Gruyere & Thyme Gougères

Gruyere & Thyme Gougères

Gougères are the perfect party snack served with a glass of sparkling wine. They are totally addictive. Gougères are small savory hors d'oeuvre made with choux pastry with addition of some kind of strong dry cheese like parmesan, gruyere, or a sharp cheddar. 

You can choose to fill the Gougères with some kind of creamy savory filling, or split them to make tiny sandwiches with ham or salmon. 

Makes about 30 small bite-sized puffs.

Ingredients:

• 250 ml water

• 100 g butter

• 130 g all-purpose flour

• 4 eggs

• 100 g gruyere cheese

• 1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves, chopped

• 1-2 pinch salt

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 400℉ (200℃). Grate the cheese and chop the thyme, set aside.

Put water and butter in a medium saucepan and bring it to a boil over medium heat. When the butter is all melted add all the flour at once, and stir the mixture with a wooden spoon. Lower the heat and keep stirring until a dough is formed and it pulls away from the sides of the pan and is slightly shiny.  Remove from heat.

Keep beating the dough with the wooden spoon until slightly cooled, about 2 minutes.  

Beat all the eggs in a bowl. Add a little of the beaten eggs, incorporating it thoroughly before adding more. Add the egg in small amounts until you have a thick paste but not runny at all. Stir in the cheese and thyme.

Fill a large pastry bag fitted with an open tip, with the dough. Pipe quarter-size circular mounds about 2 inches apart, onto the parchment paper. To get the best tops on the gougéres stop pressing on the pastry bag before you lift it, make a small circular move with your wrist as you lift the tip of the puff. Dab the tops of each gougéres with a fingertip dipped in water to smoothen the tops. 

(You can freeze the gougéres unbaked, at this point, and bake them right out of the freezer, adding a few more minutes to the bake time.)

Bake them for 18-20 minutes, until they are puffed up and golden brown.

DO NOT open the oven while baking, it will cause them to deflate.

Let the gougères cool slightly before serving.

Serve the gougères as a snack with a good glass of sparkling wine.

Enjoy!

Almond Date Bites

December 7th.
Wow time flies when you are a bit under the weather. Somehow a whole week passed me by, and I didn't post anything at all. Sorry to leave you hanging. This is not good, when I promised you 12 Days of Christmas. Well, I can still make it, if I pull myself together. 

These Almond Date bites is a healthier take on the classic havregrynskugler/Oat "truffles", I made as an easy Christmas treat growing up.

Makes about 20-22.

Ingredients:

• 50 g raw almonds
• 200 g pitted dates
• 25 g rolled oats
• 2½ teaspoon cocoa powder (I use Valrhona)
• 1-2 tablespoons cold coffee
• imitation rum (optional)

Coating:

• about 100 g dark chocolate (I use Valrhona)
• 35-40 g shredded unsweetened coconut

Directions:

Pulse almonds in a food processor until you have a coarse flour. Add the dates and blend until fully combined. Add the rest of the ingredients, and mix until it forms a sticky ball. 

Scoop out portions of the mixture using a small ice cream scooper. This will help you get an uniform size on the bites. Roll the bites into balls. Refrigerate for a couple hours, cover the balls with a thin layer of tempered dark chocolate and roll them in shredded coconut.

Enjoy!

Brownie Batter Dip

Brownie Batter Dip

Brownie Batter Dip, I kid you not, there is such a thing. A delicious, creamy, chocolaty dip perfect for all chocoholics out there. It's extremely easy to make, and a sinful way to eat apple and pretzels. Like you need an excuse to eat apples and pretzels.

Ingredients:

• 110 g (1 stick) butter, salted and melted
• 150g sugar
• 65 g all-purpose flour
• 30 g cocoa powder (I used Valrhona)
• 125 ml plain non-fat yogurt 
• 1 pinch salt
• ½ teaspoon vanilla paste
• 1 tablespoon cold, strong brewed coffee
• colorful sprinkles

Directions:

Whisk the melted butter with sugar, and vanilla until combined. Add cocoa, flour, salt and coffee, mix until combined. Mix in yogurt, whipping it in with a hand mixer, for a creamy and soft dip. 

Put the sprinkles on top and serve the dip with sliced apples and pretzels. 

Enjoy!

Duck Rilette

Duck Rilette

I live in Silicon Valley, and right now the biggest thing is Super Bowl 50. Everyone is talking about all thing Super Bowl. The Venues, the concerts, the parties, the fan-experiences, the celebrities and off course the food. Most popular must be wings and guacamole, but I wanted something different. Still going for the salty and meaty, I choose a duck rilette, served on toasted baguette slices. A perfect finger-food paring well with a cold beer.

I hope you all will enjoy your Super Bowl parties, weather you are there for the game, the halftime show or the food.

Ingredients:

• 4 duck legs, I got the legs from Grimaud Farms
• duck fat, enough to cover the legs completely, I used little over 1 lb
• 1 bay leave
• 1 sprig fresh thyme
• 1-1¼ teaspoon salt (you want to use 1 teaspoon salt pr 350 g meat)

Directions:

Place the duck legs, thyme and bay leave in a pot, pour in the duck fat to cover. Let the duck simmer for about 4 hours, until the meat pulls apart from the bones. Let the duck and fat cool, so you can handle the duck with your hands. 

Wash your hands thoroughly and/or use gloves. Pull the meat from the bones, discarding ALL bones and skin. Weigh the meat, to calculate how much salt you need for the seasoning.  You want to use about 1 teaspoon salt pr 350 g meat. 

Put the meat into the bowl of a stand mixer. Season the pulled meat with the salt. Using the paddle beat the meat for about a minute. Add some of the duck fat, you want to saturate the meat, so when squeezing the fat will slowly drip from the meat. You are looking for at paté consistency.  If not using immediately, spoon rilette into clean jars rinsed with a bit of vodka. Cover the rilette with reserved fat from the duck confit. Store covered in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.

Serve the rilette on thin slices of toasted baguette, and top it of with a cornichon. 

Enjoy!

Semi-Dried Tomatoes

Semi-Dried Tomatoes

I love love love tomatoes in any way or form. But theses semi-dried tomatoes are pure candy. They are nothing like sun-dried tomatoes, they are soft sweet and with the slight tanginess from fresh tomatoes.

You can use them for almost anything. On sandwiches, pizze (plural of pizza), in casseroles, or stews, in salads and just for a snack.

Ingredients:

• about 500 g cherry tomatoes, the amount is not important

• 2 tablespoons olive oil

• ¼ teaspoon salt

• ⅛ teaspoon pepper

• ⅛ teaspoon garlic powder

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 325 ℉ (165℃). 

Rinse the tomatoes, and cut them in halves, or quarters for the bigger ones. 

In a cup combine oil, salt, pepper and garlic. Place all the tomatoes in a large ovenproof dish or sheet pan, and coat them with the seasoned oil. Arrange the tomatoes skin side down, being careful not to crowd them. Bake tomatoes for 25-30 minutes. Reduce the  heat to 200℉ (95℃), and keep baking for another 2-3 hours.

Let the tomatoes cool slightly before storing them in a clean container filled with olive oil. They will keep for weeks in the refrigerator. 

Use the semi-dried tomatoes in salads, with any protein, bruschetta or just eat them as a snack.  

Enjoy!