baby rambutan

this is the kind of cooking i love to do…when i am trying out a new recipe, a souffle! no less, and there is no deadline to meet and i have what seems to be a foolproof step-by-step illustrated instructor in the form of BBC’s Good Food, June 2001 issue.
i’ve never done a souffle and in one of the memes i mention that this is the thing i have to conquer a fear of. i think it was a little bit nerve racking but knowing it was supposed to deflate didn’t scare me away anymore.
years ago i saw Julia Child prepare it in my friend and neighbor C’s fancy cookbook. i saw her, and countless other celebrity chefs, prepare it on tv.
so after the busy frantic weekend i made this cheddar cheese and chive souffle (the original recipe called for goat cheese but i opted for seriously sharp cheddar to increase the chances of my kids’ trying it). they’re not quite cheese heads. yet.
IMBB #20 is being hosted by kitchenchick (check out her chocolate and coconut custard souffle! it’s gorgeous) and slay that souffle phobia.

butter the souffle dish generously. i made a wax paper collar to “help” it along a little bit–butter this too.

let the bechamel base cool before adding on the beaten egg whites.

…it began to deflate in the wink of an eye. it was delicious though and light and fluffy–nothing like an omelette at all, which is how i thought it would be after losing its fluff. the recipe is here..

Tagged with: IMBB # 20 + Souffle

cheddar cheese and chive souffle
prepare souffle dish by buttering. if using the collar, attach it tightly with kitchen string and butter it.
preheat oven to 375F.

300 ml whole milk
2 ozs. butter
1 bay leaf
4 ozs. shredded sharp cheddar cheese
2 ozs. finely grated parmesan, reserve 1 tbsp. for topping
4 egg yolks
5 stalkes of chives, snipped
salt and pepper

heat milk and butter until melted in a large saucepan. add bay leaf and sprinkle on the flour, whisking constantly over medium heat. when liquid starts to bubble, whisk non stop for 1 minute until thick. remove from heat and stir in the grated cheeses. use a wide spatula for this.
add in egg yolks one at a time, stirring well after each one.
set aside.
beat the the egg whites until glossy and forms stiff peaks, about 2 & 1/2 minutes. stir 2 scoops of the whites into the cheese mixture to loosen the batter. then carefully fold in the rest of the whites, taking care not to beat or you’ll lose all the “rise.” sprinkle with the reserved parmesan cheese.
bake in the preheated oven for 35 minutes, or until it no longer wobbles, in which case, bake 5 minutes longer. serve quickly! it wouldn’t even sit still long enough for me to take a photo!
*sigh* ethereal like summer lightning…

This entry was posted on Monday, October 24th, 2005 at 3:02 am and is filed under doodles. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.