Written by Kevin Kapusi Starow
Gougeres are a traditional French recipe that is well-loved and admired across the globe. All we have done here in the recipe for Chanterelle & Herb Gougeres is to add our own touch to it. Adding a selection of fresh herbs and chanterelle mushrooms and the creaminess of Gruyere cheese.
Basically, Gougeries are crispy chou and cheese pastries filled with a variety of delicious fillings, they are relatively simple enough to prepare. This recipe for Chanterelle & Herb Gougeres takes into account the equipment you normally find in a domestic kitchen.
Unfortunately for the best results, you will need to make your own pastry, though rest assured it is simple enough.
Chanterelle & Herb Gougeres
Equipment
- Piping bag
- baking tray
- Saucepan
Ingredients
Pastry
- 120 gm Water
- 120 gm Milk
- 115 gm Butter Unsalted - chopped
- Pinch Salt
- 236 gm Plain Flour
- 4 Eggs
Filling
- 90 gm Flour plain
- 90 gm Butter
- 1 lt Milk
- ½ Onion
- 1 Clove
- 1 Bayleaf
- 3 Shallots - peeled & diced fine
- 200 gm Chanterelle mushrooms
- 300 gm Gruyere Cheese - grated
- 20 gm Tarragon - chopped
- 20 gm Thyme
Instructions
Pastry
- Pre-heat the oven to 200c
- Line a baking tray with baking paper.
- In a saucepan combine the water, milk, butter and salt and bring to the boil
- Add the flour reduce the heat to medium and stir with a wooden spoon or a mortise till a dough forms. Reduce the heat to low and dry out the dough, continually stirring, till it pulls away from the sides, about 2 -3 minutes.
- Allow the pastry to cool for a few minutes prior to beating the eggs into the dough, one at a time. NOTE: it the mixture splits at this stage, keep mixing till it all comes back together.
- Fill a pastry bag fitted with a large round nozzle, and pipe 20 -30gm rounds upon the baking sheet, approx. 4 cm apart.
- Bake in the pre-heated oven for 20 minutes, until puffed up, and golden brown, the base should also be coloured and crisp to the touch.
Filling
- Heat the milk, clove, bayleaf and onion in a pot over medium heat till it reaches 85 – 90 Celsius, then keep warm.
- In a deep pot melt the butter over a medium heat, once melted add the flour and mix together into a dough.
- Reduce the heat and cook the dough or roux out for several minutes, whilst continuously stirring.
- Add the milk a ladle full at a time, whilst stirring, until all of the milk has been incorporated and you have a sauce consistency.
- Reduce the heat to low and cook out for 20 minute, stirring occasionally to prevent sticking
- Pass through a fine strainer into a clean pot, and keep warm.
- In a hot deep pan sauté off the onions and thyme in a little olive oil, till caramelized. Then add the chanterelles and sauté till cooked through.
- Add this mix to the sauce with the chopped tarragon, and mix through.
- Finally stir through the gruyere till melted and well incorporated. Taste and adjust seasoning if required.
Construction
- I like to use a large 60 ml syringe as I can gauge the exact amount of filling in each Gougere without weighing them individually. You can get them easily at a good chemist.
- This is the easy and fun part, fill the syringe with the sauce mixture. Push the tip of the syringe into the top of the gougeres and fill with 10 – 20 ml of the sauce. It is that easy, because the pastry has an open cavity within them to fill. Now just serve them.
Let’s Make a Difference
Every day we have the opportunity to make hundreds of choices. We are so fortunate to live in a time where information is so easily accessible and we have the opportunity and freedom to make choices that we feel are the best for us and our families.
I encourage you to continue educating yourself and others about the benefits of living a plant-based lifestyle. Cook a plant-based meal, opt-out of products like leather, watch a documentary with a family member or friend. It’s easy to feel like the choices we make are small, but when we make these choices together, we can make a big difference!
