My First Souffle

I always wanted to try making a souffle but I never wanted to waste all the eggs it would take to make a souffle that would fit in any of the oven proof souffle type dishes I had. Then Warda over at 64 sq ft kitchen posted souffles on her blog and they looked so beautiful and flavorful. I mentioned to her how much I wanted to try it and why I had not yet done so and she reminded me of the ramekins that I purchased for the Daring Baker challenge back in October and then I got more for Christmas. She was so right and I went to work, following her recipe, to make my first souffle. Of course I had to make a few changes because lets face it what food blogger out there can follow a recipe to the T.

~Souffle~

- 4 ½ tbsp butter, plus 1 tsp to coat the ramekins

- ¾ cup grated Gruyère cheese-

- 3 onions, chopped

- red bell peppers, chopped

- 1 ¼ tsp sea salt

- 4 ½ tbsp flour

- 1 ¼ cup milk

- ¼ tsp freshly ground black pepper

- ½ tsp old style Dijon mustard

- A pinch of freshly ground nutmeg

- 3 egg yolks

- 7 egg whites

- Make Ahead: Take the eggs out of the fridge, and let them come at room temperature. Melt 1 tbsp of butter in a pan and saute the onions and peppers season with ¼ tsp salt. Cover and cook for 5 min on medium-low heat until they are tender. Uncover and continue cooking for a few minutes on high heat until all the liquid has been evaporated. Set aside to cool.

1- Butter a 1½- quart souffle mold with 1 tsp soft butter. Be sure it is well coated all around.Add the Gruyère cheese and turn the mold around so that the cheese sticks to the butter. Let the extra cheese fall into a bowl. Refrigerate the coated mold. A very cold mold helps the souffle rise straight. Never smear the coating or you mat disturb the rising of the mixture.

2- Melt the remaining butter in a saucepan and add the flour. Stir quickly, and cook for 1 minute on low heat.3- Add the milk, 1 tsp salt, black pepper, the Dijon mustard and bring to a boil, stirring with a whisk. As soon as it reaches the boiling point, the sauce will thicken. Boil on low heat for 1 min, still stirring to avoid scorching.

4- Away from the heat, add the yolks and mix well.

5- Add the onion, ground nutmeg and the grated Gruyère cheese. Stir with a wooden spoon.

6- Whip the egg whites until they hold a peak, but are still “wet”. Place about one-third in the leek mixture and mix with a whisk. Work as fast as you can, because as soon as you stop beating the whites, they start to break down and become grainy.

7- Using a spatula, gently fold the remaining whites and onion mixture together.

8- Fill the soufflé mold to the edges. At this point, the soufflé can be refrigerated, and will keep for at least a couple of hours. At baking time, sprinkle some Gruyere cheese on top and place on a cookie sheet in a 375F-preheated oven. Reduce the heat to 350F and bake for 30-35 minutes (about 25 minutes for individual ramekins). Never open the oven when it’s still baking. Serve immediately.

The great thing about using Warda's blog post is she included step by step photos with the instructions making this something that almost anyone can make even, if they are not experienced cooks or are intimidated by the idea of a souffle. Thanks Warda