Why do French cheese soufflés inspire fear in home cooks? Maybe it’s because they sink sadly into their dish, minutes after you take them out of the oven. But then that’s the nature of the beast.
Or maybe it’s that scene with Audrey Hepburn in Sabrina, at the French cooking school:
The master chef explains, with a flourish: "A soufflé must be gay, like two butterflies dancing the waltz in the summer breeze."
"Too low; too high; too heavy; sloppy,“ he chides, passing among the students.
“I don’t know what happened.” Sabrina says to a fellow student about her own pitiful soufflé, who then points out that she forgot to turn on the oven. “Your mind has not been on the cooking,” he says. “It has been elsewhere. A woman happy in love, she burns the soufflé. A woman unhappy in love, she forgets to turn on the oven.”
In love or not, I’ve had mixed success with soufflés. This time I read several recipes first, and sort of combined them. I ramped up the flavor, with mustard and garlic and spinach. And I am happy to say I nailed it on the first try.
A soufflé is basically a white sauce with beaten egg whites folded in. So, take a deep breath (souffle is a breath or puff, in French). And tackle this not-so-difficult recipe.
Les astuces (tips) for a high-rise soufflé:
Your egg whites should be at room temperature. However, they separate better when cold, so start that a bit early if you think of it.
Be sure your oven is fully pre-heated to the correct temperature. Don’t be like Sabrina. And don’t keep opening the door to look at them.
Very gentle folding of the sauce and egg whites makes for more pouf.
RECIPE: Cheese Soufflé with Spinach
A high sided ceramic white dish is traditional, but fake it with anything you have. A gratin dish will work. When you pour the mixture in it should come to the top, or nearly to the top, of the dish.
You can make them in individual dishes or one big one, but adjust the cooking time accordingly, as noted.
I used 2-cup individual soufflé dishes, and it made 6, although next time I will make only 5 so they will be puffier.
You can leave the spinach out, if you like, or put in some chopped cooked broccoli instead.
This serves 4 generously.
- 1/4 cup (1/2 stick, 57 grams) butter
- 2 large garlic cloves, chopped
- 5 tablespoons all purpose flour
- generous pinch of cayenne pepper
- Pinch of ground nutmeg
- 2 teaspoons dry mustard
- 1 1/4 (295 ml) cups whole milk
- 1/4 (60ml) cup dry white wine
- 6 large egg yolks
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1 1/4 cups (packed) grated Gruyère or Comté cheese, or use cheddar
- 1/4 cup finely grated Parmesan cheese, (plus extra for greasing pans)
- 1 10-oz (285 grams) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and all the water squeezed out
- 8 large egg whites
- Position rack in center of oven and preheat to 400°F. Generously butter one 10-cup soufflé dish or six 2 cup soufflé dishes; sprinkle with Parmesan cheese to coat. (If using small dishes, place all of them on rimmed baking sheet). Melt butter in heavy large saucepan over medium heat. Add chopped garlic and cook for one minute. Add flour, cayenne pepper, nutmeg and mustard. Cook without browning until mixture begins to bubble, whisking constantly, about 1 minute. Gradually whisk in milk, then wine. Cook until smooth, thick and beginning to bubble, whisking constantly, about 2 minutes. Remove from heat. Mix yolks, salt and pepper in small bowl. Add yolk mixture all at once to sauce and whisk quickly to blend. Fold in cheeses (cheeses do not need to melt) and the spinach.
- Using electric mixer, beat whites in large bowl just until stiff. Gently fold in 1/4 of whites into the lukewarm soufflé base to lighten. Fold in remaining whites. Transfer soufflé mixture to prepared dish or dishes.
- Place soufflé in oven; reduce heat to 375°F. Bake soufflé until puffed, golden and set in center, about 40-45 minutes for large soufflé or 25-30 minutes for small soufflés. Tops should be golden brown.Transfer soufflé to platter and serve immediately, with a good piano lounge playlist, or with some French love songs.
In the COMMENTS: Suzanne, look for those photos! Paula and Gail, I hope you get here, and also all the friends who are desperately trying to (possible in mid-June, is the prediction). Christine, espadrilles of course, and the season is coming! Ellen and Ali, yes, we have lived these memories together. Martin spotted a milk vending machine--and my friend Paul told me there are vending machines for pizza in Italy now, which seems a sacrilege. Tom, is this our third lockdown? It seems like one long continuous one since November. But we are almost done with that, for better or worse.
Favorite READS: Francine is reading The American Spirit, a timely book by David McCullough, and she recommends it. Natalia says The Last Bookshop in London by Madeleine Martin is a page-turner.
.
