First I’d like to apologize, my Armenian Nutmeg Cake post was inadvertently published on June 10 yesterday (which was June 15) I was sure I had it set up for June 20. I hastily reset the publish date to June 20 without realizing all the comments attached. I am hoping the comments remain but if they don’t I apologize in advance and by no means expect you to comment again. WordPress can be such a pain in the !@## sometimes! Now back to our regular programming.
I am soooo excited with my vegetables this year! I grew green onions for the first time this year on the garage roof (best sun ever), and I also filled a pot with lettuces on our back deck. The first harvest was amazing. I haven’t bought my tomato plants yet, these weekends have been crazy hectic and this one is no different.
It’s cocktail season on the back deck and you know how I love my little hors d’œuvres whenever I serve booze. So I decided to make French Onion Gougeres, little cheese puff stuffed with the deliciousness of sweet onion confit and gruyère cheese. The cheese is all melty and the puffs are reminiscent of the crouton within the French Onion Soup and the caramelized onions are of course the onions within the soup. The only thing that’s missing is the rich beef broth, but I didn’t want my gougeres soggy so it was omitted.
I made the puffs a couple of months ago and froze them. They freeze incredibly well. For the Cheese Puff recipe, please click here.
I filled these beauties with the onion confit I also made some time ago and froze (I freeze small batches in little zip lock bags so I can pull out a small amount or two and use as needed). (Yes, Norma, I also cook for my freezer!).
Please click here for the Sweet onion confit recipe.
French Onion Gougeres or Pate a Choux
Serves 2 for hors d’œuvres
Ingredients:
- 4 pre made cheese puffs (they defrost very quickly)
- 4 tsp Sweet Onion Confit
- 4 1cm squares of good quality gruyère
Directions:
- Pre heat oven to 375°F
- Cut the tops about 3/4 off the cheese puffs leaving them attached at the back.
- Stuff each of the puffs with 1 tsp of the onion confit and one square of the gruyère.
- Press the tops back down. Bake for about 12-15 minutes until the cheese has melted and the puffs are firm to touch (we like them a little crispy on the outside).
- Serve immediately with Vodka Martinis, shaken and not stirred.
Cheers.
Nice harvest from your roof garden. Don’t you just love the freezer? I love cooking for it, not sure if I could survive without a stand alone freezer.
LikeLike
That’s true, Norma, but it’s getting through the inventory that’s sometimes difficult!
LikeLike
Great little appetizers Eva! I’ll bet you could make a fortune selling those right out of the oven.
– Michael
LikeLike
That’s very flattering, Michael, thank you kindly.
LikeLike
I had a post that posted 3 days earlier than the date I actually posted it…making it so far back in the reader it was hard to find. I changed the date, but it didn’t have any effect. Poo. Love these little nibbles, and now when we are out on deck with a drink and an app, and the drink is in a martini glass (the drink being an Aviation of late) I think of you and your martini’s and apps, Eva!
LikeLike
Thanks Betsy. I read your issue with W/P and that’s what made me repost and write about it.
Thank you for your flattering and kind words. Cheers to you!
LikeLike
I actually just thought I had another issue on the post I made yesterday for my year anniversary, then realized I’d put in 1:00 instead of 13:00 military time, so it posted 1 a.m. in the reader instead of 1 p.m. Eastern. I’ll get the hang of it one of these days… 😉
LikeLike
The timing is another issue, but at least it posted on the correct date. I had actually posted two in one day by error once, now THAT was extremely annoying as I like to spread out my posts to every two days. Oh well. Blog on!
LikeLike
I love the way you said that, Greg, Bust Out. And thank you.
LikeLike
I always like when you bust out the martini glasses. I love this whole post.
LikeLike
Mmmmm. These look like little puffs of heaven. And I love patio drink/appetizer season. We’re heading out to ours this evening. 🙂
LikeLike
Thanks Kristy, it is indeed a time when I truly appreciate the wonderful way we can enjoy our back yard.
LikeLike
I love cocktail season out on the back deck and it would be a perfect evening with a half dozen of your pate a choux. Now I just need to get that back deck thing sorted out. 😉
LikeLike
Thanks Jed, you and Liz would be welcome for cocktails anytime!
LikeLike
I love that you cook for your freezer.. much better than my “stuff that old food in the freezer until I can get to it”, lol. I might be more tempted if I filled my freezer with food like yours! Gougeres sound so exotic and I’m going to just have to try these. I love new appetizer recipes!! xo Smidge
ps how on earth did you get all these veggies.. are you that far ahead of Alberta??!!
LikeLike
Hi Smidge and thank you for your kind words. Ontario is generally about a month ahead but this year we barely had winter and spring came about a month early so it’s been an incredible boost for the veggy crop. I’m planing tomatoes today and am cursing myself as I would have had fruit by now had I done it a month or two ago!
LikeLike
Isn’t that something?! I’ve been thinking I need to have a second home with a longer growing season.. that would be so wonderful, for flowers as well!
LikeLike
Very clever, Eva, to make and freeze the cream puffs, as well as the confit, for just such an occasion. I, too, rely on my freezer but for future meals not nibbles — but that will change. These look so good and the cream puffs so versatile that you’ve inspired me. An afternoon spent cooking means there’ ll be something other than olives to eat come cocktail hour. What a concept! 🙂
LikeLike
Thanks John. Like you it’s sometimes difficult to cook small quantities do the freezing is the perfect solution. Plus it’s a quick and easy hors d’œuvres if we have drop-ins!
LikeLike
Oh, I commented but happy to comment again. I’m having a few challenges myself at the moment with my commenting system – no fun at all. I am intrigued at how you were able to turn your roof into a veggie patch. Your little pastries filled with cheese and onion relish look very morish and I’m sure I could eat quite a few of these xx
LikeLike
Thanks Charlie. I have a few pots of earth with onions and garlic on the roof; today I buy my tomato plants (little late, but they will be fine).
Good luck with your commenting issues, they can be such a pain.
I’ve never heard that word ‘morish’ before I started reading your blog and Lorraine’s blog, it must be Australian.
LikeLike
Oh my! Them little balls of deliciousness look irresistible!
LikeLike
Thanks Fati.
LikeLike
Oh Eva, I envy your summer right now!
I mis-publish my posts sometimes….actually, quite often. Only I don’t apologise and hope everyone that noticed quickly forgets! I always wonder if other bloggers wrote articles in advance or over long periods of time like I do. Sometimes a blog post will take me a month or more to nail down. An idea starts and then becomes and obsession and then a recipe is calling to be written, experimented on, photographed and tasted. It’s more work than some may think, but I enjoy documenting my learning.
Your tiny faux French Onion soups are wonderful! French Onion Soup is on my list of things to try this winter and I’ll keep your minis in mind when I’m making mine.
LikeLike
I felt the same way when i was reading about your summer, Genie.
I had wondered about that too. I have four posts on the go now and two in the camera just waiting to be posts and a guest post I’m formulating!
A well done French onion soup is divine. The trick is the rich beef stock and of course the Caramelized onions. The bread shouldn’t be soggy, just slightly crispy and the cheese should be in the perfect proportion so its not too cheesy. I’d love to hear about your experience when you find one you’d like to try. You should check Yelp for restaurant opinions, it seems to be foodie oriented.
LikeLike
Those look like gorgeous little appetizers – I bet the sweet taste of onion confit coming through was just the “icing on the cake” 🙂
LikeLike
Thanks Charles, it was very yummy indeed.
LikeLike
A great appetizer … Cooking for the freezer, now where have I heard of doing THAT before? 🙂
Like you I have a couple containers of onion confit/caramelized onions tucked away for another day. It’s fun to be able to pull out most of your meals out of the freezer that way sometimes as well as very practical when you’re dead tired at the end of a work day.
By the way, I spent a whole dollar at the chinese grocery store for a package of “5” small heads of the same crispy lettuce as you have in your picture. Is there anything special you do with it? I don’t usually use it for salad so I am curious. I should have offered to give them back 3 of the lettuces to re-pack and still paid them the $1 for what I took home. I used the lettuce I bougth to put insides summer rolls with shrimp which I had for supper on Thursday.
And I spent 34 cents for twice as much bean sprouts as I ended up using. I’m going to make turkey egg fu yung this weekend with leftover turkey gravy on top.
LikeLike
Aren’t those Chinese grocers amazing? I’m not sure how they can survive! I usually just use this type of lettuce for salads; you can chop them roughly (with a plastic knife so it doesn’t rust) and then do a sauté of mushrooms and onion with balsamic and drizzle over chopped lettuce while it’s hot; the lettuce will wilt slightly, but that’s the intension – it’s a great texture. Add some crumbled feta, blue cheese or goats cheese and you’ve got a wonderful meal.
LikeLike
A warm salad is NOT something I usually do but I’ll definitely keep it in mind. I even have some feta (sheep and disappointingly rubbery) in the fridge. As well as some mushrooms though I’m going to use part of them for turkey egg foo yung.
It’s so hot outside these days (more heat is coming) that I’m staying inside and don’t have much of an appetite for food while still having a ton of things in my fridge to get through which I can’t re-freeze unfortunately.
My cherry almond fudge (made at 10:30 last night) was a fail as I tried a new recipe and messed up the cooling stage by stirring and then beating in the cherries, juice and extract too soon. So now, 12 hrs later, it still hasn’t set. I hate to pitch things but am going to … after I take a picture for posterity. 😦
LikeLike
Sorry about your fudge, Maria. Have you thought about folding it into ice cream?
LikeLike
Yummy! Look at that oozy cheese…I am drooling..
LikeLike
Thanks Angie, it was quite yummy.
LikeLike
I have heard a lot about gougeres and have never made one, or even tasted one. But I’m off to France this evening…
LikeLike
Safe journey Sharyn; I hope you have an amazing holiday and that you can try this tasty treat and then some.
LikeLike