Savory Gougère

Courtesy Of
Connie Fairbanks

French Cuisine
Appetizers & Snacks

Serves 4 as an entree, 6 to 8 as an appetizer

Ingredients :

---

Chef Bio :

---

Connie Fairbanks, the author of Scratch That™ Seasonal Menus and Perfect Pairings. Scratch That is written by a home chef and for home chefs. It is organized into 18 seasonal menus with wine pairings,and over 110 color photos from around the world. All recipes are made from scratch with minimal cans, bottles, tubs, and tubes. With attention to graphic design, recipes are easy to follow, and mostly one page. Connie has had several careers in her lifetime: sales management in specialty retailing, sales and marketing for a pharma company, and helped start a medical device company and take it public in the US and European markets. In 1998, she left a successful business career that spanned over 20 years in to pursue her dream as an actor. Since then she has used her talents to be featured in commercials and collaborate on-stage in the thriving theatre scene in Chicago. And, now, as cookbook author and home chef, she’s in another role that she loves. In her spare, she gardens, is a volunteer tutor, sings in a Gospel Choir, and hopes to return to the theatre next year.

---

Description :

---

A meal by itself with a glass of wine! Gougère (goo-ZHAIR) is a cream-puff-like savory pastry served as an appetizer in the Burgundy region of France. With the addition of cheese to the top, the Gougère will have a crispy exterior before you bite into the next layer of cheesy pastry. If you are good with a pastry bag, you could pipe the dough into individual puffs instead of a ring.

---

Instructions :

---

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Butter a piece of parchment paper that will fit a 13 to 14 inch pizza pan.

In a medium saucepan, combine the water, salt, pepper, dry mustard, nutmeg, and butter and bring to a boil over a medium heat. Remove from the stove and quickly stir in the flour until the mixture comes together. Return to low heat and keep stirring until the dough almost forms a ball, about two minutes.

Remove from the stove, and add the Dijon mustard, tarragon, 1 cup of the cheese, and the eggs (one at a time), beating vigorously with an electric mixer. Note: You may need only 4 eggs depending on the size of the eggs. The mixture should be glossy, without the dough becoming too runny. 

With a tablespoon, drop the dough in small mounds (about 2 inches) in a circle onto the prepared pan. The dough mounds should touch each other, forming a ring. Brush the pastry with the egg wash, and sprinkle with the remaining 1/2 cup cheese.

Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until the Gougère is golden brown and puffed. Serve immediately as it will deflate quickly, just like a soufflé. When the Gougère has cooled slightly, just use your hands to break it into pieces.