Pate a Choux

The usual use of pate a choux is in dessert items - cream puffs, eclairs, and other desserts along those lines. But as cool as it can be to make an eclair the first few times, it very quickly becomes dull. I can only really eat a couple, and they don't last long at all. Stick them in your fridge overnight, and in the morning you have soggy dough and gummy filling.

Instead, I much prefer gougere - a savory application with cheese and herbs and spices. Feel free to vary what specific additions you include, but don't increase the quantity too much - the dough can't rise right in the oven if there's too much cheese.

Ingredients
14 oz butter
1 qt water
Pinch salt
21 oz all purpose flour
14-16 eggs
7oz shredded gruyere
Q.S. chopped scallions
Q.S. cayenne pepper

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Put the butter, water, and salt in a saucepan over medium heat and bring to a boil. You need to be sure all the butter has melted before the water boils, or your liquid proportions will be off, so either chop the butter into smaller pieces first, or keep the heat lower until it's all melted.

When the mixture is at a full boil, remove from the stove and immediately pour into a mixing bowl. Add the flour, and turn the mixer to medium speed for one minute (using a paddle attachment), or until the internal temperature has reached 160 degrees (Fahrenheit, as will be all temperatures I use). If mixing by hand, use a wooden spoon and mix until the temperature reaches 160.

Begin adding in eggs in twos. Wait for each addition to be incorporated before adding more. The number of eggs needed may vary based on temperature and humidity. When finished, the dough will be smooth and shiny and really not like a dough at all. More like a paste. A sticky, gummy paste. I strongly recommend not trying any of it raw, because it's gross.

 Add the cheese, the scallions, and the cayenne (Q.S. means "Quantity Sufficient", or "to taste"). Fit a pastry bag with a round tip, fill with paste, and pipe rounds onto a parchment paper (Alternatively, you could probably spoon out lumps, but this stuff really is sticky and gross and will get all over anything. If you have no piping supplies, cut a hole in the corner of a zip-loc bag and pipe with that). Sprinkle the tops with any leftover cheese. Bake for 20-30 minutes, or until the puffs are golden all over. If necessary, pull one out of the oven for eating testing. The cheese in the batter will make the insides seem slightly underdone, but as long as the outsides are completely golden, they're fine.

Serve immediately, or let cool. They're good anytime. These will keep for a few days in the fridge, in theory, though I've never seen that happen.

Note: This recipe makes a lot of puffs. I halved it for a group of 5, and served it as an appetizer along with stuffed mushrooms. I think they were more popular than the fried chicken entree, but either way there was nothing left at the end of the night.