2013 Cooking Club Week 2: Soufflé au fromage/Cheese soufflé

SOUFFLÉ AU FROMAGE/ CHEESE SOUFFLE

This classical French dish is very simple and yet never fails to impress. There is always a sense of drama when it comes out of the oven, and the beauty and transience of life is well illustrated by its swift ‘Fall’...
One of my daughters once said it was like eating tasty fluffy clouds. And we all fight over the crunchy bits stuck to the bottom of the dish.
I am sure many of you already do it, yet I have never met somebody else but me who cooks it!
Children also love it, and it’s quite cheap, handy and nutritive really…

Preparation: 20 minutes

Baking: 40 minutes

Ingredients (for 4):


- 6 large free-range eggs
- 150 g tasty hard cheese (Dubliner/ Cheddar, Comté, Parmesan, or a mix. Goat cheese and Blue cheese are also lovely but not to everybody’s taste)
- 40 g of butter (salted is fine)
- 40 g of plain flour.
- 40 cl of milk (i.e about a pint)
- 1 or 2 teaspoons of nutmeg
- 1 or 2 teaspoons of smooth Dijon mustard.
- Freshly ground pepper/ salt

Ustensils:
1 large soufflé dish / 4 big ramequins/ 4 mugs if nothing else!
1 medium saucepan
1 big mixing bowl
1 hand whisk
1 electric beater
1 spatula
1 teaspoon

Preparation:
- Preheat oven at 180°C (thermostat 6). Butter soufflé dish.
- Melt butter in saucepan, add flour while whisking rapidly for a minute or two, until the flour starts getting golden-brown.

Making the roux.

- Add milk (usually it’s supposed to be lukewarm but I add it cold!) slowly while whisking to avoid lumps. Keep whisking regularly on a medium heat until the white sauce is thick custard-thick, or even a little more. It takes between 10 and 20 mns.

Thickening the white sauce.

- Take pan out of heat, let cool a little.
- Separate eggs, add 5 yolks one by one into pan while whisking, and then cheese, nutmeg, pepper, a little salt, mustard.
I taste to check if it’s seasoned/cheesy enough. It needs to be very savoury for the soufflé to be tasty.
- Beat whites of eggs until very stiff.

Beaten egg whites.

- Fold into sauce delicately and carefully, so as to not break the beaten eggs and loose the air. I use a plastic spatula, and usually add first one quarter of eggs, fold, then add the rest, and fold.

Folding the first quarter.

- Pour into soufflé dish, it should not go higher than 3 cm from the top.

. Pouring into dish.

- Bake in middle of oven for 40 minutes. Use fan function if you have it.

The soufflé is cooked when it’s well risen, with a golden-brown top hat, and does not wobble when shaken slightly or touched with finger on top. If you find it is not cooked at the bottom, put in back into the oven for a short while, it mightn’t look as nice, but will be as tasty.

All puffed up and glorious!

While the soufflé is baking, you could roast baby potatoes in the oven at the same time and serve with a simple green salad. Just remember not to open the oven often and close it softly!
Or serve with ratatouille, stuffed baked tomatoes, good crusty bread, steamed baby potatoes…

Served with the simplest accompaniment.

The soufflé can be altered of course to include sauté mushrooms, chopped ham or cooked salmon, or herbs, or whatever you’re into…

NOTE: You should be seated waiting for the soufflé to come out of the oven, rather than the soufflé waiting for you. “Le soufflé n’attend pas”…

The best bits at the bottom!