Herbed Cheese Puffs

October 9, 2012 | No Comments

Magazine subscriptions come and go in our household. We receive some as wonderful gifts from loved ones, and some we subscribe to on our own. Since long before I met Dominic he has been subscribing to Saveur. I have always loved reading it from cover to cover, relishing the stories, pictures, history, culture, and especially the recipes.

About a year into dating, Dominic was reading a Saveur, and was taking to me about this Italian restaurant in McMinnville, Oregon, called Nick’s. The article he was reading, was about Nick’s crab lasagna. The lasagna sounded so rich and sumptuous, I am sure I remember my mouth watering.

A couple years later, Dominic and I were visiting McMinnville, OR, before kids, and ate dinner one night at Nick’s. I ordered the crab lasagna, and It was so decadent, and delicious, I was transported to another world, where there is only good, no bad.

Years after that night, and that wonderfully romantic, extraordinary meal, we moved to McMinnville Oregon, and are now happily raising our girls here. I like to romanticize it, and my life, and think that it is all due to our gastronomical epiphany, that one night years ago. In any case, thank you Saveur.

This recipe for gougères (Cheese Puffs), was featured in the October 2012 issue of Saveur. This is a very special issue, as it features one hundred and fifty classic recipes. We used to make blue cheese puffs, years ago, and sadly lost the recipe. We were very excited to come across this one with Gruyere cheese.

The ingredients are so basic and the recipe so simple. The cheese puffs are light and a bit crispy on the outside, with a lovely velvety custard in the middle. Tonight we ate them for dinner, and our girls raved about them. Marjie kept saying, “Mom, you have to try these, they are just delicious!!!”

I changed the recipe a bit and added fresh chopped parsley and chives, and a pinch more salt over the top of them right before they went into the oven. I hope you enjoy these hot out of the oven, as they are really scrumptious this way.

Herbed Cheese Puffs

Recipe type: Appetizers

Author: Jillian

Serves: 12

Ingredients

1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup water
8 Tbsp unsalted butter
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1 cup unbleached all purpose flour
4 large eggs
6 oz Gruyere cheese, grated
1 Tbsp fresh parsley, chopped
1 Tbsp fresh chives, chopped
Sprinkle of salt on top, before they go into the oven

Instructions

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
Bring milk, butter, salt, and water to a boil in a 4-qt. saucepan over high heat.
Add flour to saucepan
Stir with wooden spoon until dough forms
Reduce heat to medium
Cook, stirring dough constantly with a wooden spoon, until slightly dried, about 2 minutes
Scoop out into a bowl
Using a hand mixer, beat in 1 egg until smooth. Repeat with remaining eggs, beating each one at a time, until dough is smooth
Stir in herbs with wooden spoon or rubber spatula
Stir in cheese with wooden spoon or rubber spatula
Using a large tablespoon, drop balls of dough onto parchment paper, or Silpat lined sheet trays
Sprinkle kosher salt on top of dough drops
Place sheet tray in oven and reduce temperature to 375 degrees F.
Bake about 30 minutes, or until golden brown