The cheese is most often a hearty Swiss mountain cheese: Gruyère, Comté or Emmentaler and a hint of nutmeg is added to the recipe. Served warm from the oven, gougères are simple yet elegant hors d’oeuvres—a perfect choice to serve with Champagne, other sparkling wine, or any wine or craft beer.

In fact, we received the recipe below from Moet et Chandon, courtesy of Cooking Channel’s Aida Mollenkamp.

There are many variants of the recipe, from plain cheese to mix-ins. Here, Chef Mollenkamp adds pancetta and fresh thyme, and opts for a mix of Italian Parmigiano-Reggiano and Fontina cheeses instead of one of the Swiss cheeses.

Prep time is 15 minutes, total time is 50 minutes. And it’s worth it! You may want to double the recipe in case your crowd clamors for more. (You can freeze any extra dough.)

PANCETTA, THYME & FONTINA GOUGÈRES

Ingredients For 32 Cheese Puffs

Preparation

1. HEAT oven to 375°F and arrange racks in the upper and lower third. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats and set aside. Line a plate with paper towels and set aside.

2. PLACE pancetta in a medium nonstick frying pan and cook until crisp. Remove pancetta to paper towel-lined plate and set aside to drain. Meanwhile…

3. COMBINE 1 cup of the milk or water with the butter and salt in a medium saucepan and bring to a simmer over medium-high heat. Reduce heat to medium-low, dump in all the flour, and stir vigorously until flour is incorporated. Cook, stirring constantly, until dough comes together in a ball and feels dry to the touch, about 2 minutes.

4. TRANSFER dough to a food processor fitted with a blade or a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Pulse or beat in five of the eggs, one by one, letting each egg completely incorporate before adding the next. Reserve 3 tablespoons of the Parmigiano cheese then add pancetta, remaining cheese, and thyme; pulse or mix on low until thoroughly incorporated.

5. DROP tablespoon-size portions of dough on the prepared baking sheets, spacing them at least 1/2 inch apart. Whisk remaining egg yolk with the remaining 1 tablespoon milk and brush tops of cheese puffs then evenly sprinkle reserved Parmesan cheese over top.

6. PLACE in oven and bake, rotating halfway through, until puffed and golden brown, about 30 to 35 minutes. Serve hot, warm, or at room temperature. (Can be made up to 4 days ahead. Store, covered, at room temperature.)

TIP: Freeze the pancetta for 5 to 10 minutes to facilitate dicing. If you can’t find pancetta, use Canadian bacon or cooked ham instead (don’t crisp it in the pan, though).
 
MORE GOUGÈRES

Here’s a classic gougères recipe with Gruyere and nutmeg.

Goat cheese fans: Substitute a semi-hard chèvre.

The company uses organic and local produce when practical, and supports family farmers who care for their land and animals, the latter raised without the use of antibiotics or added hormones.

The company uses the phrase, “food with integrity.” So we were curious, then charmed, by its new in-store program, “Cultivating Thought.”

We might have expected it at Starbucks instead; but author Jonathan Safran Foer (“Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close”) is more of a Chipotle fan. He conceived and brought the idea to Chipotle.

A group of award-winning writers, comedians and thought-leaders selected by Foer have each composed [very] short stories that are featured directly on the restaurant’s cups and bags. They serve up philosophy to go with the burritos and sodas.

According to the restaurant, the idea behind this initiative is to pique consumers’ curiosity about their world and to connect with the musings of the selected writers:

 
All of the stories are standalone, and will be randomly sorted to ensure even distribution. The program launched yesterday and will be eased as the conventional packaging supply is replaced.

Next year, how about extending the idea to customer entries?

Chart courtesy The Wall Street Journal.

While Americans are aware of the need to improve their diets, there’s been a decline in consumption of one of the healthiest food choices: fish.

According to the Wall Street Journal, in 2012, the last year for which figures are available, the average U.S. consumer ate:

 
As you can see from the chart, chicken—affordable and versatile—is the big winner in growth, and the higher-calorie, higher cholesterol beef and pork have experienced some decline. But while the overall category experienced positive gains, the decline in per capita consumption is down.

According to the Wall Street Journal, it’s a combination of higher prices (quality fresh fish is $15 or more a pound while fresh whole chicken is 10% of that) and consumer hesitance, because they don’t know how to cook fish properly (and at those prices, who wants overcooked fish?).

Is help on the horizon? Maybe not: The seafood industry is much more fragmented than the beef and pork industries, which organized major marketing campaigns to promote their products.

Here’s a tip: Although it’s a treat, you don’t need to pay top dollar for fresh fish. Look for values in frozen fish and stock up. Defrost it slowly in the fridge.

After all, if you order fish at restaurant chains, it’s likely frozen—and few people know the difference.