A New Kind Of Cheese Board

Late night snacks for wedding revelers. I'm going to adopt this as our new house appetizer. Farmers cheese, sliced radishes, sweet butter, chopped scallions and uniquely savory coarse Maldon salt along side thinly sliced whole wheat bread. Easy, elegant, delicious.

Gourgères: A Girl's Best Friend

I always wanted to be one of those girls who casually produces a tray of cheese puffs, tea breads, or cocktail nibbles when neighbors pop by. The problem is -- it's not the 1950's, it is LA -- neighbors just don't pop by, and sadly, that kind of kitchen magic only happens in old movies -- unless you have a freezer full of gourgères. Cheesy, airy, bites. Gourgères --a classic French (Burgundy) treat usually made with rich Gruyère cheese -- is one of the few foods, along with peas and popsicles, that don't suffer from a stay in the freezer. Perfect for busy nights, making ahead for parties, and unexpected guests.

Bring 1 cup water (or 1/2 cup water 1/2 cup milk), 6 TB butter, and a large pinch of salt to a boil. Add a heavy 3/4 cup flour and stir with a wooden spoon over low heat until dough pulls away from the side of the pot and batter has dried out a bit -- about 2 - 3 minutes total. Put the cooked dough in a bowl, let cool 5 minutes then beat in 3 large eggs, one at a time, each until fully incorporated. Stir in a good pinch of black pepper, a sprinkle of nutmeg, and about 3/4 cup of shredded cheese. To shape you can put the dough in a piping bag and pipe out tablespoon size mounds on lined baking sheets -- or make free-form puffs by dropping batter off a tablespoon. In either case space the dough about 2 inches apart. Sprinkle with another 1/4 cup shredded cheese and bake about 20-25 minutes (check after 20 or so) at 400º. Serve hot or cool and freeze to reheat at 350º (about 10 minutes) as your super-hostess secret weapon.

Once you've got them down there is no end to the kitchen wizardry that starts with gourgères (well, Pâte à Choux pastry to be exact). Blue cheese, herbs, sausage or crisp bacon are great batter additions -- or when they are hot and ready you can slice and fill with mushrooms, ham, smoked salmon or whatever strikes your fancy for lighter-than-air mini cocktail sandwiches. Leave out the cheese, pepper, and nutmeg -- maybe beat in an extra egg and you have fluffy cream puff shells. Make the batter with all milk fill with ice cream and dip in chocolate sauce . . . profiteroles.

Homemade kitchen magic from flour, water, butter, and eggs.