Gougères Stuffed with Smoked Salmon Mousse #FishFridayFoodies

It's time for Fish Friday Foodies' September 2020 event. We are a group of seafood-loving bloggers, rallied by Wendy of A Day in the Life on the Farm, to share fish and seafood recipes on the third Friday of the month. 

And this month, Stacy of Food Lust People Love is hosting. She asked the bloggers to share recipes with smoked fish. "Our theme for this event is Smoked Fish - smoke your own or use smoked fish in a recipe!" Here's the September 2020 line-up from the #FishFridayFoodies. I cannot wait to try these recipes...

• Gougères Stuffed with Smoked Salmon Mousse from Culinary Adventures with Camilla
• Smoked Fish Dip from Veggies First Then Dessert
• Smoked Salmon Club Sandwich from Making Miracles
• Smoked Salmon Stuffed Deviled Eggs from Food Lust People Love
• Smoked Salmon Quiche from Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Smoked Whitefish Dip from A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Smoked Whole Pomfret Fish Fry from Sneha's Recipe
• Yubuchobap - Smoked Salmon Sushi Pockets from Palatable Pastime

Gougères Stuffed with Smoked Salmon Mousse

Gougères is just another way of saying 'cream puff'. I used the same dough, Pâte à Choux, and just filled it with a savoy mousse instead of with whipping cream or pastry cream.

Ingredients

Pâte à Choux

• 12 Tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1-1/2 cups water
• 2 cups flour
• 9 eggs

Salmon Mousse

• 4 ounces smoked salmon, sliced with some slices reserved for garnish
• 1/2 cup mascarpone cheese
• 2 Tablespoons heavy cream plus more as needed
• 2 Tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice, approximately juice from 1 lemon
• 1 to 2 teaspoons fresh organic herbs (I used dill)
• freshly ground salt to taste
• freshly ground pepper to taste

Procedure

Salmon Mousse
Place the salmon in the bowl of a food processor, leaving out a few slices for the garnish. Add the mascarpone cheese, heavy cream, lemon juice, and herbs. Pulse and process until lightened and creamy. If the mousse is too thick, add in more cream. Add in 1 teaspoon at a time until you reach the desired consistency. Cover and refrigerate until you're ready to fill the gougères.

Pâte à Choux

Preheat oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit.

Bring butter and water to a boil in a large saucepan.

Remove pan from heat and add flour all at once. Stir vigorously with a wooden spoon until mixture forms a thick dough and pulls away from sides of pan, approximately 3 minutes. Return pan to heat and cook, stirring constantly, until dough is lightly dried, about 2 minutes more.

Transfer dough to a bowl, and let cool for 5 minutes; using a wooden spoon, beat in 8 eggs, one at a time, making sure each egg is completely incorporated before adding the next. Dough will come together and be thick, shiny, and smooth.

Dip two spoons in water, shake off excess, and scoop a walnut-size piece of dough with one spoon. With other spoon, scrape dough onto parchment-lined baking sheet, setting pieces 1″ apart on a baking sheet.

Lightly beat remaining egg with pinch of salt and brush each piece of dough with it. 

Bake at 425 degrees Fahrenheit until puffed and light brown, approximately 10 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees Fahrenheit, and continue to bake until well browned, approximately 15 minutes. Let cool.

Once cool, slice one side of the gougère and spoon in the mousse. Garnish each gougère with a slice of smoked salmon on top. Serve immediately.

I actually made this for an upcoming French Winophiles event, so I paired these with a bottle of M. Chapoutier Côtes du Rhône Belleruche Blanc 2018. If you're interested in hearing more about that, come back on Saturday. Otherwise the #FishFridayFoodies will return in October with seafood-based comfort foods. Sue of Palatable Pastime will be our host. Stay tuned...