where'd these gougeres come from?

I swear, I didn't really mean to make these today, even though there was a chunk of asiago cheese staring at me everytime I opened the fridge.

But in my frustrations with staring at paint chips, I drifted into the kitchen and - just like that, here were these heavenly cheesy puffs, still warm from the oven, being popped into my mouth.

Somewhere between the Balboa Mist and the Olivetint I went straight into the kitchen to mix up some gougeres to stave off the chill in the air today.

This recipe makes about 2 dozen small gougeres .

To make:

Preheat oven to 400F.

1/2 cup milk

1/2 cup water

1 stick or 1/2 cup unsalted butter

pinch cayenne pepper

a few twists of black pepper

1/4 t. salt

1 cup King Arthur flour

4 eggs

1 1/2 cups grated Asiago cheese

2 baking sheets, lined with parchment or foil

In saucepan, heat milk, water, and butter until simmering. On medium heat, add the flour, salt , and peppers all at once and stir until it clumps together. Remove from heat and scrape dough into a mixer bowl.

Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing each egg in completely before adding the next one. Add the grated cheese and mix in well.

Spoon dough into a medium-large pastry bag with a star or plain tip ( or just use two spoons to mold dough).

Make two quick circles, one on top of the other, for each puff. Space them about 2 inches apart on the baking sheet.

Place into hot oven and bake for 20 minutes. The tops will be a little browned.

Let cool on pans, then remove to a cooling rack.

Great with everything, from soup to snack - or simply alone.

(These go beautifully with hot mushroom soup)