Gougeres

Just after Christmas I visited my friend Katie and was treated to a great glass of fresh juice made from apples, carrots, and a hint of ginger. It was fantastic, and was just the kick I needed to get back into the kitchen. "I haven't cooked anything in months," I told her as we sipped away on the bright orange juice. And it was true--I'd been in a bit of a rut and feeling very uninspired to cook anything. The holidays came and went, and I made only one batch of cookies, and the green bean casserole for Christmas dinner--really not that exciting.

Anyway. Spurred on by that great fresh juice to start the day, when I found myself home alone at dinner time I decided to spend some time in the kitchen. I'd recently come across this gougeres recipe at 101 Cookbooks, and after a very disappointing batch of gougeres last year, I was interested in trying a recipe that seemed foolproof. It pretty much was, minus the fact that my oven wouldn't moderate temperature well enough and was therefore at least 50 degrees above what the recipe called for. And if you're checking out Heidi's recipe at 101 Cookbooks, I used water (not beer) and left out the fennel.

They turned out fantastically well. Light and airy, they made a great accompaniment to my Roasted Carrot Soup, which I think I've gotten quite better at making since that first batch.