Gougères have become familiar to me, and perhaps other non-francophiles in the D.C. area, since Michel Richard opened Central. Initially a 'gift from the kitchen', Richard's gougères have been receiving delighted reviews from those who eat them.

Essentially a cheese puff, or miniature soufflé, a gougère is a savory choux pastry with cheese. Gruyère cheese is traditionally used, but other cheeses can be substituted. For instance, Richard's recipe calls for Parmesan cheese and not Gruyère.

For my gougères, I used a recipe from Gale Gand. Her recipe calls for Fol Epi, a young French-style Swiss cheese. I happened to have enough Pecorino Romano on hand to shred, so I improvised a bit and incorporated what needed to be used up in my refrigerator.

The taste using the Pecorino Romano was spot on, with a deep savoriness from the cheese, and a bit of heat from the cayenne.  My only problem was that the puffs seem to deflate rather quickly after coming out of the oven. Perhaps I need to put a bit more shoulder into stirring my choux pastry next time!

This recipe makes about 3 dozen gougères.

Ingredients

1 cup milk
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
4 eggs
1 cup grated Fol Epi (young French-style Swiss cheese), Gruyere, or other Swiss cheese (I used grated Pecorino Romano)
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1/2 teaspoon dry mustard powder
1/4 teaspoon cayenne

Directions

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.

Heat the milk and butter in a medium-large saucepan over medium-high heat. When the mixture simmers and the butter is melted, add the flour all at once and stir. Add the salt and pepper. Reduce heat to medium and stir for 1 to 2 minutes to dry the mixture out. Turn off heat and stir a bit more to cool slightly.

Add the eggs 1 at a time, beating well to incorporate each egg before adding the next. Stir in the cheese, mustards and cayenne and mix until smooth. Transfer the mixture to a pastry bag with a large plain tip. You can improvise like I did, by using a large plastic baggie with a hole cut at one tip.

Pipe the mixture onto to a parchment paper-lined cookie sheet in rows of kisses, about 1- inch in diameter.

Smooth out any bumps with a fingertip dipped in flour.

Bake for 10 minutes. Reduce the heat to 375 degrees F and continue baking until golden brown, about 8 to 10 minutes more.