Sweet or Savory, a Bite at a Time IN my very first restaurant job, I learned to make pâte à choux, the classic French pastry that is used for cream puffs and éclairs. I had to learn in a hurry, too, because my boss had just decided to make me the pastry chef, a position for which I was not remotely qualified. Yes, I knew how to bake bread, and I had experimented with pies, but I had no clue about producing fancy pastries for a "Continental" restaurant. No problem, the chef said, as he handed me recipes for the desserts I would be required to make daily: cream puffs, floating island, baked alaska and cheesecake. Fortunately, it turned out that making pâte à choux is not difficult at all. It is simply a matter of bringing water and butter to a boil, then dumping in flour and stirring it until a mass forms, which takes only a minute or two. You let the steaming dough cool for a moment, then beat in a few eggs, one at a time. The pâte à choux goes into a pastry bag, and then is piped into little round shapes on a baking sheet and painted with beaten egg. You can spoon the dough instead if you wish. As they rise in the oven and turn golden, they give off a familiar, comforting eggy aroma. Once cooled, the crisp light puffs are ready to be filled with sweetened whipped cream and dusted with powdered sugar. Now they are cream puffs, what the French call petits choux à la crème. For an easier sweet puff, called chouquettes, which have no filling, just sprinkle them with large white pearled sugar before baking. But pâte à choux can also go savory, and I like the salty versions just as well as the sweet. The most famous are cheese puffs, known as gougères on their home turf. To make these, a generous handful of grated cheese is added to the dough, along with freshly milled pepper, a speck of cayenne and a little nutmeg. Traditionally, one uses French Comté, or Swiss Emmentaler or Gruyère, but any number of cheeses can make great puffs, from sharp Cheddar to Roquefort or even Parmesan. Cheese puffs are irresistible at any gathering, served with drinks, but the holidays seem an especially appropriate time. Though they are best fresh, the puffs can be baked several hours ahead and recrisped in a hot oven, or frozen, fully baked, for up to a week. Either way, if you're making cream puffs, they should be filled at the very last minute. The recipe given here makes about 60 bite-size cheese puffs, but you can make them larger if you wish, and increase the baking time. You can also reimagine the savory puffs altogether, splitting and filling them with a spoonful of some delicious mixture, like lobster salad or deviled crab. Just omit the cheese from the dough. Or use larger cheese-free (or not) puffs as buns for elegant finger sandwiches. Once you have mastered the pâte à choux technique, you'll be able to improvise with additions and flourishes for both sweet and savory puffs. Change up the cheese and seasoning (sesame, cumin, chile or caraway), or flavor your whipped cream (chocolate, orange, cardamom or ginger). It really is easy, as I learned in that kitchen years ago.