LESLIE BUDEWITZ: A few years ago, I bought Mr. Right a copy of Drinking French by David Lebovitz for Christmas – just in time to celebrate New Year’s Eve with some of David’s treats. Gougère and French Manhattans are a pairing the man himself recommends, and we heartily agree!
What, you ask, are gougères? Little cheese puffs, almost as easy to make as they are to eat! Lebovitz says Comte, Jarlsberg, or Cheddar would work in place of the Gruyere – what you’re after is a hard cheese with a strong flavor. Lebovitz recommends using your mixer’s paddle attachment; at the time we made these, we had a mixer that didn’t have one and the regular beaters worked fine. I’m looking forward to paddling with my new red Kitchen Aid this New Year’s Eve! He calls for cayenne; it’s a small amount, but if cayenne troubles you, try a sweet paprika. Because he’s a pro, he has several recommendations for mounding the dough – a spring-loaded scoop, a pastry bad, yada yada. I settled on a small silicon spatula and my finger as the best scoop.
Friends, we are all grateful for your presence in our lives and at the blog this past year. Everyone of us wishes you great joy, good food, and fabulous reading in the year to come!
PS: I finally figured out how to embed a PDF of the recipe for easy printing.
Scroll down to the 💕 for the link.
Gougères (adapted from Drinking French by David Lebovitz)
1 cup water
½ cup unsalted butter, cubed
½ teaspoon kosher or sea salt
1/4 teaspoon cayenne or sweet paprika
1 cup white, all-purpose flour
4 large eggs
2-3/4 cups grated Gruyere (divided use)
Adjust oven racks, raising the top rack a bit for maximum air circulation. Heat oven to 425 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or silicon baking sheets.
In a medium saucepan, heat the water, butter, salt, and cayenne over medium to medium-high heat, stirring until the butter is melted.
Add the flour all at once. Reduce heat to medium and book, stirring continuously, until the dough forms a smooth ball and no longer sticks to the side of the pan.
Scrape the dough into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, and let rest for 2 minutes, “bursting” the mixer (turning it on and off) a couple of times to cool the dough.
Turn the mixer to medium-high and add the eggs one at a time, incorporating each before adding the next, and stopping the mixer to scrape down the sides before each addition. Add 1-3/4 cups cheese and mix.
Scoop 1-1/2 tablespoons of dough onto your baking sheet and repeat, with at least an inch between the mounds, about 15 per baking sheet. Each mound should be about 1-1/2 inches wide. With the remaining cup of cheese, top each mound with as much cheese as you can.
Bake 5 minutes. Reduce heat to 375 degrees and bake until the top and sides are deep golden brown, about 30 minutes. Midway, rotate the baking sheets 180 degrees and switch their position on the racks so they bake evenly.
Serve warm or at room temperature.
Makes about 30.
French Manhattan (from Drinking French by David Lebovitz)
For each cocktail:
1-1/2 ounces cognac
1-1/2 ounces sweet vermouth
1/4 ounce Grand Marnier or Cointreau
1 dash orange or Angostura bitters
Candied amarena cherry or maraschino cherry, for garnish.
Add the cognac, sweet vermouth, Grand Marnier, and bitters to a cocktail mixing glass. Add ice and stir until well chilled.
Strain into a coupe glass. Garnish with a cherry. Eat with a gougère -- or two or three!
Bonne année, nos amis!
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At Seattle Spice Shop, owner Pepper Reece has whipped up the perfect blend of food, friends, and flavor. But the sweet smell of success can be hazardous . . .
Spring is in full bloom in Pike Place Market, where Pepper is celebrating lavender’s culinary uses and planning a festival she hopes will become an annual event. When her friend Lavender Liz offers to share tips for promoting the much-loved—and occasionally maligned—herb, Pepper makes a trek to the charming town of Salmon Falls. But someone has badly damaged Liz’s greenhouse, throwing a wrench in the feisty grower’s plans for expansion. Suspicions quickly focus on an employee who’s taken to the hills.
Then Liz is found dead among her precious plants, stabbed by a pruning knife. In Salmon Falls, there’s one in every pocket.
Pepper digs in, untangling the tensions between Liz and a local restaurateur with eyes on a picturesque but neglected farm, a jealous ex-boyfriend determined to profit from Liz’s success, and a local growers’ cooperative. She’s also hot on the scent of a trail of her own, sniffing out the history of her sweet dog, Arf.
As Pepper’s questions threaten to unearth secrets others desperately want to keep buried, danger creeps closer to her and those she loves. Can Pepper root out the killer, before someone nips her in the bud?
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ALL GOD'S SPARROWS AND OTHER STORIES: A STAGECOACH MARY FIELDS COLLECTION, now available in in paperback and ebook
Take a step back in time with All God's Sparrows and Other Stories: A Stagecoach Mary Fields Collection of historical short mysteries, featuring the Agatha-Award winning "All God's Sparrows" and other stories imagining the life of real-life historical figure Mary Fields, born into slavery in 1832, during the last thirty years of her life, in Montana. Out September 17, 2024 from Beyond the Page Publishing.
“Finely researched and richly detailed, All God’s Sparrows and Other Stories is a wonderful collection. I loved learning about this fascinating woman . . . and what a character she is! Kudos to Leslie Budewitz for bringing her to life so vividly.” —Kathleen Grissom, New York Times bestselling author of Crow Mary
Available at Amazon * Barnes & Noble * Books-A-Million * Bookshop.org * and your local booksellers!
A past president of Sisters in Crime and former national board member of Mystery Writers of America, Leslie lives in northwest Montana with her husband, a musician and doctor of natural medicine, and their cat, an avid bird-watcher.
Swing by Leslie's website and join the mailing list for her seasonal newsletter. And join her on Facebook where she shares book news and giveaways from her writer friends, and talks about food, mysteries, and the things that inspire her.
Swing by Leslie's website and join the mailing list for her seasonal newsletter. And join her on Facebook where she shares book news and giveaways from her writer friends, and talks about food, mysteries, and the things that inspire her.
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