Southern-Style Gougères
Gougères (cheese puffs)—a traditional hors d'oeuvre served at French wine tastings—are enlivened here with a Southern twist.
Credit: Ben Fink
INGREDIENTS
FOR THE PUFFS:8 tbsp. butter
1 ½ tsp. salt
1 cup flour
4 eggs
1 tbsp. dijon mustard
1 tsp. dry mustard
FOR THE FILLING:
½ lb. boiled ham, finely chopped
1 cup raisins, finely chopped
2 shallots, peeled and minced
⅓ cup mayonnaise
⅓ cup cream cheese
1 tbsp. curry powder
INSTRUCTIONS
1. For the puffs: Preheat oven to 350°. Put butter, salt, and 1 cup water into a medium pot and heat over medium heat until water boils and butter melts. Add flour all at once and stir vigorously with a wooden spoon until dough is thick and pulls away from side of pot, 1 ½–2 minutes. Remove pot from heat.2. Using an electric mixer, beat in eggs, 1 at a time, on medium speed, beating thoroughly after each addition. Add dijon and dry mustards and beat well.
3. Spoon 32 walnut-size mounds of dough onto parchment paper–lined baking sheets, about 1" apart. Bake until puffed and golden brown, about 45 minutes.
4. For the filling: Combine ham, raisins, shallots, mayonnaise, cream cheese, and curry powder in a bowl, then put into a pastry bag fitted with a plain round 1" tip.
5. Make an incision in side of each puff and pipe filling into each. Serve at room temperature.
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