makes about 18
1 cup water
5 extra large eggs
1/2 cup unsalted butter
1 cups gruyere cheese shredded
1/2 cup scallions- sliced thin- white and light green part
1 cup unbleached flour, sifted
1 t kosher salt
shredded gruyere for topping
Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Combine water, butter, and salt into a med saucepan and bring to a boil. Remove from heat, and add the flour all at once. Whisk vigorously for a few moments, stirring constantly until the mixture has thickened and is pulling away from the sides of the pan,a minute or less.
Stir in 4 eggs one at a time, making sure the first egg is fully incorporated before adding the next. Then stir in the cheese and the scallions.
Line a shallow baking sheet with parchment paper or a Silpat liner . Drop the batter by the tablespoon onto the baking sheet, spacing the puffs about 1 inch apart- with your hands lightly dampened you can smooth them out some. You can make petit gougere-using teaspoons- and reduce the cooking time.
Beat the remaining egg with a teaspoon of water in a small bowl. Using a pastry brush, lightly brush the tops with the egg. Sprinkle lightly with grated gruyere.
Bake for about 20 minutes on center rack,until the gougeres are puffed and golden brown- they should sound hollow when tapped. They can be made a few hours in advance and reheated at 375 degrees for about 5 minutes. They freeze well- just thaw and reheat in a 375 degree oven again for 5 minutes or until heated through.
SCALLION CHEESE PUFFS
These wonderful little French cheese puffs are a great start to a cold weather party These can be varied in numerous ways by eliminating the gruyere and substituting herbs, blue cheese, olives, black pepper, sun-dried tomatoes, to mention a few of my favorites. You can also make up the basic batter, divide it and make different varieties of puffs! They should be almost hollow and you can fill them with variety of things- but i like them just as they are warm out of the oven.
c. 2008
