Food Pairings: Rosemary and Blue Cheese Puff

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Makes 30 to 40 puffs
This Rosemary and Blue Cheese Puff recipe is a variation of gougère, the French savory puff made with a cream-puff pastry base. Crisp on the outside and creamy inside, they are best served warm from the oven. To prepare them ahead, you can refrigerate or freeze the puffs unbaked, and pop them in a 400-degree oven 30 to 35 minutes before serving. 

1 cup water

• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1½ tablespoons chopped fresh rosemary
• ½ cup olive oil
• ¾ cup all-purpose flour
• ¼ cup rye flour
• 5 large eggs
• 4 ounces blue cheese, crumbled

1. In a medium saucepan, combine water, salt, rosemary and olive oil and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Add flours all at once and immediately whisk vigorously until you have a thick mass that pulls away from the pan. Transfer batter to an electric mixer (or if you prefer, leave it in the pan and use a whisk and muscle) and beat in eggs, one at a time. Beat in blue cheese.
2. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or baking mats, or lightly butter them. Drop batter in spoonfuls on baking sheets, allowing plenty of space between each spoonful for puffing. If desired, refrigerate or freeze pans until 30 minutes before serving.
3. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Bake 25 to 30 minutes, or until puffed and browned (allow an extra 5 minutes if they came from the freezer). If you have just one oven, it’s best to bake each pan separately.

Jerry Traunfeld, author of The Herbal Kitchen (William Morrow, 2005), is the former executive chef of the Herbfarm restaurant in Woodinville, Washington. He received the James Beard Award for Best American Chef of the Northwest in 2000.

Click here for the original article, Food Pairings: Fresh Herbs and Artisanal Cheese. 

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