Goat’s Cheese Soufflé ~ French Challenge #1

Goat’s Cheese Soufflé

Julia Child I am not! My friends and readers chose Goat’s Cheese Soufflé as the first French dish to cook from my new French cookbook. While the recipe looks deceptively simple to prepare, two hours and many bowls, dishes and pans later, I had concocted some semblance of a soufflé.

Thyme and Cheeses ~ Thank you Trader Joe’s!

Two hours??? Oh my goodness. I was tired and sad at the end of the process when I realized all I had to eat for my efforts was one small appetizer and a sink full of dirty dishes. I had halved the recipe and made three soufflés so everyone in the family could have one.

While I followed the recipe exactly, I think I over-folded the egg whites into the cheese mixture. I also had to bump the oven up to 400 degrees and bake for well over a half-hour before I got my soufflés to puff up a bit and start to brown. While I am patting myself on the back for taking on this challenge, I do not foresee making this dish again. But all in all it was a good experience. One thing I do know is French cooking takes a LOT of patience. AND my husband ate it, too, after claiming he can’t stand goat’s cheese. So there was some success in that department.

Later in the week you can help me decide what to make for French Challenge #2: Mains.

Goat’s Cheese Soufflé

Goat’s Cheese Soufflé
Adapted from The Australian Women’s Weekly French Classics cookbook

2 tablespoons butter
3/4 cup milk
1 sprig fresh thyme
1 bay leaf
1/8 cup flour
1 egg yolk
2 egg whites
2 ounces goat’s cheese (Chevre), crumbled
3 tablespoons heavy cream
1/4 cup Gruyère cheese, grated

Grease 3 small ramekins with one tablespoon of butter, divided. Line each base with baking paper. Place the dishes in a large baking pan.

Heat milk, thyme and bay leaf in a small saucepan until simmering. Strain into a heat-proof dish (I used my Pyrex measuring cup). Melt a tablespoon of butter in the same pan, add the floor, then slowly pour in the hot milk. Cook and stir over medium low heat until thickened and bubbly.

Turn a boring milk shot into fun with a Zak spoon! Thank you Ranting Chef!

Transfer to a large bowl and stir in the egg yolk. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and set aside to cool for about 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 400 degrees and set a kettle of water on to boil.

Beat the egg whites in a small bowl with an electric mixer until soft peaks form. Fold a quarter of the egg whites into the cheese sauce, then fold in the goat’s cheese and the rest of the egg whites. Do NOT overfold! (I think that was my problem.) Spoon the mixture into the ramekins, then add enough boiling water to the baking dish to come half-way up the sides of the ramekins.

Bake the souffles for at least a half an hour, until they are puffy and browned. Carefully remove ramekins from water and cool on a wire rack for 30 minutes.

Soufflés in Ramekins

Run a knife around the soufflés, then gently turn each over onto a plate. Next carefully flip each of the soufflés back over into small baking dishes. Pour one tablespoon cream over the soufflés, then sprinkle with the  grated Gruyère cheese. Bake the soufflés in the oven on high broil, until cheese is bubbly and lightly brown. Serve as a light brunch with toast and jam.

Goat’s Cheese Soufflé

French Dish Challenge #1 ~ Hors D’oevres

Some of the French Gifts

I have a challenge I’d like all my readers and followers to help me with! This is not a contest, I just need some comments on what French dish you’d like to see me make, OK?

The night before our French college exchange student, Caroline, left back for her home country, she presented me with this delightful little cookbook (among many other numerous gifts for my family), called French Classics, which was published by the Australian Women’s Weekly magazine. (I’m assuming she bought it since it was published in some form of “English” language.)

I was so touched by this gesture! She knew ahead of time about all our family’s interests (via our online form) and brought gifts galore from France for our entire family! I knew she had to keep her luggage under 50 pounds, so I only bought her a slim book of Central Oregon photography as well as made her a “memory book” of all the photos I took in her three weeks here (and included some local memorabilia in it), but I was so unprepared for the amount of gifts we received from her!

She bought so much clothes during her stay and so many souvenirs I was worried we’d have to ship some things back to her. But she made it under the luggage weight guidelines, and I now know why. Chocolates, jams, caramels, an apron, a beautiful French scarf with a Renior print on it, golf balls and a photo book for the hubby, French perfume and all kinds of stuff for my daughter, the list goes on and on! I was saddened to see no beautiful French cheese though. Apparently that is banned on the list of things to cross borders, as I would have loved to have some real French Brie or Gruyere cheese! (Mad Cow disease? I don’t know!)

French Classics Cookbook

I have decided I will cook one recipe each (to start) from the four main sections of this cookbook, but I need your help deciding which one. I’ve narrowed each section down to three recipes for you to choose from, based on whether my family would actually eat it and the availability of the ingredients (and affordable) in Central Oregon in the midst of a cold wet spring. I hope you will help!

The first category is Hors D’oevres, or as I jokingly call it “Horse Doovers.” Please write in the comments below or on my Facebook post which recipe you’d like to see from me next! I’ll just whip it up (right, lol) and present it in an upcoming post. Here they are:

Pork Rilletes with Witloff and Cornichons (p.s. Witloff is Belgian Endive and Cornichons are pickles)

Pork Rilletes

Asparagus Hollandaise

Asparagus Hollandaise

Goat’s Cheese Soufflé

Goat’s Cheese Souffle

Please let me know what YOU would like to see me attempt! 🙂

Chile Rellenos Soufflé with a Kick!

Chile Rellenos Souffle

My litmus test for Mexican or Tex-Mex restaurants is whether their chile rellenos pass muster with me. I have always been very picky with how chile rellenos are prepared and taste. I have never been fond of deep fried rellenos that arrive soggy, greasy,  and so over-breaded that it’s almost impossible to find the chile pepper in the inside of it.

I began my quest for the “perfect” chile relleno recipe shortly out of college. After many years of trial and error, I think I have come up with the perfect balance of taste and lightness for both the chile and the batter that enfolds it.  Embarrassing to say, but I used to use canned chiles in the recipe. But after finding out how easy it is to roast and prepare fresh chiles, I blanch at the thought that I ever did that.

Although there are many soufflé-type recipes for rellenos, what I found was they lacked the yummy corn taste that came with the cornmeal breaded and fried counterparts. My secret is adding a small amount of cornmeal and flour to the egg yolks before folding it into the fluffy beaten egg whites.

Stuffed Roasted Peppers

Oh! And the “kick” I promised! I also have always dressed up a can of red enchilada sauce with ground beef and other spices to pour over the top. But for Christmas I received from my sister in Austin the cookbook The Homesick Texan, by Lisa Fain. She had a recipe for a chile con carne sauce to go over cheese enchiladas, so I used that recipe tonight to pour over the rellenos after they came out of the oven. It was an absolute perfect pairing!

Here is her website:  http://homesicktexan.blogspot.com/.  I urge you to go check out her musings of Texas food, her writing style is refreshing and poignant. Her book also has many recipes not found on her blog. The sauce makes enough for 4-6, so my recipe has four peppers in it although I only used two this time. I am still awaiting confirmation to publish her recipe, so when I do hear back from her I will update this column to include it too if I get permission.  In the meantime, you can use any enchilada sauce you prefer for the rellenos.

Chile Rellenos Soufflé

4 Poblano or Passilla  peppers
Shredded cheese, any kind, enough to stuff peppers
3 eggs, separated into two bowls
2 teaspoons flour
2 teaspoons cornmeal
1 teaspoon baking powder
3 teaspoons water
Dash of salt
Paprika

1. Broil the peppers in the oven until they are blackened, turning often, about 10-15 minutes.
2. Place them immediately in a tightly sealed bag for 30 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, begin to prepare chile con carne sauce or enchilada sauce of your preference.
4. Peel the skin off the peppers, and cut a slit in them and remove seeds and rinse.
5. Place them in a lightly oil-sprayed casserole dish, and stuff with shredded cheese.
6. Mix the flour, cornmeal, baking powder and water into the bowl with the egg yolks.
7. With an electric mixer, beat the egg whites in the other bowl until foamy. Sprinkle with a dash of salt and beat until stiff, but not dry.
8. Fold the egg yolk mixture into the egg whites gently, until no more white is visible.
9. Pour the batter evenly over the peppers and sprinkle with paprika
10. Bake at 325 degrees, until puffed and lightly browned, about 40 minutes.

Serve with Chile con Carne or enchilada sauce, cilantro and sour cream, or any other garnishes you prefer, such as sliced avocado.

Bubbling Chile con Carne Sauce