Gougères - French Cheese Puffs

Gougères – French Cheese Puffs

Gougères are classic French cheese puffs made with choux pastry and grated cheese (Gruyère / Comté). French they may be but it was in Russia that I really took a liking to them.

I blame it on the French bakery Volkonsky‘s, which was in dangerous proximity to Katya’s Moscow appt. A small bakery / café selling delicious pastries, sandwiches, breads and coffee not to mention gougères.

It was a lesson in how something so innocent can be so addictive … I could have eaten them by the handful.

In memory of  Volkonsky’s gougères, here is  my recipe (see link Gougères below):

Gougères – French Cheese Puffs Recipe : ERIKA ALLISTON – Sweet Pea Blog

• 250 mL cold water
• 75 gr unsalted butter (in small cubes)
• 3 pinches salt
• 150 gr white flour (sifted)
• 4 eggs
• 80 gr Gruyère cheese (finely grated)
• grated nutmeg to taste

Chou Pastry – Method:

1. Place water, butter & salt in a sauce pan. Heat till just boiling.
2. Remove from heat.
3. Add flour all at once. Using a wooden spoon, stir vigorously untill a smooth dough forms (see photo)
4. Let cool for 5 minutes.
5. Add 1 egg, mix well. Don’t panic, it will take a few minutes of vigorous stirring for the egg to fully mix in. At the beginning the dough will separate and look lumpy, just keep stirring!
6. Repeat step 5 for remaining three eggs, adding them one by one.
7. Now fold in the grated cheese & nutmeg.

Baking – Method:

1. Pre-heat oven to 200°C (normal not convection heat)
2. Using a teaspoon, place generous dollops of dough on a lined baking sheet (see photo), leaving 2cm  / 1 inch between them. *
3. Bake for 18-20 minutes.
4. Let cook and serve immediately. You can keep and reheat the gougères but they will lose their perfect consistency

NOTE : other recipes suggest chilling the dough before baking ie. 30-60 minutes in the fridge. I tired this and felt that it didn’t make a large difference, except that when cooked my gougères were slightly paler in colour  and softer in texture.

FESENJAN : Persian lamb recipe

Don’t you just love  how life has little culinary surprises in store for you…

This year we spent New Years Eve in a quaint Swiss chalet, nestled in the mountains of Eastern Switzerland. It was here that I had the good fortune of meeting Roswit & her daughter Lilly, in the kitchen…. We got to talking about cooking (funny that!) and it turns out that Roswit’s husband is Iranian and she’s learned to make several Persian dishes over the years. This explained why the chalet was filled with the delicious smells & fragrant spices during the holidays.

To my delight we exchanged details and one week later I opened my emails to find her wonderful Fesenjan recipe. This is a traditional Persian dish of duck, in a walnuts & pomegranate sauce. Roswit’s version uses lamb meatballs in a thick walnut, tomato & pomegranate sauce. It is not just the delicious scent of this dish that will capture your heart, not to mention your appetite, but the sumptuous flavour combinations. The lamb with cinnamon, garlic & a hint of sweet/sour pomegranate, with the unctuous nutty sauce that almost tastes creamy without the use of actual cream.

In the future I will try this recipe with chicken or duck and perhaps decorate the top with pomegranate seeds. I also recommend using fresh whole grain / whole wheat bread instead of white bread or bread crumbs as it keeps the meat very moist & juicy. I also used a slightly larger quantity of lamb (280 grams total), as I prefer this meat to onion ratio. This dish is excellent served on a bed of basmati onion rice (** see recipe at end of post).

FESENJAN

Walnut/Pomegranate sauce:

• 2 cups shelled walnuts
• 1 can peeled whole tomatoes (400g net weight can)
• 2 tablespoons pomegranate juice*
• 1 tablespoon white sugar
• 1 1/4 cups cold water

*For the pomegranate juice, cut a whole pomegranate in 1/2 and juice it. If you cannot find pomegranets use cranberry juice as a substitute.

• 280 gr mince lamb (I asked the butcher for a piece of the shoulder, fat removed & minced)
• 1 egg
• 4 slices fresh wholegrain bread
• 1/2 bunch parsley (you can add more if you like)
• 2  small white onion
• 2 garlic cloves, freshly pressed
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• salt & pepper
• 1 tablespoon vegetable (not olive) oil for frying meat balls

1. Sauce preparation: In a blender, combine walnuts, tomatoes, pomegranate juice, sugar & water until you have a creamy homogeneous mixture.
2. Pour sauce into a pot, cover & cook on low heat for 2 hours. Stir regularly. The colour will naturally darken. NOTE: if you are pressed for time, this recipe still works if you only cook the sauce for 30 minutes.
3. Meat preparation: I use the blender for all the chopping. 1st finely chop the onions. Cook till translucent with a little olive oil – they are easier to digest. Next finely chop the bread & parsley.
4. In a large bowl combine cooked onions, chopped bread & parsley, pressed garlic, cinnamon, salt & pepper, egg & minced lamb.
5. From the meatballs into ping-pong sized balls, set on a plat.
6. In a non stick frying pan on high heat, add vegetable oil & quickly fry the meatballs  for 2 minutes to brown the outsides. Turn regularly to avoid burning. DO NOT OVER COOK or they will dry out.
7. Now gently add the fried meatballs to the sauce. Turn of stove OFF & let sit for 15 minutes.

BASMATI ONION RICE Recipe:

• 200 grams basmati rice
• 600 mL cold water
• 3 whole cardamon pods
• 3 whole cloves
• 2 laurel (bay) leaves
• 4 pepper corns (any colour)
• 4 whole coriander seeds
• 1 whole cinnamon stick
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 3 tablespoons butter (1 for the onions, 2 for the rice at the end)
• 1 medium white onion

1. Wash the rice in cold water.
2. In a large saucepan add water, rice, spices & salt.
3. Cover & bring almost to a boil. Reduce heat to med/low and let cook for 20 mins or until water is absorbed. NO STIRRING NECESSARY. Watch that it does not bubble over at the beginning when you have just reduced the heat.
4. Finely chop onion and fry on a low heat with 1 tablespoon butter, until a light golden colour. Do not overcook as you want the onions to remain soft.
5. Once rice is cooked, remove from heat, add butter & fried onions, stir well, recover and set aside for 5-10 minutes before serving.  You can add a few flecks of saffron for colour!

Healthier rice : omit the fried onions & use little or no added butter

My NEW Dutch FOOD ADDICTION….  

ROAD TRIP - ok that’s not 100% true as I took a plane, so it’s PLANE trip…  and that just doesn’t have the same ring now does it. Oh well.  

Point being, I went to visit my brother in Holland this past weekend. Didn’t really know what to expect – outside the lovely architecture, Dutch paintings & Amsterdam’s claims to fame (wacky tabcky & the dancing shows…) But I was really there to see him so the rest was just details.  

Despite being warned that Holland was not one of the top 10 ten gastronomic heavens of this world,  (there was mention of much frying, mayonnaise & starchy carbs ), I still managed to followed my stomach around like a blood hound on the scent…

  

The mayonnaise was no deterrent – it has been my ketchup since I was little. And on hot crispy hand made french fries, who could say no.

The cheese was also spectacular. Though the service was a little brisk, and my request for only 200 grams promptly ignored – & replaced by a large DUTCH SLICE = 1/2 a kilo… The taste and choice was wonderful.

But the real diamond in the rough was the STROOPWAFFLES  If you haven’t tried these yet, you are in for a real treat. This is a cookie made of two thin vanilla waffles, with a thick sweet gold caramel in between. They are served hot in the Rotterdam Saturday farmers market, in small, medium or large sizes. It can be argues that they are surprisingly even better when left to cool!

***NEWS: OLIVE PICKING IN PROVENCE***

We escaped the city this past weekend for a little sun & olive picking. Despite a very trying train journey… apparently booking a ticket does not automatically include a seat…. and the fact that it poured rain all of Saturday (hail was an added bonus!), we still managed to get in some quality olive picking.

After the grape harvest comes the olive season in Provence. I am always astonished by how abundant the trees are and the wide variety of olive colours… from a pale to rich green, aubergine, burgundy, black and ochre - sometimes all on the same tree!

Olive picking season: October to December (depending on the type & use of the olives)

There are more than 100 types of olives however in France one of the most popular and those that grow in our grove are picholine olives. We were a little late in the picking season this year, so many of them had shrivelled like raisons & were lighter in weight as their water had evaporated. This apparently will give us a smaller quantity of olive oil, but with a richer consistency & stronger taste.

Now the decision is weather to send them to the cooperative where they are pressed with other people’s olives, giving you a % of oil based on the number of kilos you picked. Or we may decide to use a local press, who will make the oil with only our olives – the output is smaller but in my opinion the quality is better!

LA RESIDENCIA HOTEL – El Olivio

***Restaurant Recommendation***

I am physically back from my honeymoon, but I fear my heart & soul are still sitting on the sunny balcony of our room at La Residencia, a lovely hotel in Mallorca’s hillside village - Deia.

The trip from start to finish was perfect, lovely accommodation, impeccable service, breath taking views, the sea, lush hills and a little stone village. Then there was relaxing by the pool, a day at the spa, yoga classes, various day trips to local towns & cities including Palma – a general return to earth after the bussling busy weeks leading up to the wedding.

However as this is a food blog, and for those of you who have been reading along – there may be the occasional story, a trip down memory lane or a brief wander off the beaten track…. however I always find my way back to the essential – my stomach. And I tell you nothing was to prepare me for the pièce de résistance of culinary delights that was awaiting us on this island at the El Olivio RESTAURANT….

LA RESIDENCIA HOTEL

El Olivio- La Residencia Hotel, Deia (Mallorca)

You walk into the restaurant, your first impression is that of understated elegance - the room is in fact a refurbished 16th century olive press, complete with the original press subtly incorporated into the decor.

You sit down at a candle lit table – the service is personal but not overbearing. There is a fine menu to select from, one where you have difficulty choosing between dishes as everything looks delicious. I have a weakness for fish, as does my husband (it gives me a little tingle to say that word), so I chose the scallops to start followed by the turbot, and he had the prawns (shrimp) and dorade.

El Olivio’s website boasts that they take “the art of dining to yet another level: the seduction of the palate”. The cynics out there will scoff and say – yes well, where have we heard this line before??? However for once it is true. I am living proof.

All the dishes we ordered were of superb quality, presentation & taste, but out of these what really turned my head was the Scallop ravioli, stuffed with prawn quinoa, in a Noilly Prat sauce.

The first surprise comes when they place the dish on your table, and a little alarm bell goes off in your head …  ”what is this…. I ordered ravioli and this is a shell!” A large white shell in fact, one that is tightly closed with a thick rim of pastry, hiding its contents within. Before you had time to enquire, the plate is whisked away to be prepared. Upon its return, the shell had been opened to reveal a group of small plump scallops, that had been gently steamed to perfection in a light Noilly Prat (Vermouth) sauce, speckled with slivers of white truffles and spring onions.

I have never eaten anything so delicate before - that envelops your senses, then melts in your mouth. All the flavours harmoniously working together, while complimenting the tender flesh & taste of the scallops. I have not quite recovered, nor do I wish to. All I desire is to return in the very near future to eat at this little restaurant, tucked into the hills of Mallorca.

Barcelona

{BARCELONA, Summer 2007} This was my first trip, and definitely not my last. A city of nighthawks (we began dinner each night at 22h00 !!), where you quickly realise that one week will never be enough to see & do everything you want.

My lasting impression… youth, inventive architecture, vibrant colour and most of all culinary delights! Travel books are great, but I am like a beagle searching for the perfect scent, that will lead me to the undiscovered!

A helping hand is always welcomed, which I found when leafing through the July issue of ‘ELLE à table’, whose featured city of the month was none other than BARCELONA!!! With ‘ELLE’ as my bible we explored many of the suggestions, enriching our trip and taking us to areas that we might otherwise have missed. So here is my current list of favourites and others places I found en route:

FAVOURTIE FOOD PLACES

• Bubo: Caputxes 10, Metro Jaume 1 (patisserie & café beside, wonderful little cakes & macaroons)
• Cacao Sampaka: Consell de Cent 292, Metro Passeig de Gràcia (created by the brother of Ferra Adrian chef of El Bulli – try the Aztek hot chocolate (thick & not too sweet which I love) and their sugar sprinkled brioche
• Caelum: c/ De La  Palla 8, Metro Jaume 1, Liceu (Tel 93 302 69 93) (traditional monastery temptations ie turron)
• Cerveseria Catalana: Mallorca 236 (Tel 93 216 03 68) TAPAS Bar near metro Diagonal and Passeig de Gracia avenue, this is truely the BEST / don’t bother going anywhere else / packed with locals (always a good sign). Reservation needed if you don’t want to wait 1h!
• La Colmena: plaça de l’Angel 12 (Tel 93 315 13 56) PASTRIES (A favourite patisserie & bonboneria – lovely polvorones + turron)
• Demasré: Princesa 28, Metro Jaume 1 (trendy cookie boutique, handmade, sweet & savoury)
• E&A Gispert ‘Mestres Torradors 1851′: Sombrerers 23, Metro Jaume 1 (Epicerie / Delicatessen, wonderful roasted nuts – try PINE NUTS)
• Escriba: Rambla 83, Metro Catalunya (patisserie & café, historic building, wonderful pastries)
• Granja M. Viader: d’Ex Xuclà 4-6, Metro Catalunya, Liceu (Tel 93 318 34 86) (traditional creamery, wonderful petit déjuner (breakfast) ie ‘la Suis’ thick hot chocolate with fresh homemade whip CREAM, and lovely eucalyptus honey pots to buy)
• La Manual Alpargatera: Avinyo 7, Metro Liceu (Tel 93 310 01 72) (traditional, quaint espadrilles shop, colours + styles)
• Hôtel 1898: Rambla 109, Metro Catalunya (lovely with pool, view, central location)
• Patisseria Turro: Plave Sagrada Familia 3, a 2 minute walk from the church if you are needing a snack the tortilla is great
• St. Josep Market: a must see, Merto Catalunya, opens at 8h00, don’t miss the fresh juices (la pitahaya or strawberry & coconut, pineapple & kiwi)
• Tomo II: c/ Vic 2 (Tel 93 217 31 92) Wonderful ICE CREAM ‘gelateria artisanal’ – Italy you have competition! (open 13h-23h00) Try the tulip!
• La Venta: Place Dr. Andreu (Reservation needed : Tel 93 212 64 55 ) wonderful view of the city, great fish, or try the aubergine raviolis + crème catalane – little blue tram will take you up to the restaurant (last one at 20h00 !!)

NOTE: for ‘la tarde’ in Barcelona, where the shops often close at midday - sometimes until 16h00, but then are open till 20h, it is best to check their opening hours if you are unsure of your plan for the day. Also many shops are closed on Mondays, I found this out the hard way!