Best Blue Cheese Gougères Recipes

BLUE CHEESE GOUGERES

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
• Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
• In a large saucepan, combine the milk, butter, salt, black pepper, and Essence over medium-high heat.
• Bring to a boil, then remove from the heat. Add the flour, and stir constantly with a large wooden spoon to incorporate, about 1 minute.
• Return to medium-high heat and cook, stirring constantly, for 1 minute.
• Remove from the heat and add the eggs 1 at a time, beating well after each addition.
• Add the cheese and beat until mixed well and a slightly soft dough forms.
• Drop the dough by the spoonful onto the baking sheet.
• Bake for 10 minutes, then reduce the temperature to 350 degrees F, and bake until golden brown, about 20 to 25 minutes.
• Remove from the oven and serve immediately, or at room temperature.
• To make Emeril's ESSENCE Creole Seasoning (also referred to as Bayou Blast):
• Combine all ingredients thoroughly.
• Yield: 2/3 cup.

BLUE CHEESE GOUGèRES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375°F. Line large rimmed baking sheet with parchment. Combine first 5 ingredients in heavy medium saucepan. Bring to boil over medium heat, stirring until butter is melted. Stir in flour; reduce heat to medium-low. Stir vigorously until mixture forms large dough clumps and film forms on bottom of saucepan, about 1 minute. Remove from heat; cool 5 minutes.
• Meanwhile, whisk eggs in medium bowl. Transfer 1 tablespoon beaten egg to small bowl and reserve. Add 1/3 of remaining beaten eggs to dough in saucepan; whisk until well incorporated. Add remaining eggs in 2 additions, stirring until eggs are completely absorbed after each addition (dough will be sticky). Mix in blue cheese.
• Drop dough by teaspoonfuls onto baking sheet, forming about 24 walnut-size mounds and spacing about 1 inch apart. Using pastry brush, brush each mound with reserved egg, flattening any pointed tops.
• Bake gougères until puffed, golden brown, and dry, about 30 minutes. Do AHEAD: Can be made up to 1 week ahead. Cool completely. Place in airtight containers and store in freezer. Rewarm on baking sheet in 350°F oven until heated through, about 5 minutes. Serve warm.
• Test-Kitchen Tips:
• To make it easier to drop the sticky gougère dough onto the baking sheet, lightly spray the spoon with nonstick vegetable oil spray. To be sure that the gougères are fully baked, pierce the top of one with a small sharp knife. The inside should be hollow and dry. Don't underbake the gougères, as they may collapse.
• What to drink:
• A fancy party isn't complete without sparkling wine. With the appetizers, try the Cristalino Brut Rosé Cava ($9) from Spain. The pink bubbly is crisp and dry with lovely berry flavors. Plus, it's an incredible deal.

BLUE CHEESE GOUGERES WITH CARAMEL AND SALT

Steps:

• Make the gougeres: Bring water, butter, sugar, and 1/2 teaspoon table salt to a boil in a medium saucepan. Remove from heat. Stir in flour using a wooden spoon, and return to medium-high heat. (This mixture is called a panade.) Dry panade, stirring constantly, for 3 minutes. It is ready when it pulls away from the sides and a film forms on the bottom of the pan.
• Transfer panade to the bowl of a mixer. Beat on low speed until slightly cooled, about 1 minute. Raise speed to medium. Add 4 eggs, 1 at a time, beating until batter is smooth and shiny. It is ready when a string forms when you touch it with your finger. If a string does not form, the batter needs more egg: Lightly beat in remaining egg white a little at a time until a string forms. (This is called pate a choux.)
• Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Trace 25 circles onto each of 2 pieces of parchment using a 1-inch round cookie cutter, spacing 2 inches apart. Coat 2 baking sheets with cooking spray, and top each with parchment, traced side down. Transfer pate a choux to a pastry bag fitted with a plain 1/2-inch round tip, and pipe rounds onto parchment, using traced circles as your guide. Smooth peaks with a moistened finger, rounding tops to ensure even rising. Freeze until firm, about 30 minutes.
• Bake gougeres until pale golden brown, 25 to 30 minutes. Let cool completely on sheets set on wire racks.
• Make the blue cheese filling: Beat blue cheese and mascarpone in the clean bowl of a mixer on medium-low speed until well combined. Reduce speed to low, and beat in heavy cream and 1/2 teaspoon pepper.
• Transfer filling to a pastry bag fitted with a plain 1/8-inch round tip. Insert tip into bottom of each gougere, and fill.
• Make the caramel: Prepare an ice-water bath. Bring sugar and water to a boil in a small saucepan, swirling pan and brushing down sides with a wet pastry brush to prevent sugar crystal from forming. Cook, without stirring, until caramel turns dark amber, about 10 minutes.
• Remove from heat, and set saucepan in ice-water bath to stop sugar from cooking. Immediately dip the top of each gougere into caramel, and sprinkle with a pinch of coarse salt. (If the caramel hardens as you work, reheat over very low heat until it loosens.)

BLUE CHEESE GOUGERES

Steps:

• Combine 1/12 cups of water, butter and salt in a saucepean and bring to a boil. Remove from heat and immediately add all of the flour at once stirring vigorously with a wooden spoon. When the flour is incorporated, return the pan to the heat for several minutes stirring constantly until the mixture start to dry out and pull away from the sides. Away from the heat, add the eggs one at a time, mixing each one until well blended. The dough should be soft and shiny. Add the blue cheese. and season with black pepper. Butter a baking sheet. Using eiher a soup spoon or a pastry bag with a large tip, make mounds about 2 inches in diameter. Using a pastry brush, paint tops with a glaze of the beaten egg. Bake for 35 minutes, until puffed and golden brown. The puffs are best served warm from the oven but also good at room temperature. They can be made ahead and frozen, then popped into the oven to reheat before serving.