Anybody made The French Laundry version?
Two years ago, I made gougeres for my wine group for our Champagne theme. It had been the first time since 1985 that I’d made that dough, and that time it was for a Paris Brest.
This time, I made the dough the same way - mixing in the eggs with a heavy wooden spoon. I recommend doing it this way, as you will feel the texture of the dough change with each egg. It is worth getting to know the texture if you want to understand the ingredients.
I recommend using the finest cheeses possible in the gougeres. I recommend a mix of Comte and Gruyere, about 50-50. If you have a Whole Foods in Omaha, check with them to see if they have Beaufort - the finest example of Comte. Our WF has carried it.
I had the French Laundry version at the French Laundry on my birthday in September. My version of gougeres are far superior. The FL version was below average - not below average for a 3*, but below average for a French home cook. The word “lame” comes to mind.
making them tmw for NYE dinner
the FL recipe calls for white pepper but I am going to replace it with cayenne pepper
just popped mine in the oven. used Keller’s recipe but added cayenne. They only gave us 1 each at Per Se and between only getting a taste and all this talk, had to make them for NYE
Woaw… these were the BOMB!!!
I did serve these with Italian Porseccco
I didn’t know Bobby John made it to Nebraska.
Willie…
did the FL recipe, replaced white pepper with cayenne. They turned out really great, the 2000 gimonnet special club help cut through the richness of em!
Glad to hear…Making them tonight for dinner. Any special tips? (just the tips)
Mike…
If a May!!
The ones I made were so light … when you grabbed them… you almost couldn’t feel them .
Tips:
Dry the dough… till it forms a ball in the pan…
Make sure your eggs are at room temp… when you add them in.
I used a hand mixer too!! Just me … but it whipped them up nicely one at a time.
I did add cayenne pepper… nice addition
Pre- heat your oven to 400 ( in my recipe )… and then reduce to cooking temp ( 350 )… this keeps the elements from turning on to quickly and burning the bottoms and helps give that initial raise too.
I used a silicone mat for mine
Top with a coarse sea salt
Now I made a strawberry butter to go on mine and it was hit… I served mine with a Italian Pinot Prosecco Rosa
Happy New Yr!!
serve something with nice acid to cut through the richness!
I also like paul’s tip of starting at 400 vs 450 as mine were a tad overdone on the bottom.
Michael,
What time is dinner?
Say hello to John.
He tricked us with a very nice 04 Burg the other night.
Not a hint of green!
You would have gotten it blind. I missed the wine. I knew pinot but I guessed Russian River
from somebody good. 04 Rousseau Gevrey villages. Very good wine btw.
The Ducasse recipe looks fantastic Paul.
I have made these many times and they always seem to come out great.
Dinner is at 6PM, but he is eating with me and Kristi, not Liotta tonight.
Will be having caviar, salad with oven dried heirloom tomatoes & house cured bacon, Roquefort potato gratin and Flannery 45 day whole tenderloin with white truffle butter, shrooms in a beef and cognac reduction, and haricots vert
Don, If the gougeres go well tonight…then I’ll be making some more next week…Liotta is gonna provide the champagne!
Michael,
Good luck with the gougeres.
Sounds like a really nice dinner Chez Tex.
I make these all the time. You got some good advice, personally, I still to the classic, but one thing that I do is that I use mini muffin pans as opposed to cookie sheets, I think the resulting “gougeres” wind up being “lighter” and more attractive. The egg wash is very important for the texture and finish of them…
Hope yours turned out well…
Scott…
Egg wash… whites and a t of H20? Sounds right on!!
Paul
I use one beaten egg, no water… yolk and white… will give the gougere a darker color and a bit of a shiny glaze (I like shiny glazes) 
That sounds like your shampoo too! ![[berserker.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/8/8600bbd4810d342b8fbd4ffb62b4f0026275fd37.gif "berserker"){kind=small}