Rosemary and cranberry gougeres

Picture it: November 2010, South Boston, Sunday afternoon.  It can only mean one thing: the Patriots are on.  What’s a football hating girl to do?  Prep for Thanksgiving!  I know I’m not being the finest Boston sports fan that ever lived, but at least I give up the remote for the football fanatic fiance.  My job for this Thanksgiving is hors d’œuvres and man am I gonna rock it.  Since I had some spare time on Sunday, I thought I’d prep a make ahead appetizer and throw it into the freezer until Thanksgiving.  One of my go to hors d’œuvres is the french savory pastry called gougères.  It’s a small, bite sized pastry puff filled with cheese and other delicious delicacies.  I first came across a recipe for gougères in a Martha Stewart mag (we are not worthy, we are not worthy-come on…Wayne’s World, people!) a few years ago for ones filled with Gruyère and black forest ham and man alive were they delicious.  They’re easy to make, easy to freeze and sure to please (yep, I can rhyme).  So when I was brainstorming for Thanksgiving apps, I thought I’d put an autumnal spin on the french fav by adding rosemary and craisins.  The true testament will be on Turkey Day when everyone digs in, but I think these are pretty darn scrumptious.  Here’s what I did:

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter

1/2 t salt

1 cup water

1 cup flour

4 large eggs

1/2 t pepper

2 T rosemary, finely chopped

1/2 cup craisins, chopped

1 cup cheddar cheese, finely grated (you could also use Gruyère, but I happened to have cheddar)

First off, pre-heat the oven to 400 degrees.  Then bring the butter, water, pepper and salt to a boil in a saucepan.  Once the mixture starts to boil, add in the flour and stir constantly until a ball of dough forms.  You want to cook the dough for about 2 minutes.  Remove from the heat and let the dough cool for two minutes.

Transfer the dough to a large bowl and add the eggs one by one and stir with a wooden spoon.  Once all the eggs have been incorporated, stir in the rosemary, craisins and cheese.

Grab a large zip lock bag (or if you’re a fancy pants in the kitchen, use a pastry bag) and spoon the mixture in.   Cut a small hole at the bottom and start piping onto a cookie sheet or pizza stone.

I used a small spiral configuration for the shape, but do whatever you feel is comfortable.  It’s hard to get used to using a piping bag, but you’ll get the hang of it.  When all of your dough has been piped, cook for about 25-30 minutes.

These little nuggets of deliciousness puffed up beautifully in the oven and got all gooey from the cheese.  The rosemary and cranberry combination is so good and perfect for Thanksgiving. 

The great thing about gougeres, is that you can add any ingredient to it, as long as you follow the initial recipe for the dough.  Feel like a heavier app?  Try adding finely diced ham.  Feel like something lighter?  Add tons of herbs and lemon zest.  Feeling like Italian?  Try finely diced prosciutto, mozzerella and garlic.  The list goes on and on.

While I continue to completely ignore the Patriots on the TV in the back ground, I’m going to throw these puppies in a zip lock and into the freezer they will go.  When I reheat them on Turkey Thursday, I’ll throw them in a 400 degree oven for about 10 minutes and be on my way to food coma city…where I’m the mayor.

- Jackie