Addictive

Last night we had dinner at my parents and I was asked to bring an appetizer. I made one of my favorites - gougeres. They are addictive sort of cheese puffs, usually about the size of ping pong balls. Tonight they were a little bigger but still just as tasty. Usually I use gruyere, but tonight I used a sharp dry manchego. Just delicious.

Here's the recipe:

In a large pot, bring 1 cup water, one stick butter and one teaspoon salt to a boil. Add one cup flour and stir until it all comes together in one mass ( A wooden spoon definitely works best here). Take it off the heat, and transfer the batter to a large bowl. One at a time, beat in four eggs with an electric mixer. Then add 3/4 cup of whatever sharp firm cheese you want (gruyere is the traditional thing to use). Once it is all mixed together, transfer the batter to a plastic sandwich bag. Cut off a corner and pipe out (of course you can use a patry bag here) tablespoon size dollops onto a greased cookie sheet (Silpat works even better, if you have one). Sprinkle another 1/4 cup of cheese on top. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until they are just golden. Golden gougeres.