Gougeres

My husband is more hooked on cooking shows than I have ever been.  I have just not ever been a HUGE fan of them, accept Anne Burrell.  She is the epitome of passion in the kitchen to me!   Anyway, Geo was watching some Internet cooking show and these "gougeres"  were prepared.  He thought they looked amazing, found the recipe that was used and I adapted mine from that (Food and Wine).  I took out the nutmeg, I suppose that is a HUGE no-no in the French cuisine world but I did it.  I make the rules in my kitchen after all, right?  I also think nutmeg is completely overrated and if I see it go into one more cream sauce I am going to turn inside out!

These are easiest to describe as little savory cream puffs with cheese.  How can that be bad?  I envision these cracked open and filled with a little chicken salad, or caramelized onions or something of that sort as an appetizer. 

I hope you enjoy, these are easy, but so impressive and delish!

1/2 cup water
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup butter
large pinch of salt
1 cup all purpose flour
4 eggs
1 cup Gruyere cheese, grated ( you can definitely substitute just plain Swiss here)
black pepper

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. F.  Lay 2 baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.

In a medium saucepan, combine the water, milk, butter and salt and bring to a boil.  Add the flour and stir it in with a spoon until a smooth dough forms and the dough starts pulling away from the sides.  It should take a minute or so. 

Transfer your dough into a bowl.  Let cool for 2 minutes.  (I put mine into my stand mixer bowl).  Beat your eggs in, one at a time.  Make sure each egg is COMPLETELY incorporated before adding the next egg.  Add cheese, a good pinch or grind of pepper and mix again until it is incorporated. 

Place your dough into a pastry bag.  Cut the tip of the bag so you have about a 1/2 inch diameter opening.  This isn't like, written in stone, so just eyeball it.  Pipe about a tablespoon size amount of dough,  Make sure they are about 2 inches apart.  Bake for approx. 22-25 minutes.  Let cool a couple of minutes before serving!