Hors D'oeuvres on Friday

     I ran into a minor problem this Friday.  I was hoping to make a selection of five hors d'oeuvres, but needed to pick up some anchovies, ground pork and (of course) more butter before I went to work.  Of course, the stores are all closed, it's easter weekend.  So, my selection was cut down to three, making Good Friday another cheese filled night.  I've started a miniature countdown in my head until Easter, which is when I can begin making desserts again.  Luckily, I had plenty of cheese left from the soufflés last week, necessary ingredients for both my gougères and cheese straws.  The third hors d'oeuvre is a cumin bow tie, a very elegant bit of pastry that offset the cheese nicely.

     The cheese straws were the last thing out of the oven, and ended up a little more spread out than I had initially hoped for.  They were still very delicious, and still looked fabulous.  In the future, I think I will make them a touch thinner, as well as working the Parmesan into the pastry a little more, allowing it to hold together better.  I ended up using the recipe for quick puff pastry, rather than taking the time to do a more traditional pastry.  This was mainly to do with time constraints, with the quick pastry being finished within an hour, as opposed to multiple hours for the traditional recipes.  Despite this, it was an absolutely incredible pastry.

     The cumin bowties were the other option, also made with the quick puff pastry.  I was surprised to see how easily they came together, taking no more time to create than rolling out the dough and popping it in the oven. These were the favorites of at least one of the people eating from this small selection.  In the future, I would love to use fresh cumin seeds, rather than the pre-ground variety.  I was planning on it, but alas!  Good Friday.

     The gougères were a definite favorite among my roommates and photographer.  They also happen to be my favorite of the bunch, playing off my deep love for Gruyère and pâte à choux.  I made both the traditional circle, as can be seen in the pictures, as well as a couple individual pieces, which were indelibly better, in my opinion than the wreath - being more even and crispier.  There is, however, something to be said for serving the circular collection of gougères to a group of friends:  Tearing the wreath apart has a certain amount of satisfaction and brings the group together somewhat, as any communal plate will do.  The only thing that I would change next time would be to make more individual pieces, and perhaps use a star tip while piping, eking out even more crispness from the pastry.

Thanks for reading!

-Robb