Cheese Soufflé
This is one of the recipes I’m sharing from my new online series “recipes from my mothers kitchen’. My late mother Marion was a wonderful cook and I’m sharing recipes that I have collected with my family, that remind us all of her. It’s a walk down memory lane for me and I’m still learning lots of new techniques in the kitchen from her, by making these recipes with you.
This is a departure from cooking for small children and understandably soufflés aren’t something I throw together quickly on a weeknight. But, having cooked this recipe a number of times, to be able to share it here, making a soufflé is easy than I thought it might be. The two keys things to a good result our good stiff egg whites, lightly folded through the cheese roux/ base. Finally, don’t open the oven door hold your nerve and wait for the soufflé to cook through, otherwise the souffle will drop!
recipe serves x4 people as a starter, x2 people as a main course
ingredients ~
4 rounded tbsp grated cheese
1 tablespoon extra fine breadcrumbs
40g butter
1 rounded tbsp plain flour
pinch of sea salt
cayenne pepper
180ml whole milk
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
4 organic egg yolks
5 organic egg whites
First prep a soufflé dish with butter and fine breadcrumbs. Preheat the oven 180C.
In a saucepan make a roux by melting the butter, removing the pan from heat and stirring in the flour. Season well, blend in milk. Put pan back on heat, stir until boiling then draw aside. Add mustard and beat in the grated cheese and an egg yolk at a time. The basic sauce must be well-flavoured.
Next whip egg whites into firm peaks, stir 2 tablespoons of the whites into the sauce using a metal spoon. Then stir in the remaining parts, lifting the sauce well over the whites from the bottom of the pan. Do not over-mix you want to retain all the air.
Turn lightly into a prepared soufflé dish. Bake for 30 minutes in a preheated oven until golden and firm to the touch. Serve immediately (it will drop fast) with a green salad. Bon appetit!