Cheese Souffle

 

This is KILLER! That is what I wrote on this recipe from my 22 years of culinary education. I love souffle and this is one of my favorites! I have tweeked it here and there to perfection!

I made a souffle from a Swiss cookbook that I picked up while on a ski trip years ago. That recipe had no cooking of flour, in fact it had no flour.....no roux. I thought it was pretty weird, but, tried it. It actually did rise a little in the souffle dish, but, had I collared it, it would not have rose up on the collar. It used one cheese, no mustard or sherry. And when I served it, the bottom was fluid, not cooked. So, I thought about for a day and looked at many other recipes. I tweeked this recipe from my mentor Eva Kenly, it turned out perfect! Because of the two cheeses, two mustard's and sherry, this souffle has so much depth. 

 

I would serve it for breakfast or for lunch with a salad or as a starter for dinner. I made this for dinner the night before leaving to Jamaica, light and perfect with a salad.

 

Cheese Souffle

adapted from Eva Kenly

 

4 T unsalted butter

3 T all purpose flour

1 1/4 cup half and half milk, hot

salt and pepper

 

1 tsp. Dijon mustard

1/2 tsp. dry mustard

3/4 cup Gruyere cheese, subsitute Jarlsburg or Swiss

1/4 cup Parmesan Cheese

2 T sour cream

2 T Sherry

4 egg yolks

 

6 egg whites

1/4 tsp cream of tartar

1/4 tsp. salt

Parmesan cheese to sprinkle on top.

Prepare a souffle dish or a oval baker. Butter and bread crumbs.

Preheat oven to 400 F degrees, this will be reduced once the souffle is in the oven.

Melt the butter in a saucepan, add flour and cook for 2 minutes. Remove from heat and add the hot half and half milk, salt and pepper. Return to heat and cook until the mixture thickens. Remove from heat and beat in the mustards, cheeses, sour cream, sherry and the egg yolks. Set aside. 

The egg whites the cheese mixture and the prepared oval baker.

 

Beat the egg whites until foamy. Add the cream of tartar and salt and pepper and beat until stiff, but NOT dry. Fold in one third of the egg whites into the cheese mixture to lighten. Fold in remaining egg whites gently. Pour into souffle dish or oval baker and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.  This can be set aside covered for 2 hours at this point.

 

Place in lower third of oven. Reduce the heat to 375 F degrees and bake for 30- 40 minutes. Do not open oven for the first 20 minutes or it will fall!!

 

Serve the souffle on a white dish for best presentation. 

From our cottage in Ocho Rios!