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Gougères, Gruyère, piment d’Espelette

Time1 hour 10 minutes
YieldsMakes about 2 dozen gougeres
Gougères, Gruyère, piment d’Espelette
(Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times)
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In Southern California, invite family and friends over for Thanksgiving and you never know when exactly they’ll arrive. Some show up early while you’re still chopping giblets for the gravy or worrying over the pumpkin pie in the oven, throwing your whole cooking plan out of kilter. Others ring the doorbell 45 minutes after curtain call, wrung out from the drive.

The only way for the host or hostess to keep his or her cool is to have something ready to occupy those early-arriving guests while you’re all waiting for the stragglers to come. The traditional relish plate just doesn’t do it for me. My fallback appetizer, hors d’oeuvre or whatever you want to call it is usually gougères, those adorable Burgundian cheese puffs so wonderful straight from the oven.

When I noticed Seattle chef René Erickson’s recipe in her new book, “A Boat, a Whale & a Walrus,” in which she adds a pinch of piment d’Espelette to the batter, I decided to go with her version. The powdered sweet-hot red pepper from the French Basque country tints the gougères a festive orange. Perfect for the season, no?

Another fun appetizer idea comes from Gabrielle Hamilton’s new cookbook, “Prune,” a collection of recipes from the minuscule restaurant that’s been a fixture in New York’s East Village since 1999. No cooking skills necessary. It’s simply canned sardines with Triscuits, Dijon mustard and cornichons — and a branch of parsley to sweeten the breath. She simply stacks the elements on a plate for a DIY bite.

I also love the warm oysters in their shells with leeks and Champagne butter from former Chez Panisse chef Jean-Pierre Moullé’s new book, “French Roots.” It’s so elegant and festive — and perfect with a great bottle of Champagne. He told me you can easily make the sauce and cook the oysters too, keeping them barely warm to the side of the stove. Have the oven hot, and when guests arrive heat the oyster shells, barely warm up the oysters, fill each shell with a spoonful of cooked leeks and a warm oyster topped with the Champagne butter.

Any of these appetizers would make a lovely welcome for your guests on the fast-approaching Thanksgiving Day.

irene.virbila@latimes.com

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1

In a large saucepan, heat the butter, milk, salt, piment d’Espelette and nutmeg together over low heat until the butter has melted completely. Add the flour, stirring vigorously until the mixture forms a paste, then cook, stirring and smearing the dough constantly, until the mixture starts to smell nutty and small beads of fat form on the surface of the dough that’s just come off the bottom of the pan, about 10 minutes total. (I usually stop stirring when my arm hurts too much to continue. It will be thick, like sugar cookie dough.)

2

Transfer the dough to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and set aside until the dough has almost reached room temperature, about 15 minutes. Meanwhile, heat the oven to 425 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and set them aside.

3

When the dough has cooled, with the machine on medium speed, add the eggs one at a time, mixing until the batter re-forms between each egg and scraping down the sides of the bowl as necessary. When you have added all the eggs, mix in the Gruyère and Parmesan on low speed.

4

Using two spoons, form the batter into golf ball-sized balls and arrange them on the prepared baking sheets about 1½ inches apart, dipping the spoons into a bowl of warm water between each one to keep the dough from sticking. Sprinkle the gougères liberally with the sea salt.

5

Bake the gougères for 10 minutes. Without opening the oven door, reduce the temperature to 350 degrees and continue to bake for 25 more minutes, or until the gougères are brown and crisp on the outside and half hollow in the center.

6

Serve immediately, or set aside to cool on racks no more than a few hours before serving.

Adapted from Renee Erickson’s “A Boat, a Whale & a Walrus.” She suggests making them just before serving or baking them early in the day and then recrisping them in a 400-degree oven just before serving.