R E C I P E S

Cheese Fritters

By Edward Behr

These fritters are essentially a fried version of gougères. This dough, compared with the dough for gougères, is lighter in flour and heavier in cheese; the hot oil causes the fritters to swell fully and hold their shape. You can use Gruyère, Cheddar, or another full-flavored cheese. Some fresh extra-virgin olive oil is relatively low-priced and good for deep-frying, made from olives from trees raised as bushes in tight rows, so the work can be done by machines rather than by hand. (The oils are good, but not on the level of great oil from traditional olive groves.) Of course, you can use another kind of oil, light in flavor and preferably unrefined.

 

7/8 cup (200 ml) water

¼ cup (60 gr) unsalted butter

¼ teaspoon salt

1 cup (125 gr) unbleached allpurpose flour

4 large eggs

6 ounces (150 gr) Gruyère, coarsely grated, plus more for the top

excellent, light fresh-tasting olive oil, for frying

 

Make the dough just as for gougères. Bring the water, butter, and salt to a boil in a saucepan. Remove the pan from the heat and add the flour all at once, stirring vigorously with a wooden spoon until the dough detaches from the sides of the pan and forms a mass. Return the pan to medium heat and cook the dough, flattening it against the bottom of the pan and turning it over repeatedly for 1 to 2 minutes, until a subtle haze of butter appears on the surface of the dough and a thin film of dough cooks to the bottom of the pan — don’t let it color. Cool the pan off the heat for several minutes. Add the 4 eggs, one at a time, incorporating each fully before adding the next. Stir in the cheese.

In a high-sided pot or a special deep-fryer, heat 1½ inches (4 cm) of oil to 365° F (185° C). (If you don’t have a thermometer, scoop up a rounded teaspoonful of the dough and drop it in to see whether it swells and browns in about 3 minutes, turned about midway.) Scoop rounded teaspoonfuls of the dough into the oil without crowding the pot and fry to a deep golden color, turning each ball once. Drain the fritters on paper towels and serve hot (you can hold them for a short time in a warm oven). Makes about 20 fritters, enough for about 6 to 8 people as the opening to a meal.


From The Art of Eating Cookbook

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