Country Egg, City Egg

Yes, Virginia, I have another egg book. We can hardly go a month here at Cookbook Of The Day without posting a cookbook that features eggs. What can I say, we love our eggs. The past few weeks with the daylight ending at 5 PM and the cold setting in, the older chickens are molting and laying less, so the egg cartons in the kitchen have been sitting empty. It is very sad to see a stack of empty cartons without the corresponding stack of full cartons. This week the new pullets have laid their first couple of eggs, so production is beginning to climb.

Judy Rodgers at the Zuni Café is not only a great cook, but she also has a good eye for talent. Two of the people who worked for her were Gayle Pirie and John Clark. They met and bonded over eggs. For seven years, they prepared the egg dishes for Zuni’s Brunch menu. The next step was obvious, they wrote an egg cookbook, Country Egg, City Egg.

The book gives detailed information on exactly how to cook eggs, plus some really fun recipes. One is a favorite of Colette’s...

Gougéres

3 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 cup cold water
1 scant cup all-purpose flour
3 eggs
1 1/3 cups grated Gruyère cheese
1/2 teaspoon or more salt
2/3 cup roughly chopped bacon (optional)

Combine the butter and water in a small saucepan and bring to a boil. Add the flour all at once, quickly stirring with a wooden spoon until the batter is smooth and detaches from the sides of the saucepan. The dough will form a ball around the spoon. (This process moves pretty quickly.)
Remove the pan from the heat and beat in the eggs, one at a time until each egg has been thoroughly incorporated into the dough. Stir in the cheese, add the salt to taste, and, if you like, the bacon. Let the dough rest and hour.
Preheat the oven to 375F.
On a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper, use two spoons to form 2-inch balls with peaks. Bake for 25 minutes, or until the blade of a knife when stuck into the center comes out clean. The gougers will puff to twice their size and turn golden brown.

I'm not sure Colette would have approved of the bacon, but we love the idea. If you are feeling a "French" moment coming on, whip up a batch of these and break out a bottle of Veuve Clicquot. Seriously, what are you waiting for? You could get hit by a bus tomorrow!