Gougere — Or For Those Of Us Not So French — Cheesy Choux Bread

I have listened to the correct way to say ‘Gougere’ no less than 20 times and I just cannot put this word to memory. Foreign languages have never been my strong point, but this is really ridiculous. It isn’t that difficult.

Gougere – Goo – Jer (goo as in Goo Goo Dolls and jer like the first part of Jerry)

Not that difficult by any means, just not something my brain is willing to accept in its memory banks. So, an easier way to say it, albeit longer, is Cheesy Choux Bread.

But wait, how do you pronounce Choux? Yep I Googled it. Had to, I had no idea how to say it.

This one is easy to remember though. You pronounce it – Shoe! I think I can remember that one. Of course, cheesy Shoe Bread doesn’t really sound right, but what’s a girl to do when saying gougere is not in her vocabulary.

At any rate, I made this bread to serve with my Tomato Orzo Soup today. It was the perfect accompaniment and so easy to make.

Hubby couldn’t even wait for me to take a picture before digging in.

The most difficult part of this recipe is making the choux (shoe) dough. Mixing the melted butter with the flour is easy enough, but just like when making cream puffs, when it comes to incorporating the eggs, this is a real workout for the old biceps. The first egg is easy; the second is only a little harder; by the third your arm is getting tired; but by the fourth, my arm is burning and I’m beginning to have flashbacks of long hours spent in the gym on the bicep curl machine.

Once the choux part is done, it’s downhill. You mix in shredded sharp cheddar, shredded swiss cheese, salt, fresh ground pepper, minced garlic, chopped jalapeno pepper, chopped onion, and cayenne pepper. Then the dough is spread in a greased cast iron skillet and baked in the oven.

The results are an out-of-this-world cheesy bread with crunchy ends and bottom, yet soft and tender inside. Hubby ate four slices before dinner which meant he only ate one bowl of soup, along with two more slices of bread for dinner. The kids ate the bread later in the evening for a snack and now there is one piece left. Definitely not a bread that will go to waste in our house, and for this I am — Simply Grateful.

Gougere (Cheesey Choux Bread)

• Servings: Approximately 18 Slices
• Print

Ingredients

• 1/2 Cup Butter
• 1 1/4 Cup Flour
• 4 Eggs
• 3 Cups Grated Sharp Cheddar Cheese
• 1 Cup Grated Swiss Cheese
• 1/2 tsp. Salt
• 1/4 tsp. Freshly Ground Pepper
• 1 Clove Minced Garlic
• 2 Jalapeno Peppers, chopped
• 1/4 Cup Chopped Onion
• 1/8 tsp. Cayenne Pepper

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 and grease a 10 inch cast iron skillet.
2. In medium saucepan melt butter over medium heat.
3. Add flour and stir until mixture forms a ball.
4. Remove from heat and continue stirring until mixture cools.
5. Beat in eggs, one at a time, stirring until mixture is slightly glossy and smooth.
6. Stir in remaining ingredients.
7. Pour batter into skillet and bake 40 to 45 minutes.
8. Cut bread into slices to serve.

Cooking Note

This bread is awesome as is, but experimenting with various types of cheese would be fun. Perhaps using 1 cup of pepper jack in place of 1 cup of shredded cheddar and eliminating the 2 jalapeno peppers or perhaps substitute some smoked cheddar for some of the sharp cheddar.