (I’m still on blog haitus!) I will, however, pop in from time to time and cheer them on.
Yup, Miss Gourgeres was the first serious relationship I had from the original book. I will never forget her. So infatuated I committed the recipe to memory just so I could impress my future guests and/or housemates with some nonexistent au pif kitchen skillz. My effortless pouf cooking in front of family and friends was more just a well rehearsed show than an exercise in sprezzatura! Shhhh….
Now, to be fair, after several years of making the same exact recipe each time, every time, time after time, my eyes did start to stray as looked for more excitement in the appetizer kitchen. Like Dorie, I too began tinkering with the classic recipe hoping to add some zing back into our all-too-predictable relationship. A healthy dose of freshly cracked pepper or a handful of chopped up green onions would provide just enough zing and keep things in the bedroo, er, kitchen new and fresh.
Oh sure, I would cat around with these new flavors, but I would always end up coming back to the tried and true waiting for me at home. Thats just how I am.
And truth be told, Dorie never actually said these were ‘new and improved‘. She only said they were ‘her newest’. Doesn’t this imply Dorie catted around a bit more than just this one updated recipe? These newest gourgeres of hers are very much like her oldest gourgeres in that I can’t resist eating all of them.
Dorie must also know that I am an easy mark for this particular recipe. Yup, I am a gourgeres slut, for I don’t believe I have ever met a gourgeres I wouldn’t make a promise to and take into my mouth.
The recipe makes approximately 60 lovelies so you would think that would last for several cocktail parties, but, um, no. Don’t plan on that. I ate them all. I baked up only 30 and froze the remaining per her recipe instructions – it was the smartest thing I ever did. Its always good to have a pouf waiting for you on the side. I’ll cook the others up at a later time when I feel the need for something new and unfamiliar again.
My Newest Gourgeres – Everyday Dorie
For her ‘newest’ Ms. Greenspan removes one egg white from the original recipe to “improve the structure” and she adds some dijon mustard to amp up the flavor of the cheese. She throws in a good splash of chopped walnuts to give some crunch and a nice compliment to the gruyere. As only a walnut can.
And because I was trying on my Dorista apron for the first time in years I settled right into character by adding my own twist to these newest gourgeres — I tossed in a pinch of Dories’s signature pimente d’espelette.
I somehow think Dorie would approve of that touch.
Gougeres are French cheese puffs based on a classic dough called pâte à choux (the dough used for cream puffs), and it’s a testament to their goodness that I’m still crazy about them after all these years and after all the thousands that I’ve made. Twenty or so years ago, when my husband and I moved to Paris, I decided that gouge?res would be the nibble I’d have ready for guests when they visited. Regulars chez moi have come to expect them.
Over the years, I’ve made minor adjustments to the recipe’s ingredients, flirting with different cheeses, different kinds of pepper and different spices. The recipe is welcoming. This current favorite has a structural tweak: Instead of the usual five eggs in the dough, I use four, plus a white — it makes the puff just a tad sturdier. In addition, I’ve downsized the puffs, shaping them with a small cookie scoop. And I’ve added Dijon mustard to the mix for zip and a surprise — walnuts.
My secret to being able to serve guests gouge?res on short notice is to keep them in the freezer, ready to bake. Scoop the puffs, freeze them on a parchment- lined baking sheet or cutting board and then pack them airtight. You can bake them straight from the oven; just give them a couple more minutes. of heat.
This is what you will need:
- 1/2 cup whole milk
- 1/2 cup water
- 1 stick unsalted butter
- 1 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1 cup all purpose flour
- 4 large eggs, at room temperature
- 1 large egg white, at room temperature
- 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard (preferably French)
- 2 cups coarsely grated cheese such as Compté, Gruyère cheese or sharp cheddar
- 2/3 cup walnuts or pecans lightly toasted and chopped
This is how you make it:
- Position the racks to divide the oven into thirds and preheat it to 425 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.
- Bring the milk, water, butter and salt to a boil over high heat in a medium saucepan. Add the flour all at once, lower the heat and immediately start stirring energetically with a heavy spoon or whisk. The dough will form a ball and there’ll be a light film on the bottom of the pan. Keep stirring for another 2 minutes or so to dry the dough. Dry dough will make puffy puffs.
- Turn the dough into the bowl of a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or work by hand with a wooden spoon and elbow grease). Let the dough sit for a min- ute, then add the eggs one by one, followed by the white, beating until each egg is incorporated before adding the next. The dough may look as though it’s separating or falling apart but just keep working; by the time the white goes in, the dough will be beautiful. Beat in the mustard, followed by the cheese and the walnuts. Give the dough a last mix-through by hand.
- Scoop or spoon out the dough, using a small cookie scoop (11?2 teaspoons). If you’d like larger puffs, shape them with a tablespoon or medium-size cookie scoop. Drop the dough onto the lined baking sheets, leaving about 2 inches between each mound. (The dough can be scooped and frozen on baking sheets at this point.)
- Slide the baking sheets into the oven and immediately turn the oven temperature down to 375 degrees F. Bake for 12 minutes, then rotate the pans from front to back and top to bottom. Continue baking until the gouge?res are puffed, golden and firm enough to pick up, another 15 to 20 minutes. Serve immediately—these are best directly from the oven.
- S T O R I N G : The puffs are best soon after they come out of the oven and nice (if flatter) at room temperature that same day. If you want to keep baked puffs, freeze them and then reheat them in a 350-degree-F oven for a few minutes.
Notes
Excerpted from Everyday Dorie © 2018 by Dorie Greenspan. Photography © 2018 by Ellen Silverman. Reproduced by permission of Rux Martin Books/Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. All rights reserved.
Oh Trevor… I’ve missed your FUN posts. I laughed so much I can’t even haiku properly. Dorie would definitely approve of that sprinkle of Espelette pepper!
I thought so too… it just seemed so right to toss some in.
I’m looking forward to cooking with you again, Trevor! These were good, weren’t they?
Oh yes. I’m so full!
Hi there, old friend! Ha! I’m laughing. I hope you pop in to join us more than “from time to time”. Tried and true or tweaked, these sure do taste good. You ate 30 in one sitting? Good for you!
I’m paying for it now though. Oh so full. But I’m hoping to bake up the rest soon.
Dorie is quite the temptress with all of her recipes! I hope we will get to see you often as we cook through this newest book!
Yep – I agree – they’re all good! And, no, of course we haven’t aged one bit! I’ll bet I look younger without all the stress of work & this fresh mountain air! Love ya!
You made me laugh back then and nothing has changed 🙂
I was not the most persistent or consistent participant last time however I remember your blog well!
It’s great to catch up with everyone and I hope you pop in more often than not.
I loved these as well, the pimente d’espelette sounds perfect!
I love your addition of the pimente d’espelette! I’ve enjoyed reading your lovely post!
I like doing variations around a recipe to get the most nutritious stuff out of it, if I can. Your plate of gougères is outrageously good looking.
It has been quite an emotional few days, no ? All good emotions, with the exception of my angst at learning how to set up a new blog template…those moments included angst and desperation since my IT squad of Nana was not on site. While I posted with the photos actually uploaded, I am relishing how gorgeous your post is on all levels. And the old friends I am visiting are not just the recipes and the bloggers, it is the Kitchen Aid, the pimente d’espelette, and many other faithful tools who were relegated to the back of the cupboard. Game on all, game on.
My extra old friend was the silicon mat! Oh yes, the kitchen aid too which has essentially sat unused for way too long. I had to remember how to craft a post as well. Well worth it to get to make the rounds and see what everyone is up to, don’t you think?
Gorgeous photos and I’m so happy to see you here, even just for a dropping by kind of post! I had to chuckle about Dorie trying to tempt you from her original recipe, but they sure are tasty, aren’t they?
You are to be commended for bringing the group together….well…even keeping the fires burning for us to come back. Good job! This was a lot of fun. Thank you so much!
Well, what a surprise to open my inbox this morning and find your post waiting for me! It’s been waaaay too long, Trevor, but just as you are with Dorie’s original gougeres, I knew you’d come back to me someday. And as much as I should tell a two-timing cad like you to just go on back to wherever you’ve been entertaining yourself all this time (not to mention with whom…), I started reading your post (that’s always my mistake… dipping my toe in, and then…) and there I was, transported to the past, smiling and even laughing out loud as I read your unique, distinctive, and hilarious writing, realizing how the lack of having your voice in my life has left me “lesser than”. I shouldn’t do this, but I’m begging you to stay in my life, even if just now and then. Yes, that sounds desperate, but the reality is that some of Trevor is at least better than none of Trevor.
BTW, that last sentence in the second to last paragraph (“gougeres slut”) almost made me snort my coffee right out of my nose. Damn, you’ve been missed! 💕 (And thanks for the great recipe too!)
lol. Wow. I dropped that last sentence in there at the end when most people, including my mother, have given up and stopped reading. No promises on future posts but I did have fun with this so there is that. I remodeled the site a bit too…not sure if anyone noticed… and gave the site a new ‘tagline’…..”An Occasional Indulgence” to hint that things won’t be regular from now on… but will be, well, occasional. By the way, 12 people unsubscribed when they saw my post in their inboxes yesterday. Not everyone is on the same page with you my dear. This makes the world go ’round I s’pose.
I think the “occasional indulgence” approach is just the ticket. I had a blog for a couple of years just for fun and eventually found that trying to do weekly posts or even bi-weekly became a drudge, so I gave it up. It shouldn’t be a chore, so any time you feel like posting is fine with me. Your writing is a treat whenever it arrives (and a little irreverence and/or naughtiness adds just the right spice, in my opinion!).
As for the 12 unsubscribers, their loss!
These certainly turned my head! Wonderful to see you again. 🙂
And so lovely to see you grace these pages again too Mo.
Welcome back!!! (albeit temporarily!) SO great to have you start this journey with us this week. LOVE YOUR POSTS, miss them! Boo the the naysayers/ unsubscribers. I love the new look of the site!
a little espelette pepper is a very good idea– i would not be able to resist a fling with these myself. or maybe a menage a trois with a batch of her originals?
What about a menage with a dollop of creme fraiche and smoked salmon?
Trevor has appeared.
We all wait with baited breath.
What will he say next?
Lovely to see new words on these pages – even if it is just for a hummingbird’s flitter.
Commitment can be over rated at times; one must be selective with one’s loyalties. When it’s meant to be, it will happen, no?
Now that Cher is here
I consider this post done
What ARE my next steps?
Love the advance prep and storing instructions. And LOVE having you back at this.
Your newest blog post
Turned me into a carb slut
Trevor, every day
Its good to be back
Extra carbs or extra fat
What’s the difference?
So I sat down tonight in front of the fire (it’s snowing outside), poured the remains of a Rodney Strong Cab that was leftover from a Sunday night dinner party and opened up your blog. You’ve still got the goods, T., I read every word twice and loved it all. There’s nothing about your blog posts that aren’t entertaining and humorous. Thank you. We all need to inject humor into our lives right now and be entertained. Whatever works. I haven’t even re-made Dorie’s gougeres from AMFT. I just remember it was a difficult recipe for me to do and a neighbor came to help. Well, I must have learned something from these past 8 years in the kitchen. I liked this new version of Dorie’s and had no rouble baking them. In fact, I’ve already made two batches. When I was in Paris last year I bought some pimente d’espelette. It cost $20-25 US dollars. (I must have been out of my mind.) I have never opened the jar. Now I will. Hugs from Aspen.
That pimente is there to be used!
Isn’t it great that those recipes that seemed like such a challenge are not so any longer? I so love that! And yes, humor is always the best tonic for today’s times. I hope I have some more in me next week!
I’ve missed your posts, Trevor, and I hope the recipe schedule tempts you into blogging more often than not. These were terrific and I’m happy that I only baked a few – like you, I couldn’t rest until they were finished. I’m saving the rest for a time when I can share and care to impress. It’s been so lovely to see many of the AMFT originals jumping back in.
It was so much fun to go back to that time when we all started “the project”. I would not have missed it for the world.
It’s good to hear your voice again, Trevor! Even if you aren’t a regular, I hope you pop in with a post once in a while.
Trevor,
So wonderful to read you again… :0)
You just write whenever you want to, sweetie.
I do wish I had visited you and your adorable husband when you were living in Paris. My loss..
Linda
I swear I wrote a comment! Dang, I guess I just thought about it. I will have to up my game. You, sir – have never lost yours. Such a fun post – and yes, it’s so fantastic to be back together. These were delicious, and though I’m with you on the originals, I do like the “newest” ones too, and think that some of the esplette would be pretty yummy here. Or you know, whatever comes to mind. 🙂
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Your writing has a way of resonating with me on a deep level. I appreciate the honesty and authenticity you bring to every post. Thank you for sharing your journey with us.