Salut: Glorious gougères the perfect cocktail snack
Credit to Author: Tracey Tufnail| Date: Fri, 04 Oct 2019 18:00:44 +0000
Earlier this year, I became obsessed with a tasty little party snack, a light, crisp, airy bite of cheesy perfection called a gougère.
I think it was at brunch at Tableau Bar Bistro, where they fill their gougères with a marvellously molten sauce that goes nicely with sparkling wine. Or maybe it was at happy hour, where the gougères partnered just as well with cocktails and a glass (or two) of red wine.
In any case, I was smitten.
“It’s a vessel for really nice cheese. It’s the whole package,” says Tableau’s chef de cuisine, Tommy Shorthouse.
“We’ve taken ours and incorporated a lot of French ingredients. It’s a savoury cream puff, filled with this gorgeous Mornay sauce made with comte and gruyère cheese, and with a bit of espelette from the Basque Country. So it’s France, France, France.”
After all, he says, “When you go to a French bistro, you want to experience France.”
More specifically, the gougère as we know it hails from the region of Burgundy, where it has been enjoyed for at least the last century or so alongside the region’s storied red wines.
“If you were sampling wine in a cellar, these are the perfect finger food. And the cheese opens the taste buds,” Shorthouse says.
Before that, though, its origins are uncertain, although it is generally believed that the crisp little puff evolved from a sort of 18th century quiche or tart made with eggs, breadcrumbs and cheese.
“In French baking, when one thing becomes famous, everyone says, ‘we invented it.’ It could actually come from Morocco for all we know,” says Mark Burton, executive chef and director of culinary and pastry at the Pacific Institute of Culinary Arts.
By the 20th century, though, it was the tiny choux pastry bundle we know today. (Incidentally, “choux,” in French means cabbage, and these puffs do look a bit like a petite member of the brassica family.)
“Basically, a gougère is used as an amuse bouche,” Burton says. “They’re usually served warm, a little cheese popper served at the beginning of a meal.”
He adds: “Gougères is what we call a choux paste or pastry or a cream puff, but with the addition of savoury ingredients, mostly gruyère cheese.”
Beyond that, gougères are wonderfully versatile. They can be served hot or cold, filled with sauce (or not), and flavoured with herbs, spices and/or lemon zest.
“Sometimes they can be filled with mushrooms or ham,” Burton adds. “Then they’d be baked as a ring.”
Or, says Shorthouse, “You could elongate them into an eclair type of shape. It’s a vessel, and you can transform it into whatever you want. It’s glorious.”
Making gougères at home isn’t all that hard, although it can be a little bit intimidating for first-timers.
The dough is cooked twice, first on the stove, then in the oven, where the eggs in the dough “soufflé” to create that perfect puff.
Choux pastry can be “a little bit temperamental,” Shorthouse admits.
“It has to be cooked out. You need to build enough gluten to have structure, but you don’t want to overwork it or you’ll lose the rise.”
“It’s actually not scary,” Burton insists. “Make the liquid hot. Throw the flour in. Stir very vigorously, put it back on the stove, and cook till it forms into a ball. You’re basically making a wet dough.
“And then,” he adds, “nothing fancy. I take it from the pot and throw it in the mixer on low and walk away from it.”
Once the dough is ready, it is piped into little mounds and baked.
“You watch it, and check it, and let the magic happen,” Burton says. “It’s way less intimidating than everyone thinks.”
Most importantly, the end result is worth the effort.
“The whole process is kind of romantic,” Shorthouse says. “It’s an indulgence that’s totally worth it. Especially now that summer’s over, it’s all about the comfort food.”
Best enjoyed with a berry-scented glass of Burgundy wine, of course.
Gougères are the perfect snack for cocktail parties, but sometimes a busy host simply doesn’t have time to whip up a batch from scratch — unless they follow this tip from the Pacific Institute of Culinary Arts, where students make the batter ahead of time and freeze it so it’s ready to bake at a moment’s notice.
They pipe the batter into silicone moulds that look like mini muffin cups, then cover it with plastic wrap, freeze it and then store it in freezer bags. When they want to serve them, they place the frozen, unbaked gougères on silicone-lined baking sheets, bring them to room temperature, then bake in a preheated oven.
Timing for baking these puffs depends on the size you make them.
“The little ones are going to bake very much faster,” says Burton.
Keep the oven door closed while baking as the rise comes from the eggs in the dough, and the loss of heat will make them deflate.
Courtesy of Tableau Bar Bistro.
From Tableau Bar Bistro chef de cuisine Tommy Shorthouse. Note that precise measurements are important for success, so you will need a digital scale.
Gougères:
11 fl oz (330 mL) water
11 fl oz (330 mL) 2 per cent milk
8 oz (290 g) unsalted butter
3 pinches salt
2 pinches white sugar
12 oz (380 g) all-purpose flour, sifted
12 large white eggs (brown eggs contain too much fat in the yolk, which would affect the finished product)
1 oz (25 g) chives, finely chopped
4 oz (150 g) grated Grana Padano cheese
1 tsp (2 g) ground espelette pepper
Preheat oven to 365 F (185 C) if you have a convection oven; 375 F (190 C) if you have a standard oven.
Combine water, milk, butter, salt and sugar and butter in large sauce pot and bring to simmer over medium heat.
All at once, add the measured flour and combine with a wooden spoon to form a loose ball of dough.
Reduce heat to low. Continue to stir mixture to ensure there is no sticking for roughly 30 minutes.
Place cooked dough in a stand mixture fitted with a paddle attachment. Mix on low until it has cooled slightly.
Whisk eggs in a small bowl, then slowly add to the dough, about a quarter of the eggs at a time, with the mixer running constantly on low to medium speed.
When fully incorporated, add chopped chives and grated cheese until fully mixed in.
Place mixture into a large piping bag with a round piping tip and pipe mixture on to parchment lined baking trays approximately the size of a Canadian dollar and about 1 inch (2.5 cm) high. Space them roughly 3 inches (7 cm) apart as to allow even baking.
Place immediately in the oven. If you have a convection oven, make sure the fan is on and bake for 15 minutes. If you’re using a standard oven, bake for 15 to 18 minutes in middle rack so the gougeres are not too close to the elements. Do not open oven door for at least 12 minutes otherwise the gougéres will deflate (like a soufflé).
Remove from oven and allow to cool on the tray to await filling.
Makes 5 to 6 dozen
Mornay Sauce:
3 1/2 oz (110 g) unsalted butter
4 1/2 oz (140 g) all-purpose flour
6 cups (1400 mL) cold 2 per cent milk
8 oz (250 g) grated Gruyère cheese
Finely grated zest of 2 lemons
3 pinches kosher salt
2 pinches ground white pepper
In a large pot, melt butter on low to medium heat. Do not allow to burn or caramelize. When fully melted, carefully and slowly add flour and whisk together to make a roux.
Slowly add the milk, about a quarter at a time, and whisk to incorporate to make a béchamel sauce.
Cook mixture for roughly 30 to 45 mins on low heat while whisking every 5 or so minutes so it doesn’t stick, burn or create flour pockets. It should be very thick at this point.
When béchamel has cooked and thickened, remove from heat and add the grated cheese while continuing to whisk. Fold in the lemon zest and season with salt and white pepper.
Allow to cool completely, then place into a piping bag fitted with a small round piping tip. Poke the tip into the bottom of each gougère and fill completely. Set aside on a baking tray.
When you’re ready to serve, place in an oven preheated to 350 F (180 C) and bake for 5 minutes or until hot in centre. If you like, sprinkle with Parmesan cheese, chopped chives and/or ground espelette pepper. Serve warm.
Makes 5 to 6 dozen
Courtesy of Pacific Institute of Culinary Arts
From Mark Burton, executive chef at the Pacific Institute of Culinary Arts. As with all professional pastry recipes, the measurements are in weight, which is by far more accurate than volume. You will need a digital scale.
450 g pastry flour
400 g whole milk
400 g water
17 g sugar
13 g salt
354 g unsalted butter
12 to 13 eggs
10 g fresh thyme leaves
225 g shredded gruyère cheese, plus additional for sprinkling on top
Salt and pepper to taste
Preheat oven to 385 F (195 C). Sift the pastry flour and set aside.
In a medium saucepan over medium-high heat, bring the milk, water, sugar, salt and butter to a boil. Turn heat off and add the flour all at once. Stir to combine. Return pot to the heat and cook, stirring, until the batter clears the side of the pot.
Set aside to cool a little, them scrape the batter into a mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Mix on low speed until it has cooled a bit.
With the motor running, add the eggs one by one, allowing each one to mix in before adding the next. Increase speed and mix until the batter is smooth, shiny and elastic. If it seems a bit dry, it may require additional eggs, if so add one at a time.
Make sure the mixture is completely cool, then add the cheese and thyme.
Place batter in a piping back fitted with a large round tip, then pipe in small mounds on baking sheets lined with silicone sheets, at least two inches (5 cm) apart. Sprinkle with finely grated gruyère cheese and season with salt and pepper.
Without opening the oven door, bake for 12 to 15 mins, until puffed up and golden; note that time may vary depending on size. Serve warm or at room temperature.
Makes 5 to 6 dozen
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