Gougeres- Cheese Puffs from Bourguignonne

I have not been to Burgundy (or Bourguignonne). In my dreams I visit in the Fall, perhaps take a trip down the river on a barge. Food and wine is a big part of life in this region. Perhaps this is why Bourguignonne has given us some of the world's best chefs: Escoffier, Bocuse, Pepin, Franey, Boulud, and many others. One of the signature dishes of this region are gougeres. Gougeres are simply a cheese puff made with pate choux, the same dough used to make eclairs and creme puffs. If you master this dough, you can do all of these delicious pastries.

The first time I had gougeres I was doing a landscape consultation at a home in Rancho Santa Fe owned by a couple that owned a well known chain of french bistros about twenty-five years ago. It was a foggy, damp, cold November late morning. I was invited in for a cup of tea and gougeres. The kitchen was about 30'x 25' with french country antiques, limestone walls and floors, a walk in fireplace with a spit and places near the fire for pot au feue. I may as well have been in Lyon. The tea warmed the body, and when I bit into a gouger I was shocked. It was as light as air. The puff was nearly hollow, but there were gossamer threads of light, eggy pastry and hints of earthy cage aged gruyere cheese. It was utterly delicious. I hope you enjoy these. I have altered 3 different recipes to arrive at this one. This recipe includes milk in the pate choux and I think it makes all the difference. Most recipes only use water. This recipe is very easy, but will impress anyone. I like to dip them in really good home-made tomato soup or with a quality salad. Go very, very Lyonnaise and serve them with bowl of french onion soup. These puffs should warm up any brisk Fall or Winter morning.

1 cup water

1 cup milk

6 tablespoons butter, cut into tablespoons

3/4 t salt

1 1/2 cups + 1 Tbsp all purpose flour

1/2 t paprika

4 large eggs

2 cups shredded gruyere cheese (Dubliner cheddar, ementhaller swiss, and many other cheeses are equally delicious)

1/4 t black pepper

1) Preheat oven to 375. Line two baking sheets with parchment or silpat. In a saucepan, combine milk and water. Heat to a near boil while stirring. Add butter 1 T at a time while stirring, till all butter is melted into the liquid. Add the flour all at once. Add the salt, pepper, and paprika. Reduce heat to low, beat vigorously with a sturdy wooden spoon over low heat, cooking the dough until flour is thoroughly incorporated. Continue to beat about three minutes until dough pulls away from the side and bottom of the pan. Trust me, you will know when this happens.

2) Remove pan from heat and let stand at room temperature about five minutes, stirring occasionally to even out heat in the dough. Add the eggs, ONE AT A TIME, beating briskly and incorporating each egg throughout all the dough, before adding another egg. This is very important. Dough will become very silky.

3) Add the cheese to the dough by gently folding in a bit at a time. Drop 3 Tbsp mounds of dough onto the baking sheets, a couple of inches apart.

4) Bake the puffs for 15 minutes at 375. Then, turn pans GENTLY. Reduce temperature to 300 for thirty more minutes. CAREFUL with the door. These are like little souffles. You do not want them to deflate due to rough handling. Turn off the oven. Prop open the door with a wooden spoon and leave for another half hour. The gougeres will be crispy on the outside and light and puffy on the inside.

Enjoy!

Avocado, Ruby Grapefruit, and Shrimp Salad with Sesame-Ginger Vinaigrette

This combination developed when we had guests en route for dinner. Somehow we had forgotten to purchase lettuce. We had avocadoes on the counter, some Ruby Red grapefruit on the trees, and shrimp in the freezer. The combination worked, and these ingredients are seasonally perfect for Fall in southern California. The flavor combinations work together beautifully, and the colors are beautiful together.

I flour the shrimp lightly with flour containing salt, pepper, and a little paprika. Saute lightly in a little oil. Cook until just done, overcooked shrimp are rubbery.

Slice off outside red Grapefruit rind. Slice out each wedge of grapefruit.

Prepare avocado just prior to serving. I like to slice avocado with skin on, then remove skin from each wedge. It keeps the pieces from falling apart.

Assemble pieces artfully and drizzle with a sesame-ginger vinaigrette.

Dressing:
2 T white wine vinegar
2 T soy sauce
2 T honey or sugar
4 T olive oil
1 tsp sesame oil
1 tsp ginger
½ tsp curry powder

Applewood Grilled Salmon with Honey Mustard Sauce with Hints of Wasabi and Raspberry

Four to five ounce portions of salmon for four

(Farmed Atlantic salmon is now 7.99 per pound at Costco! At that price, better to go to Trader Joe’s for flash frozen shrink wrapped wild caught western salmon. Each species of western salmon has a different color, taste, and texture. Sockeye is definitely my favorite. DO NOT BUY: anything labeled Keta, Johnson Straight, or silverbrite salmon. These are marketing euphemisms for a species called chum or dog salmon by the locals in Alaska, because it was worthy of using for chum for better species or to feed to the sled dogs.

Wood chunks and smoking box for the gas grill

2 tbsp Dijon or your preferred type mustard (We particularly like the Raspberry-Wasabi Mustrd from the Cider Mill in downtown Julian for this recipe.)

2 tbsp Honey ( brown sugar may be substituted for honey, but use light brown)

2/3 can chicken stock (of course use a good fish stock if you have it)

2 tbsp butter

Sauce can be prepared ahead for better synchronization of cooking times. Combine mustard, honey and stock in a sauce pan. Over medium high heat reduce by half. You will be concentrating flavors. Sauce will thicken without flour or corn starch.

Set aside. Grill fish until JUST DONE. Very center should be just pink as you pull fish off the grill. It will “coast” to complete doneness as you plate. Warm sauce through. Add butter just before serving sauce.
Dill can be added to the sauce or put a sprinkle of it on the fish of those that like it.

Just for the Halibut

I am a huge fan of Alaskan Halibut for a variety of reasons. Reason one: they can become really large, sometimes really, really, large. Reason two relates to reason one: their huge size makes them a remarkably challenging big game catch. I have caught many halibut over a hundred pounds, as well as a 150, and a 200. It can be intimidating when you catch a fish almost as big as you are. The big ones can be extremely dangerous brought aboard a boat. They can break legs, bite off fingers, throw around hooks the size of tuna cans, five pound lead weights flying around, just generally create a lot of havoc. The big ones are shot in the head with a shotgun before being brought on the boat. The third reason I am a fan of Alaskan halibut is that they taste delicious. The flesh is very firm, very mild flavor, and is quite healthy for you.

The halibut we have on the Pacific coast of California is a different fish from its Alaskan cousin. It is quite a bit smaller, although it looks the same. A thirty or forty pounder in San Diego is a real trophy catch and quite a rarity. I have been on Halibut charters in Alaska where we were throwing back thirty pounders to hold open our limit of two for the big boys. One trip our average fish was eighty-five pounds, with a number of hundreds. The San Diego version of this flat fish is better pan sauteed with a nice beurre blanc. The meatier fleshed Alaskan fish are best as beer battered fish and chips or on the grill with a little wood smoke adding some complexity to the flavors.

Tonight Alaskan halibut was on the menu. We had a lot going on so things needed to come together fast. What to do? A very quick treatment that has its inspiration in a little Sicilian dish called pepperonata. We had this halibut dish with boiled baby red potatoes, and grilled asparagus.

Halibut with pepperonata

4 halibut fillets, about 4 ounces each

1 finely chopped shallot

4 cloves garlic, pressed

1 yellow bell pepper

1 red bell pepper

4 oz jarred sun dried tomatoes in oil (Trader Joe's brand is excellent)

4 slices cooked bacon

2 tbsp butter

3 tbsp white wine

2 tbsp olive oil

2 tbsp pine nuts

Cook bacon, set aside, chop when cool. Drain off bacon grease. Add olive oil to pan, saute shallot, garlic, then add chopped bell peppers.

De-glaze pan with the white wine. Add pine nuts. Cook until peppers are tender, but still have body. Add chopped bacon and sun dried tomatoes.

Grill halibut on the barbeque until just done, DO NOT OVERCOOK.

Add butter to pepper mixture, stir in, spoon over the halibut.

Enjoy