Chicken and Mushroom Gougères With Gouda Crust

Gougères are baked savory pastries made with choux dough mixed with cheese. They originate from France and can be small in size or large.  I wanted to show that choux dough can be cast in a mold to hold a particular shape. I also wanted to put a new list of ingredients into this impressive little pie.  For this recipe, I used a silicone mold that had 6 wells shaped like hearts with scalloped edges. You could even use a muffin tin. That would work too.  For the filling, I sautéed mushrooms with minced shallots in olive oil. It smelled heavenly! I seasoned it with garlic powder, salt, and parsley and added cooked and shredded chicken. It was such a great combination. After adding milk and a bit of flour, I had a nice filling that was flavorful and thick.  The impressive dough is partially cooked in a saucepan. Once it comes together, you add in eggs and Gouda cheese. It has such a wonderful texture and is super easy to work with in a mold. I would have loved to try a more intricate design.  All in all, it was a very fun food experiment and I am very pleased with the results.
Ingredients:
1 cup of all purpose flour plus 1 tablespoon
 1 teaspoon salt divided 
1/2 cup unsalted butter (1 stick) 
1 cup water 
3 eggs beaten 
1/2 cup shredded Gouda cheese 
2 tablespoons olive oil 
1 cup sliced mushrooms 
1 tablespoon minced shallot 
1 cup cooked and shredded chicken
 1/2 cup milk (I used 2 percent but whole would work also) 
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder 
1/2 tablespoon dried parsley

 Other:  Silicone or metal baking tray with wells (like a muffin tin) 
Non-stick cooking spray

Step 1: Preparing the Choux Dough

Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. In a medium sauce pan over medium high heat on the stovetop, melt the butter.  Add water and 1/2 teaspoon salt and stir. Bring to boiling.

Step 2: Preparing the Choux Dough

Pour in 1 cup of flour and stir with a spoon until dough pulls away from the sides of the pan.

Step 3: Preparing the Choux Dough

Remove from heat and stir in eggs and cheese. Stir until all ingredients are incorporated.

Step 4: Preparing the Filling

In a large frying pan, sauté mushrooms and shallot in olive oil over medium heat on the stovetop.  When shallots are translucent, add chicken.  Add milk, garlic powder, parsley, and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Stir.

Step 5: Preparing the Filling

Add 1 tablespoon flour and allow filling to thicken.

Step 6: Filling the Molds

Spray baking pan (for me this was my silicone pan with heart shaped wells) with non-stick cooking spray.  Press in choux dough in the bottoms and up the sides.