Sassy Southern Cooking with a French Twist

souffles

Let Them Eat Souffle!

Starting a Souffle Revolution at Home

The last time I ordered a souffle in a restaurant, or even saw one on a menu, was at Tour D’Argent in Paris, New Year’s Eve, 1992. It was a simple and elegant vanilla souffle, dotted with crunchy, fragrant vanilla pod seeds, arriving at the table all beautiful and steaming  hot; a perfectly crafted crown of Gaul glory. The server gently crushed its top to ladle in a silky, warm creme anglaise. It was heaven. A moment I will never forget. Kind of like 1992, which was a magical year for me, all tucked away at Le Cordon Bleu, cooking and learning French cooking by day, absorbing every inch of Paris and France when I wasn’t cooking.

Since then, I haven’t seen them much in restaurants and have often wondered why. They are not expensive to make, are easily prepped and compiled at the last minute, and when well done (they are easier to make than you may think), are utterly impressive and utterly delicious. Any chef’s dream dish. Perhaps it’s time to start a new French Revolution in our own home kitchens? That’s what I’ve been doing and the purpose of this post is to remind you how easy and rewarding it is to do the same in your own.

As a prologue to that, I thought I’d share some thoughts from the heroine in the culinary romance novel (hopefully series) I’m working on. She’s a chef and sees several parallels between souffles and her own life:

A Page from Today’s Journal – Prudence Sass

….”The way a souffle turns out, all depends on how it’s handled. The first step is to separate the yolk from the white, or put another way, separate the baby from its embryo. There are lots of important, pesky little things to do along the way (temperature, clean hands, clean bowls, etc.), but the most important of all is the act of denaturing the egg whites to make them stable, airy, and strong. Indeed, to create a beautiful souffle, the natural qualities of the egg white proteins must be altered or destroyed altogether. And, to do that, you beat the hell out of them and fold them ever so gently back into their other half, the yolks, which have been similarly beaten into a ribbon. Then, you pop it into the oven, cross your fingers, and hope it turns out all right. It is comforting to know that older eggs make the most stable souffles and that souffle, a very pretty French word (pronounced soof-lay) literally means ‘to blow’.”

Prudence is basically right about all that. But, to refresh my own souffle thoughts and skills, I spent some time with Greg Patent’s marvelous The French Cook Souffle’s Cookbook (Gibbs Smith, 2014), which is part of The French Cook series I also contributed to (Sauces, Soups & Stews, and Cream Puffs & Eclairs). Greg is a souffle master and his book is written with tender loving care and magnificently described technique, especially in the front of the book where he discusses all matters souffle (sweet and savory) in detail. Because a friend requested a savory cheese souffle for a cooking class I was planning for her husband, herself and some of their friends, I sharpened up my skills using his cheese souffle recipe.  Like Prudence, I was crossing my fingers until the very end, but in following Patent’s directions to the letter (except for making the bechamel base ahead and bringing to room temperature before folding in the egg whites) it turned out perfectly.

The cover of Greg Patent’s wonderful The French Cook Souffles (Gibbs Smith, 2014)

Classic Cheese Souffle

(from The French Cook Souffles by Greg Patent, Gibbs Smith Publisher)

Serves 4

4 tablespoons unsalted butter, plus more for mold

2 tablespoons finely grated Parmesan cheese, for mold

1 cup whole milk, plus 1 tablespoon divided

4 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Pinch of freshly ground nutmeg

6 large eggs, separated, room temperature

Pinch of salt

1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar

1 cup (4 ounces) shredded Gruyere, Comte or P’tit Basque cheese

Adjust an oven rack to lower third position and set a baking sheet on the rack. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Butter bottom and sides of a 1- 1/2 quart, 4-inch tall charlotte mold and coat with the Parmesan.

Heat 1 cup milk in a small heavy saucepan until bubbling but not boiling; keep warm. Melt 4 tablespoons butter in a medium heavy saucepan over medium heat. Stir in the flour with a wooden spoon and cook, stirring, for 2 minutes. Remove pan from the heat and whisk in the hot milk; sauce should be smooth. Return pan to medium-high heat and bring to a boil, whisking constantly. Cook and whisk until very thick, about 2 minutes. Remove pan from heat and whisk in the salt, pepper, and nutmeg. Whisk in the egg yolks one at a time. Film the surface of the bechamel with 1 tablespoon milk.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the egg whites with a pinch of salt on medium speed until frothy, about 1 minute. Add cream of tartar and beat until soft peaks form. Increase speed to medium-high and continue beating until moist stiff peaks form, 1 to 2 minutes.

Stir about one-fourth of the whites into the bechamel to lighten. Gently fold in remaining whites, sprinkling in the shredded cheese as you fold. Fold until no white streaks remain. Transfer the batter into prepared mold, filling it about 3/4 inch from the top. (May be made to this point about 1 hour ahead. Cover mold with a large, upturned bowl.) Set the souffle onto the baking sheet in the oven and bake until well browned on top, puffed about 2 inches above the rim, and a wooden skewer inserted into the center comes out clean but moist, about 25 minutes. Serve immediately.

Voila! A perfect cheese souffle is almost ready to be enjoyed.

Feeling souffle proud! If I can do it, so can you.

We served this with a simple salad of tender greens tossed with a simple orange and mustard vinaigrette. It was the bona fide hit of the evening. The revolutionary and unexpected winner on all counts. If you ever want to come cook with me and learn all about cooking delicious food and having a great time while  you’re at it, click on this link for more details:

Cooking Classes

In the meantime, I hope you’ll check out Greg’s book and start making your own souffles. Wishing all a safe and happy Labor Day weekend.

Bon appetit!

Holly and Rocky

Author, Chef, Cookbook writer Holly Herrick

 

 

 

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New Covers for The French Cook Series Cookbooks

Fresh Cookbook Faces

Happily,  publisher Gibbs Smith, has decided to re-vamp the covers on all of the books in the French Cook series. The signature bright colors will remain under fresh new covers that will showcase the gorgeous photography in each book, and also eliminate the pesky plastic wrap that made it hard for cookbook shoppers to see what’s within these beautiful pages. Here’s a sneak preview of what will be hitting bookstore and internet shelves in the next few weeks.

New cover art for The French Cook Cream Puffs and Eclairs. Photography by Alexandra DeFurio.

New cover art for The French Cook Cream Puffs and Eclairs. Photography by Alexandra DeFurio.

Soups and Stews (my favorite of all of my books in this series) gets a new cover, too, showcasing the talents of photographer Chia Chong.

Soups and Stews (my favorite of all of my books in this series) gets a new cover, too, showcasing the talents of photographer Chia Chong.

Photographer Steven Rothfeld's work shines in this book, full of inspiring, easy to use classical French sauces and variations.

Photographer Steven Rothfeld’s work shines in this book, full of inspiring, easy to use classical French sauces and variations.

Author Greg Patent makes a stunning case for the art of sure-fire souffle artistry, matched with lovely photographs by Kelly Gorham.

Author Greg Patent makes a stunning case for the art of sure-fire souffle artistry, matched with lovely photographs by Kelly Gorham.

I hope you will love the new look. Please write and let me know your thoughts.

As always, bon appetit and happy cooking!

Holly

 

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Souffles Rising

Cookbook Review and Giveaway

It seems everyone who loves to cook or eat, particularly French cooking or eating, has a souffle story. Some are happy, some are rather sad. I have my share of both. But for Greg Patent, author of The French Cook – Souffles (Gibbs Smith, March 1, 2014),  most of his life has been a souffle love story. And, it began with the French Chef herself, Julia Child. Already a talented baker under the guiding hand of his Granny who mesmerized him whipping egg whites with a fork during in his “first childhood” in Shanghai, Julia later seduced him with her balloon whisk, copper bowl, and stunning souffles.

Patent, who travels to cooking demos with his own copper bowl and balloon whisk, expertly details all of the elements of making both sweet and savory souffles in this beautiful book (photography by Kelly Gorham). His writing is concise, detailed, and at times almost scientific in describing the how-to’s of making souffles puff. His passion for cooking, baking and souffles comes through in every syllable. At times, it’s as if you can practically hear his soothing “voice” in your ear, building your souffle-making confidence all along the way.

Patent begins the book with an excellent series of descriptions of the four types of souffle bases (bechamel, veloute, bouille, or fruit/vegetable puree), and especially helpful lessons on mounting egg whites, folding, breaking egg whites, the debate over fresh or older egg whites, finally confessing in his down-to-earth manner, “I tend not to fret over the freshness of egg whites in making a souffle.” Beyond the base and the whites, the bottom line is timing. As Patent wittily states, “You must wait for them (souffles); they won’t wait for you.”

If you’re like me, you won’t be able to wait to make the likes of Green Garlic Souffles, Crab & Morel Mushroom Souffles, Meyer Lemon Souffles, and Cold Passion Fruit Souffles. Patent includes all kinds of wonderful derivatives from a standard souffle, including a souffle stuffed crepe, souffle roulade, and frozen souffles, as well as several sauce recipes. The James Beard winning author has penned several cookbooks  and has another winner on his hands in “Souffles.” Julia would be proud.

The French Cook-Souffles by Greg Patent. Photography by Kelly Gorham.

The French Cook-Souffles by Greg Patent. Photography by Kelly Gorham.

Cookbook Giveaway

Like Patent, I love making souffles, but as I said before, I’ve had a few sad souffle stories, including a woefully underdone chocolate souffle at Tour D’Argent in Paris, and a fallen souffle for a tardy photo shoot.

Do you have a souffle story? If so, please share it with me here in the comments section. I’ll select a winner on May 1 and will mail you a copy of Greg’s book.

As always, bon appetit!

 

(Please note: Souffle should be finished with an accent on the “e” but my formatting will not allow me to do it!)

 

 

 

 

 

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