Cheese Soufflé

Recipe number thirteen in the Julia Child, JC100 blogger event is a cheese soufflé. A throwback to my childhood, this was the first Julia recipe I ever made, and at the age of eleven! I wrote down the recipe word for word while watching the episode. With determination, and a little help from my ever so patient, and supportive mother, I successfully made the soufflé! Julia had a way of making you believe that cooking complex French dishes can be fun. A soufflé can be intimidating at first attempt. As a child, I remember believing that loud noises would cause the soufflé to collapse! While that may not really have much to do with the success of the soufflé coming out well, preparation and careful folding of the egg whites do play an important part. I kept a close eye on this soufflé while it was in oven. It came out light, fluffy and delicious. Although I attached a collar to the baking dish, it was not needed as the dish I used was a little large to achieve the great height that is so classic to the soufflé. I will try using a smaller dish next time for the dramatic effect.  You will impress your guests while having fun making this dish. I highly recommend this cheese soufflé for any meal!

Ingredients

2 tablespoons finely grated parmesan cheese, or other hard cheese

21/2 tablespoons butter

3 tablespoons flour

1 cup hot milk

1/2 teaspoon paprika

speck of nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon salt

pepper

4 egg yolks

5 egg whites

1 cup coarsely grated swiss cheese (I used emmental)

Preheat oven to 400F. Set oven rack to the lower third level of oven.

A Béchamel Sauce is used for thickening in this recipe. Stir and cook the butter and flour over medium heat, in a saucepan with a heavy bottom for 2 minutes. Remove from heat, let cool a moment, and our in all of the hot milk, and whisk vigorously to blend. The mixture will immediately thicken. Boil slowly for 3 minutes. Whisk in seasoning, and remove from heat. One by one, whisk in egg yolks.

In a separate, clean bowl, beat egg whites to stiff peaks. Scoop a quarter of the egg whites on top of the sauce and stir them in with a wooden spoon. Turn the rest of the egg whites on top; rapidly and delicately fold them in, alternating scoops of the spatula with sprinkles of the swiss cheese. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until the soufflé is brown , and is either 2 or 3 inches over the rim of the baking dish, or when a skewer inserted comes out clean. Serve immediately. 

fluffy, light, and cheesy!

sparkling wine goes very well with the soufflé!

Bon Appétit

*Excerpted from The Way to Cook by Julia Child. Copyright © 1989 by Julia Child. Reprinted with permission from the publisher Alfred A. Knopf, a division of Random House, Inc.