How to Make Gougeres Like a Pro – New Years Eve Gougeres with Arugula, Bacon, and Carol’s Pickeled Onion

I had my doubts about this one. It seemed too simple, and from the book, they said this was their most popular New Years Eve hors d’oeuvre of the last decade for them. Outselling the likes of caviar, foie gras, oysters, crab, and truffle laden pizzas.

A gougere is a basically a french cheese puff, and in this case, gets stuffed with bacon, arugula, and pickled onions. Do the pickled onions the night before, it takes less than 10 minutes to complete, and you will not be sorry. The onions with the bacon are a match made in heaven, and work too well together. Seriously try this, it’s way better than you think.

Cookbook – Zuni Cafe

Ingredients –

For the batter –

Water – 1 cup
Unsalted butter – 3 tablespoons
Salt – 1 teaspoon
All purpose flour – 4 oz (1 cup)
Large eggs – 4, cold
Freshly cracked pepper – 1/2 teaspoon
Gruyere – 2 oz (1/2 cup) – cut into 1/4 inch cubes

To stuff –

~5 slices of bacon
Arugula
Carols pickled onions (recipe in step 1)

Tools –

Pans
Baking sheet

Step 1 – Make the pickled onions

Such an easy preparation, cannot wait to do this more.

I actually halved the recipe and think that is about the right amount without having too many left overs.

Onions – I used a little less than a whole yellow onion, thin slices
3/4 cup champagne vinegar
3/4 cup water
2 generous tbsp of sugar
2 bay leaves
1 small dried chili (I used pepper flakes)
A few whole dried peppercorns
Salt

Cut the onion slices into about 1/8 inch pieces. Ideally you have a mandoline to make the process much easier.

Combine the vinegar, water, sugar, bay leave, chili, peppercorns, and a few pinches of salt into a small sauce pan. Bring to a simmer over medium-low heat, then turn up to medium and add the onions. Gently stir in and return to a simmer, simmer for 1 minute.

Pour the hot brine into a bowl or glass jars, seal/cover and put in the refrigerator. The rings will turn glossy when they cool. This is best made at least a day in advance, but will keep indefinitely and becomes more complex overtime.

Step 2 – Making the dough and bake

Word for the wise, probably use a non stick for this. Preheat the oven to 400 F.

In a 2-4 quart sauce pan, bring the water, butter, and salt to a simmer over medium heat. Once simmering, add all of the flour at once, and stir vigorously until combined and is not sticking to the sides. Reduce heat to low, cook until the dough is shiny and stiff. Off the heat now, start to add the eggs one at a time. Beating thoroughly with a wooden spoon to completely incorporate each egg before adding the next. The mixture will initially resist the addition of each egg, but keep working the mixture until the egg has been absorbed. The final mixture should be no hotter than tepid, add the pepper and gruyere and stir in.

Take out a baking sheet and spray with non stick spray. Using a spoon, scoop a heaping tablespoon of the mixture to place onto your baking sheet. Use a second spoon to scrape it into a peaky mound.

Place in oven and bake for about 25 minutes. Some cheese will ooze out, and that is okay.

Step 3 – Make the bacon, prepare final steps

While the gougeres are baking, cook the bacon to your desired doneness. Cut into 1 1/2-2 inch segments, drain on paper towels.

Serve the gougeres warm. Split open the middle and stuff with a few pieces of bacon, onions, and arugula. They should be about 3 bites of heaven each.

And that’s it! About an hour to make, next time I have any kind of dinner party this is without a doubt what I am going to bring. Give it a try and let me know what you think!

And for the ratings…

Difficulty of ingredients to find – 3/5 stars – should be a normal trip to the store
Perceived difficulty going into the recipe – 3.5/5 stars – multiple components
Difficulty after recipe – 3.5/5 stars – making the gougeres are a big sticky mess that comes out delicious
Time taken – 3/5 stars – less than 2 hours total
Taste – 5/5 stars – I can’t emphasize how surprisingly good these were.
Make again? 5/5 stars – omg in a heartbeat