Recipes

Ingredients for 6 people :
- 80 gr [3 oz] butter + butter for sheet
- 160 gr [5 1/2 oz] plain flour
- 100 gr [3 1/2 oz] swiss cheese
(comté or gruyère type)
- 4 eggs
- 20 cl water [7 fl oz]
- salt, pepper & grated nutmeg
- lettuce to serve

Recipe :

1- Pre-heat oven to 200°C / 400°F ; roughly grate the cheese (large wholes on grater) ; cut the butter in small cubes.
2- In a medium saucepan, pour the water, 2 to 3 pinches of salt and the cubed butter. Bring to the boil and let the butter melt.
3- Remove from heat and add the flour all at once. Sharply stir with a wooden spoon until the mixture is well blended ; the pastry must become a ball which does not stick to the bottom of the pan. Let it cold for just a few minutes.
4- One after the other, add the 4 eggs in the paste, and beat vigourously to incorporate them with a wooden spoon ; finish turning for a while. Add the grated cheese, 2 to 3 generous pinches of grated nutmeg and pepper.
5- On a buttered baking sheet, lay the pastry into balls which must be the size of a big walnut ; use teaspoons to help. Leave space between the balls, they are going to rise !
6- Put in oven for 25 minutes (they must get golden brown) then turn your oven off, oven door half-open, and let the Gougères dry inside for another 10 minutes.
Serve the cheese Gougères warm on a bed of lettuce, in an ear-dish.

TRICK : if you think your lettuce is not perfect enough to use it in plain leaves, cut them into very small strips (simply crumple a few leaves in you fingers and slice with a sharp office knife...)