It's Choux Time, Part 1: Gougeres

I am not a baker. Sometimes I toy with cookies, when I get a mad hankering for some sugar, and I try to make soda bread around St. Patty's Day. But really, the precision that good baking requires is just too time consuming and finicky for me. So, I was excited to discover just how easy choux (pronounced like "shoe") dough is. It's the same puffy, crispy, buttery dough used for eclairs, among other delicacies. So, for a foodie dinner party, I decided to try some gougeres (pronounced "goo-jairs") - delightful French cheese puffs.

Gougeres are kind of sweet (in the awesome sense, not the "not salty" sense). They look and sound all fancy (ooh, French!) but are essentially homemade puffy Cheez-Its. It took me about 15 minutes to make the dough and pipe out out the gougeres, and another 20 to bake. For foodie dinner party, I made a sweet potato mousse (just whip up one large cooked sweet potato with about a pint of heavy cream until soft peaks start to form) and used the same piping method described below to stuff the cooled gougeres (just make a small hole in the side and pipe in the mousse).

A couple of things I've learned as I've tried to recreate this dish. First, do NOT leave your dough to sit. It takes out all the puff of the puffy pastry. No good. I ended up with flat little disks and had to make a sort of "gougere whoopie pie" instead. Still cheesy and satisfying, but not what I was going for. Second, these things are good cold, but better warm. If you end up with some leftovers, reheat them in the oven to maintain the crispy exterior, instead of the microwave.

Note: I've been using the Cordon Bleu recipe for my dough, which calls for four eggs. However, I found that the dough came out a eggier than my liking. So, I've adjusted it to three eggs. Try it either way, and see which you prefer.

Gougeres

1 cup water
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
1 cup flour
1 tsp salt
3-4 eggs (see note above)
1/3 cup shredded cheese (cheddar, parm, gruyere, etc)

1) Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In medium stock pot, bring butter and water to a boil. Once butter is melted, remove from heat and stir in flour until dough is smooth and shiny with a wooden spoon (whisks don't work in my experience). Add eggs slowly and mix until well incorporated and smooth. Return to low heat and stir a minute or so to dry off any excess moisture.

2) Let the mixture cool a bit, maybe 5 minutes. Grease a baking sheet in the meantime. Stir the cheese into the dough. Then transfer it to a gallon-size ziploc bag.

3) Cut a small bottom corner off, creating a hole about a centimeter wide. Pipe the dough onto the baking sheet (similar to squeezing a large tub of toothpaste or frosting something) to make dough into 1-inch dollops. The dough shouldn't spread too much while baking, so you can pack the gougeres in pretty tight.

4) Sprinkle the dough-dollops with any extra cheese and bake until golden brown, 15-20 minutes. Serve immediately.

Rachel's Mushroom Pâté

Here's a fanTAStic idea for the upcoming  now-upon-us holiday cocktail party and open house season, whether you're planning your own or attending at least seven per weekend until New Year's Day.  Let's face it: a platter full of the three C's (cheeses, crudité, and charcuterie) are super easy for hosts to throw together and will satisfy most guests, but c'mon....it gets a little predictable. 

The humble, lovely mushroom gets elevated to prize-winning hors d'oeuvres status in this easy-to-make, everyone-is-happy appetizer:  It's rich and delicious but not heavy!  It's non-gluteny and vegetarian!  It goes well with wine, beer, cocktails, and, my personal favorite, Champagne!  Serve it with thin baguette slices, warmed pita triangles, or simple stone-ground wheat crackers, which you can find just about everywhere.  Avoid any flavored or too-sturdy crackers that will overwhelm the pâté's delicate brilliance.  This Mushroom Pâté is so incredibly delicious you'll be making fresh batches and playing with variations all through winter.  It stores well in tupperware in the fridge, so make big batches and then dole it out to people you really like.  *A final note: Presentation matters here, because whipped-up mushrooms do not make the most attractive thing on a buffet table: place a molded round of this on a colorful plate and surround with fresh herbs or grapes, or do it the easier way and just use a brightly colored bowl to hold the goods, surrounded by crackers and breads.  Everyone will be begging you for this recipe.

K, wishing you Bon appétit and happy holiday party season!

*I would recommend at least doubling, if not tripling this recipe.  It is that good.  Plus, it'll hold up well to stretch over several parties.  IF you really have leftovers, it makes a fabulous sandwich with some roasted peppers.

1 c. onions, minced
2 c. assorted mushrooms, roughly chopped
2 T. unsalted butter

some salt and fresh pepper
about 1/2 t. each thyme and paprika
plus a pinch each of tarragon and cayenne
1/3 c. sherry
2/3 c. blanched almonds (while blanched whole almonds are sometimes hard to find, you can almost always  purchase "slivered almonds" which are blanched and then slivered in the baking or nut section)
1 c. cream cheese, softened and at room temp

Sauté onions and mushrooms in the butter for about 10 minutes over medium-high heat, until they're nice and soft.  Add the next ingredients--salt through sherry--and sauté everything another 10 minutes or so.  At that point there shouldn't be too much liquid at the bottom.  If there is, keep cooking until it's mostly--but not totally--absorbed.

Meanwhile, pulverize the almonds  in your food processor until smooth.  Add in cream cheese.  Then add the mushroom mixture to the puréed nuts and cream cheese.  Whirl it around a few minutes until the mixture's nice and smooth.  Taste, and add salt and pepper if necessary.  Place in a sealed tupperware in the fridge.  See above for serving ideas.

Eggplant Caponata (or "Gobbladina")

I know that October indicates that we're pretty firmly into autumn, but I associate this classic Italian eggplant relish, Caponata, with summertime parties at my Italian grandparents' house.  For some reason, my grandmother calls this dish "Gobbladina," as in, it's-so-incredibly-delicious-everyone-wants-to-gobble-it-up.  To this day, I'm not totally sure why she gave it that nickname.  When I was a kid this was one of my favorite foods made by Grandma; of course it was always homemade to her exact specifications, like everything else that came out of her kitchen--or house, for that matter (she was also a highly accomplished dressmaker).  Since I got to enjoy it only a few times a year, Gobbladina always felt like a really luxurious, rare treat--my parents never made it and believed that the pre-made "caponata" sold in jars in supermarkets just couldn't match up to the sweet, slightly spicy, wonderfully gooey delicacy that Grandma could create from a few humble vegetables: eggplant, onion, and tomato. The remarkable thing is that Gobbladina is incredibly easy to make, and it's sort of hard to screw up.  Even if you only roughly follow the instructions below, you'll end up with something delicious.

Traditionally, Caponata is served as part of an Italian antipasto platter before the "real meal" begins, but if you're like me, the antipasto has some of the best stuff: briny olives, chunks of salty sharp Provolone, strips of sweet roasted peppers, cured Italian meats, and of course, Caponata.  This is certainly a wonderful way to enjoy it, but I'm so in love with this food that I have devised many more ways to appreciate it regularly--see below the recipe for an inspirational list.

Now, on to the ingredients:  depending on which region in Italy one hails from, Caponata is prepared in several variations: some include chopped olives or capers, some are more oily with fewer spices, some are infused with a heavy dose of citrus zest.  The version I wrote up here is of course, in my opinion, the best way to do it--the Sicilian way.  I thank my lovely Grandmother, Agatha, for instilling in me such a divine devotion to eggplant: via Gobbladina in the summer, and her rendition of Eggplant Parmesan the rest of the year--but that's for another post entirely.

Mangia!
K, feeling fiercely loyal to her wonderfully talented 90 year-old grandmother

Eggplant Caponata (or "Gobbladina")

1/3 cup olive oil
1 very large yellow/Spanish onion, cut into a 1-inch dice
1/4-1/2 t. red pepper flakes (increase according to your heat level preference)
4 garlic cloves, finely minced
2 medium eggplants (about 2 1/2 pounds total), cut into 1-inch cubes
1 T. sugar
1 t. ground cinnamon
1/2 t. unsweetened cocoa powder
2 t. fresh thyme
3/4 cup tomato sauce (from a small can of plain tomato sauce or homemade if you have it)
1/4 cup orange juice
salt and freshly ground pepper
1 T. capers, rinsed and drained (optional)
3-4 T. toasted pine nuts, for garnish (optional)

1. Once your ingredients are prepped, heat the olive oil in your largest skillet or enameled cast iron dutch oven.  When the oil is hot add the onion and red pepper flakes and sauté about 5 minutes until the onions are softened and almost translucent.  Add the garlic and stir another 1-2 minutes.
2.  Add the eggplant, stirring it around so it's coated with a bit of the oil and onion.  Then add in the sugar, cinnamon, cocoa powder and mix well.  Stir regularly for about five minutes until the eggplant is well softened.
3.  Add in the thyme, orange juice and tomato sauce and stir well.  When the mixture comes to a boil, lower the heat and simmer for 10-15 more minutes.  Season with salt and pepper.  Allow mixture to cool, then stir in extra virgin olive oil and capers if you're using them.  Top with pine nuts, if desired, or store in a Tupperware in the fridge for up to a couple of weeks (if it lasts that long).  The flavors develop really well overnight, so try to make it a day in advance.  It tastes best when served at room temperature.

Ideas for Enjoying Caponata at breakfast, lunch, dinner, and in-between...
plated next to grilled ciabatta bread and poached eggs for an elegant brunch
displayed on an antipasto platter with olives, cheese, roasted peppers, etc.
stuffed in a pita pocket with some garbonzo beans and feta cheese crumbles
laid on top of a crostini spread with goat cheese
stirred into a mild cannelini bean spread
stirred into cooked pasta, rice, or other grains (barley, quinoa, etc.)
spooned on top of grilled fish, chicken, tofu, or halloumi cheese
layered in a sandwich with turkey breast and mild cheese
mixed with simply steamed greens like baby spinach
tossed with some roasted, diced potatoes for an Italian "potato salad" 
rolled into a wrap with oil packed Italian tuna and fresh parsley

Risotto, Part 2: Arancini (Fried Risotto Balls)

For my international pot luck a little while back, I decided to advance my risotto-making to the intermediate level.  I saw a recipe in my latest splurge, Andrew Carmellini's Urban Italian, that outlined the process for arancini, stuffed deep fried risotto balls.  Now, I'm a Minnesotan.  We are known for our "Minnesota Nice" demeanor, ten thousand lakes, and having one of the greatest state fairs of all time. Besides being one of the largest fairs in the country, and home to 2,000 pound pigs that my dad drags me to year after year, the State Fair is also known for its abundance of food that has been stuck on to a stick and deep fried.  Man, I love things that are stuffed with cheese and deep fried.  Or just cheese deep fried.  Brings me back home with every bite.