Goat Cheese & Black Pepper Gougères

I was perusing some food blogs today, and came across this one. I've made a version of gougères before, and they have always been a favorite to whip up, scoop out, and freeze so I would always have some ready to pop in the oven. I love goat cheese, and sometimes I want something a little "carb-y" to eat with salads. This seemed like the perfect thing. I don't have any fresh herbs mature enough, and nothing that I had dried was calling to me, so I used lots of fresh cracked pepper. I also browned the butter before adding the milk and flour. They came together very quickly. While a few cooked (the rest already setting in the freezer), I was able to assemble my salad for dinner.
Here are the results


See how pretty and puffy they are? So tender, and the goat cheese was just subtle enough. OK, the the website I linked from has many more picture, and hers are a lot better. I was too anxious to sit down and eat already!


Might this be a "deconstructed salad"? I just put all of the extras around the side of the plate as I chopped them, then added the already dressed salad in the middle. I had avocado, clementine slices, cucumbers, dried cranberries, pistachios, and carrots. Fresh pepper is on top, and it was dressed with a balsamic vinaigrette.