Gougeres

From Out in the Kitchen… A cookbook for those with non-discriminating taste compiled in 1995 by Maine Won’t Discriminate, a political coalition based in Portland, Maine.

A specialty of Northern Burgundy, the region of the Chablis Vineyards. A delicious variety of puff-paste.

1 cup flour
1 cup water
1/2 cup butter
3 eggs
1 pinch salt
3 tablespoons Swiss cheese, cut in very thin slices

Put the butter, water, and salt in a pan on low-medium heat. When the butter starts bubbling and rising, pour all the flour at once and cook while stirring quickly, until the paste comes clear off the side of the pan.

Take off the heat. Whip the whole eggs and add them to the paste. Work them slowly into the paste with a wooden spoon. Add most of the Swiss cheese (which can be shredded or diced, but not grated).

Grease a savarin mold and fill it with the paste (up to 1/3 approximately). Sprinkle the top with the remainder of the Swiss cheese. Cook at 300 degrees, approximately an hour.

It is possible to make individual Gougeres by spooning small to medium amounts of paste onto a greased cookie sheet. Size of Gougeres will depend on amount. Eat warm accompanied by Chablis or a light medium-dry white wine.

Can be served as hours d’oeuvres or as a first course in a fancy meal. Bon Appetit.

—Monique Crochet