GOUGÈRES, a savory French Cheese Puff

I had a ton of Gruyere cheese that I needed to use, and a Super Bowl party  to attend, so decided that these tasty little puffs would do nicely. This is basically a savory cream puff, minus the cream filling. 

These are from a French cookbook: Saveur Cooks- Authentic French Cooking. I think this is one of the cookbooks Crystal brought back from France after spending a semester there. These are awesome!! But really are best within the first few hours; Not nearly as good the next day. Although they can be warmed on a Pampered Chef stone which greatly improves it!

GOUGÈRES

French cheese puff

8 TBL butter, cut into pieces

¾ cup milk

Salt & freshly ground pepper*

1 cup flour

4 large eggs at room temperature

1 ½ cups Comte or Gruyere cheese (also can use asiago and romano or parmesan)

Preheat oven to 400

Combine butter and ½ cup milk with ½ cup water in medium saucepan over high heat.

Season generously with salt & pepper. 

Bring to a boil. When butter is melted, remove pan from heat. 

Add flour all at once and stir vigorously w/ wooden spoon until it forms a thick dough and pulls away from the sides of the pan. (1-2min) 

Return to heat for 1 minute, stirring constantly. 

Remove from heat and cool to room temperature.  

When cooled to room temperature, beat eggs in one at a time, beating well after each addition. Dough will be thick, shiny and smooth. 

Add one cup cheese and mix well.

Spoon by TBLS onto baking sheet. (I used the small Pampered Chef scoop) Leave 1” between puffs and they will spread. 

Brush with remaining milk and sprinkle with remaining cheese.

Bake 20-25 minutes on lower half of oven until doubled in size and golden.

Serve warm or at room temperature.

Makes 3 doz.

*Note: I used ½ tsp each: salt, pepper and garlic

Won Ton Soup

I posted a while ago about the Chinese dinner I cooked for some friends and promised to share the recipes.  I posted the egg roll recipe already. and I believe I have previously posted my basic chicken stir fry. Here is the won ton and won ton soup recipe. I will post the sweet and sour pork in a future post. I LOVE these Won Tons!!!!!! This recipe is adapted from the original by adding more to the soup, such as the egg, mushrooms, and fish sauce. If you don't have fish sauce, you can just use a little more soy sauce. It's purpose is basically to deepen the flavor of the broth. The won ton filling itself is basically the same, but I do add more sesame oil than what is called for. The water chestnut is my addition also. 

WON TONs and WON TON SOUP

Won tons:

1 pkg won ton wrappers

Filling:

·         4oz cooked shrimp, diced

·         4oz lean pork, diced or ground

·         2oz mushrooms, finely chopped

·         4oz bamboo shoots or water chestnuts, chopped

·         1 tsp cornstarch

·         1 ½ tsp soy sauce

·         ¼ tsp pepper

·         ½ tsp oil

·         ¼ tsp sesame oil

·         ½ tsp salt

Mix all filling ingredients and marinade a few minutes.

Add 1-2tsp filling to center of won ton wrapper.

Moisten edges with water. Fold into triangle and seal edges together, squeezing out air as you seal. Bring opposite tips across center and seal with more water to form won ton. Set aside on paper towels until all are complete.

Soup:

1lb spinach or 1/3 of a 10oz package frozen chopped spinach

2 oz mushrooms, thinly sliced

7 cups chicken stock

1-2 tsp fish sauce

1 tsp soy sauce

2 eggs, beaten

Combine stock, fish sauce and soy sauce in sauce pan. Bring to boil.

Add the sliced mushrooms and as many won tons as desired.

Boil for 2 or 3 minutes, and then add spinach.

Meanwhile, beat egg in small bowl, then drizzle slowly into hot broth. Eggs cook almost instantly.

I usually deep fry the remaining won tons and serve them as an appetizer before the soup. 

One of my goals for this year is to eat  more vegan dishes. This recipe comes from my daughter, Crystal Hale. I'm not sure where she got it.

It is so moist and yummy!! You won’t even miss the eggs or butter! Add nuts if you like or a little ground flax seed for more fiber and nutrition. Mix in part whole wheat flour or try oat flour. Don't be afraid to make some changes. Make small changes and document it. That way you will know what to do next time if you like it, or what not to do if you don't. :) 

SIMPLE VEGAN BANANA BREAD

1 loaf                                               2 loaves

1 1/2 cups flour                                3 cups**

1 tsp baking soda                             2 tsp

1 tsp cinnamon                                 2 tsp

¾ cup sugar                                     1 ½ cups

3 TB vegan mayo*                           6 TB (1/3 cup scant)

3 ripe bananas*                                6

¼ cup veg. oil                                  ½ cup

1 ½ tsp lemon juice                         1 TB

Combine dry ingredients.

Combine mashed bananas and other wet ingredients in separate bowl.

Stir to combine well.

Pour into greased loaf pan(s).

This MUST be baked immediately after mixing or it will not rise properly.

If you wait too long you’ll end up with a flat dense brick.

Bake at 350 for 45-60 minutes.

Regular muffins: bake 16 minutes

Mini Muffins: Bake 10 minutes

*Notes:

3 bananas = 1 – 1 ½ cups mashed banana

You can sub regular mayo for the vegan mayo

**For 2 loaves of bread I used 2 cups all purpose four and 1 cup whole wheat pastry flour.

I added 1 tsp nutmeg also.

I have been sick for pretty much 2 months now. So when I finally started feeling better I celebrated by inviting a few friends over for a big Chinese dinner. Isn't that how every foodie celebrates?!  It takes about 6 hours of hands on time to make this menu: Egg Rolls, Won Tons, Won Ton Egg Drop Soup, Cashew Chicken, Sweet and Sour Pork and Fried Rice. Followed by an awesome Gourmet Carrot Cake. (I think I already posted that recipe) :) I made the fried rice, filing for the egg rolls, cut up the veggies for the stir fry and cut and marinated the pork the day before the party. That way much of the prep is done and the many dishes and pans to make them already washed and put away.

Back in the early 1970’s a group of ladies from our church got together with Anna Cisneros who taught Chinese cooking at Tacoma Community College. She spent a Saturday teaching us her tricks of the trade. This is still my favorite egg roll recipe. I get rave reviews every time I serve them.  Great plain or served with Sweet and Sour sauce, Mustard sauce or Sweet Chili sauce.  I usually don’t have mushroom sauce so I sub the Oyster sauce.  And no, it doesn't taste like oysters!

I will post the other recipes soon. Sorry there are no pictures of this meal. I was so wrapped up in cooking and serving that I forgot to take any pictures. 

EGG ROLLS

1 pkg Eggroll skins (25 pieces)

12 oz chicken breast

1 lb cabbage

1 lg carrot, grated or finely chopped

1 onion

4 eggs

Seasoning:

3 TB oil

1 1/8 tsp salt

3 1/2 TB corn starch

1 TB Mushroom Sauce

1 TB Oyster Sauce

1 tsp soy sauce

1 clove garlic

Prep filling: Thinly slice cabbage.

 Chop onions and chicken.

Marinade chicken with 1 tsp soy sauce, 1 tsp cornstarch ½ tsp oil and 1 TB Oyster sauce and 1 TB mushroom sauce. Set aside.

Prep sauce: Mix ¼ cup water, 3 TB corn starch, ½ tsp oil, 1 TB mushroom sauce and 1 TB oyster sauce. Set aside.

1.       Heat skillet, add 1 tsp oil. Beat eggs in a bowl. Pour half of the eggs into hot skillet, turning skillet to spread a thin layer of egg.  Flip when set (1 minute or so). Remove to cutting board and cook the remaining half of eggs in same manner.  Thinly slice eggs into1/4” by 2” strips.  (Approx) Set aside.

2.       Reheat skillet with 1 tsp salt and 2 TB oil. Stir fry veggies until tender. Remove and set aside.

3.       Reheat skillet with 1 TB oil. Add garlic and chicken. Stir fry until chicken is cooked through. Add sauce and remaining ingredients. Heat through. Remove and cook in refrigerator until chilled.

Form egg rolls:

1.       Wet edges of egg roll wrapper with water. Place approx 3 TB filling in center of wrapper. Bring sides in about 2” then roll up starting at bottom edge, sealing ends and edges well.  Set on paper towels until all rolls are complete.

2.       Heat 7 cups oil in pan until 375-400.

3.       Deep fry until golden brown.

4.       Remove to paper towel lined pan and keep warm in low oven until ready to serve.

Dutch Baby

DUTCH BABY is a crêpe-like oven baked pancake. Eggier then pancakes, denser then a soufflé.

You can also use a cooled Dutch Baby with a savory filling such as chicken or fruit salad. Perfect for Saturday morning breakfast or a Sunday brunch, this recipe never fails to please. Any left overs can be reheated the next day, although fresh is the best. Using cast iron gives the crust a nice texture.

           

This recipe was given to me when my kids were small by my sister in law, Anne Marie Danhoff. I usually make the largest batch in a big 12” cast iron skillet.  My brother makes Dutch baby for his girls, but they call it Spider Pancake because it "crawls" up the sides of the pan as it bakes. NO matter what you call it, it is always delicious!

Decide what size batch to make depending on the number of people to be served and the size of your pan.

DUTCH BABY

Butter                   eggs                       milk & flour

¼ cup                    3                              ¾ cup

1/3 cup                  4                              1 cup

½ cup                    5                              1 ¼ cup

½ cup                    6                              1 ½ cup

• Place butter into cast iron skillet or heavy casserole dish in 400 oven.
• While butter melts and pan heats to sizzling, place eggs in blender.
• Blend on high for 1 minute.
• Continue to blend, gradually adding flour and milk, blending an additional 30 seconds.
• Pour batter into sizzling pan and bake 20-30 minutes or until puffy and crust is lightly golden.

Serve immediately as it will “deflate” in a few minutes, or when cut.

Serve with syrup or sautéed fruit.