The Cheese Puff
Mixed-Cheese Gougères with Dates and Arugula
Most refrigerators I know harbor a few cheese secrets: whether it’s a few crumbles of blue left from last week’s cheese plate, the dried-out Cheddar that the kids forgot to wrap as they grabbed a slice, or the not-quite-enough-to-do-anything-with spoonful of chèvre. All these scraps are hungering for a purpose in life, and these gougères, or puffs, made from quirky, delicious pâte à choux dough (you might know sweet incarnations of the same dough, such as éclairs and cream puffs), are just the thing to elevate those tasty little scraps. You can serve it like I do here with a few bracing greens and chewy date slivers to balance out the richness of the cheesy puffs.
Extra ingredient: every cheese scrap in your refrigerator
Time: 45 minutes (30 minutes active)
Makes 6 to 8 appetizer servings
1 stick (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter, cut into eight 1-tablespoon chunks
¾ teaspoon fine sea salt
1 cup flour
Pinch of Aleppo pepper or cayenne
A few gratings of fresh nutmeg
Freshly ground black pepper
Fine sea salt to taste
4 whole eggs, plus 1 egg, beaten, for egg wash
5 ounces assorted cheeses, grated or finely chopped (rinds cut off if applicable), plus 2 extra tablespoons grated Parmigiano-Reggiano, Gruyère, or similar cheese for topping
SALAD
4 cups baby arugula or watercress
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 teaspoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
Flaky sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
8 dates, pitted and pulled into quarters
1. Preheat the oven to 425°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. Place the butter, salt, and 1 cup water in a sturdy medium saucepan and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Dump in the flour and stir vigorously with a sturdy whisk or wooden spoon until the dough comes together. Turn the heat to low and cook, stirring often, until the dough feels satiny when pinched (not sticky), about 2 minutes.
3. The next step can be done by hand with a lot of elbow grease, but it’s easiest done in a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Transfer the dough to the bowl of the mixer and beat the warm dough on medium speed for about 1 minute to cool it slightly. Mix in the Aleppo pepper, nutmeg, black pepper, and salt. Increase the speed to medium-high and beat in the eggs, one at a time. After the fourth egg, continue beating until the mixture is smooth. Thoroughly mix in the assorted cheeses (reserving the 2 tablespoons of grated cheese). Season the dough with more salt if desired; if you aren’t keen on tasting it raw, you can also make a tiny flapjack with a teaspoon of dough and cook it up in a skillet before tasting.
4. Pipe the dough into 1-tablespoon mounds on the prepared baking sheet. If using spoons, scoop up 1 heaping tablespoon of the dough with one spoon and use a second one to push the dough onto the prepared sheet in a round mound. Brush each mound with a wash of beaten egg. Let dry 1 minute, then brush the mounds once more. Sprinkle with the reserved grated cheese.
5. Bake the gougères for 10 minutes. Reduce the heat to 375°F and bake until the mounds are crisp on the surface and confidently puffed, 15 to 20 more minutes. Crack the oven door and let the puffs cool in the oven, which helps prevent dreaded puff collapse. (Make-ahead note: Gougères are best eaten the day they are baked, but you can have them ready to bake in your freezer. After you have shaped and painted the dough mounds with egg, you can freeze them on the baking sheet. When frozen, they can be stored in zip-top bags. They can be baked directly from frozen; they will take a few more minutes than from fresh dough.)
6. Place the arugula in a large bowl. In a small bowl, whisk the olive oil and lemon juice. Lightly dress the salad and season with salt and pepper to taste. Arrange the salad on a platter and top with the dates. Place the warm or room-temperature gougères in and among the greens.
VARIATIONS
- Fry your gougères. When fried, choux dough turns into a totally different creature: crisp on the outside but molten and custardy inside like a chocolate lava cake. They are delicious and worth the party trick of frying every now and again. In a heavy 2-quart saucepan, heat 2 cups of neutral oil (such as grapeseed) over medium-high heat until a thermometer reads 375°F. Have ready a slotted spoon or spider and a cooling rack fitted atop a baking sheet. I like to prepare 4 fritters at a time, using 2 tablespoons to make a rough quenelle, or football-shaped drop. If you have a small ice cream scoop, that works well, too. Drop 4 scoops into the oil and fry for 2 to 3 minutes, until the fritters are amber brown, turning the dough once. Remove with the slotted spoon to a cooling rack. Let the oil heat up and repeat to cook the rest of the fritters. Sprinkle with flaky sea salt before serving.
- Stuff the gougères. If you want to take your gougères to the next level, slice and stuff them with odds and ends: caramelized onions or thinly sliced roast beef, or imitate one of my favorite Seattle bakeries, Columbia City Bakery, which used to serve a gougère sandwich with a bit of whole-grain mustard, thinly shaved red onion, and raw red peppers, plus a few leaves of baby arugula.