Lighter than Air
It may seem that soufflés wouldn’t fit the description of “Food that Hurts.” After all, they’re fluffy, made of eggs, and generally considered a bit froo-froo. Perhaps it is true that my long struggle during my early 20’s to create a perfect soufflé has colored my love of this dish, but it seems to that nothing highlights the flavor of eggs so perfectly as a soufflé. Or provides such a delightful foil for mixing other flavors in.
When I first attempted soufflés I produced dishes that tasted ok, but had neither the rich egg flavor that suffuses one’s olfactory nerves nor the light texture that so pleases the tongue. I tried many tricks such as cooking it in a bain marie and adding cream of tartar to the mixture. Over the years I’ve discovered some tricks that work, but the one that finally turned my flat egg dishes to lofty soufflés was a comment I found in a cook book that said, “fold in remaining egg whites thoroughly, but casually.”
“Casually.” That word was the key that rang a bell of understanding in my mind. Don’t sweat it. The mixture of egg whites and sauce doesn’t have to be uniform. Close enough works not “as well,” but actually works “best.” Since learning that lesson I haven’t had a soufflé fail to rise to impressive and delicious proportions since.
So why do you want a soufflé to rise? It certainly looks good, but I think more important is that the warm air housed in the bubbles of air in a soufflé is what makes the flavors so rich. Taste and smell are closely related, they’re nearly the same sense. We air wine before tasting to make it more fragrant – to connect it more closely to our sense of smell. Most cheese is better at room temperature because it gives up more of its smell and is thus richer.
So the air in a soufflé is as important to it’s flavor as it’s appearance. And that said, there are a couple of tricks that help.
1) Heat the oven to 425F and reduce the heat to 375F when you put the soufflé in the oven. The high heat quickly cooks the outside of the soufflé providing a structure the interior can build itself up against – it also provides a wonderful crust that contrasts with the creaminess of the interior.
2) Beat the whites in a copper bowl or add a bit of cream of tartar to the whites when you beat them. A copper bowl exchanges ions with the egg whites which produces a stiffer foam while cream of tartar adds acid which accomplishes the same thing.
3) Warm the whites to room temperature before beating them to get the greatest volume.
I have a fairly standard savory soufflé recipe I use and then vary the additions to produce different dishes.
Basic Cheese Soufflé
3 tbsp sweet butter
Additional butter to grease dish
3 tbsp unbleached flour
1 c whole milk – at room temperature
4 egg yolks
5 egg whites – at room temperature
1/2 – 2/3 c grated cheese (almost any cheese will work, vary the amount using your own judgment about both flavor and the consistency of the sauce)
1/4 c finely grated parmesan
1 tsp ground mustard
1 tsp salt
1 tsp white pepper
Heat oven to 425F. Grease soufflé dish with butter and dust with parmesan.
Melt 3 tbsp butter over medium low heat, add flour, and cook for five minutes stirring constantly. Add milk and continue stirring until thickened. Slowly add egg yolks, whisking steadily to avoid scrambling the eggs. Mix in mustard, salt, and pepper. Stir in cheese, melt, and mix thoroughly.
Mix in any additional ingredients, remove from heat, and allow to cool to room temperature.
Beat egg whites to medium stiff peaks. Thoroughly fold 1/3 of whites into sauce mixture. Casually fold mixture back into remaining whites. Pour into soufflé dish, place in oven, reduce heat to 375F, and bake 40 to 45 minutes depending on how well done you like your soufflés. Don’t open the oven for the first 20 minutes!
Additions: Almost anything is good. Whatever you add should be finely chopped so that it is both evenly distributed throughout the dish and so that the expanding eggs can lift it – chunks will fall to the bottom. Don’t add more than about a cup of the additional ingredient to the cheese mixture, and make sure whatever you add is well drained to avoid thinning the sauce. Lastly, additional ingredients should generally be cooked in advance.
Possibilities:
Crab, lobster, crayfish
Spinach (an old standby), sorrel, arugula (be sure to squeeze all moisture out of these before chopping)
Asparagus, artichoke hearts, sun-dried tomatoes
Ham, bacon
Kevin
When I first attempted soufflés I produced dishes that tasted ok, but had neither the rich egg flavor that suffuses one’s olfactory nerves nor the light texture that so pleases the tongue. I tried many tricks such as cooking it in a bain marie and adding cream of tartar to the mixture. Over the years I’ve discovered some tricks that work, but the one that finally turned my flat egg dishes to lofty soufflés was a comment I found in a cook book that said, “fold in remaining egg whites thoroughly, but casually.”
“Casually.” That word was the key that rang a bell of understanding in my mind. Don’t sweat it. The mixture of egg whites and sauce doesn’t have to be uniform. Close enough works not “as well,” but actually works “best.” Since learning that lesson I haven’t had a soufflé fail to rise to impressive and delicious proportions since.
So why do you want a soufflé to rise? It certainly looks good, but I think more important is that the warm air housed in the bubbles of air in a soufflé is what makes the flavors so rich. Taste and smell are closely related, they’re nearly the same sense. We air wine before tasting to make it more fragrant – to connect it more closely to our sense of smell. Most cheese is better at room temperature because it gives up more of its smell and is thus richer.
So the air in a soufflé is as important to it’s flavor as it’s appearance. And that said, there are a couple of tricks that help.
1) Heat the oven to 425F and reduce the heat to 375F when you put the soufflé in the oven. The high heat quickly cooks the outside of the soufflé providing a structure the interior can build itself up against – it also provides a wonderful crust that contrasts with the creaminess of the interior.
2) Beat the whites in a copper bowl or add a bit of cream of tartar to the whites when you beat them. A copper bowl exchanges ions with the egg whites which produces a stiffer foam while cream of tartar adds acid which accomplishes the same thing.
3) Warm the whites to room temperature before beating them to get the greatest volume.
I have a fairly standard savory soufflé recipe I use and then vary the additions to produce different dishes.
Basic Cheese Soufflé
3 tbsp sweet butter
Additional butter to grease dish
3 tbsp unbleached flour
1 c whole milk – at room temperature
4 egg yolks
5 egg whites – at room temperature
1/2 – 2/3 c grated cheese (almost any cheese will work, vary the amount using your own judgment about both flavor and the consistency of the sauce)
1/4 c finely grated parmesan
1 tsp ground mustard
1 tsp salt
1 tsp white pepper
Heat oven to 425F. Grease soufflé dish with butter and dust with parmesan.
Melt 3 tbsp butter over medium low heat, add flour, and cook for five minutes stirring constantly. Add milk and continue stirring until thickened. Slowly add egg yolks, whisking steadily to avoid scrambling the eggs. Mix in mustard, salt, and pepper. Stir in cheese, melt, and mix thoroughly.
Mix in any additional ingredients, remove from heat, and allow to cool to room temperature.
Beat egg whites to medium stiff peaks. Thoroughly fold 1/3 of whites into sauce mixture. Casually fold mixture back into remaining whites. Pour into soufflé dish, place in oven, reduce heat to 375F, and bake 40 to 45 minutes depending on how well done you like your soufflés. Don’t open the oven for the first 20 minutes!
Additions: Almost anything is good. Whatever you add should be finely chopped so that it is both evenly distributed throughout the dish and so that the expanding eggs can lift it – chunks will fall to the bottom. Don’t add more than about a cup of the additional ingredient to the cheese mixture, and make sure whatever you add is well drained to avoid thinning the sauce. Lastly, additional ingredients should generally be cooked in advance.
Possibilities:
Crab, lobster, crayfish
Spinach (an old standby), sorrel, arugula (be sure to squeeze all moisture out of these before chopping)
Asparagus, artichoke hearts, sun-dried tomatoes
Ham, bacon
Kevin
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