Shrimp Souffle

Fusion, Fission, Frisson



[The following is my entry for Is My Blog Burning #16. IMBB is an online event where a bunch of food bloggers prepare (and often invent) a dish with some sort of theme. The theme this time is eggs.]

As you no doubt know, fusion cooking is the combination of disparate cuisines to create new dishes. The concept, if not the name, have been around for centuries. In fact most Southern cooking (the cuisine of the south-eastern US) is often a fusion of French, English, Spanish, American Indian, and various African foods. Creole and Cajun cooking being the most notable and distinctive examples.

As a cook, I'm particularly fond of mixing the European components of Southern cooking back into the pot. For example, I sometimes make an appetizer consisting of country ham, collards, and feta cheese wrapped in phyllo dough.

I also consider soufflés to be the culinary high point of egg dishes. The air in a risen soufflé not only provides an exciting visual appeal but highlights the flavor of the eggs and whatever is mixed into the soufflé. Perhaps best of all, eggs are an almost universal food (Essential Eggs) you can mix almost anything into a soufflé and produce a dish both new and old.

So faced with this months IMBB challenge I decided on a soufflé of some sort. But what?

I have a recipe for Shrimp and Grits -- a South Carolina Low Country specialty -- hanging on my refrigerator. It's been there since around Christmas and I still haven't made it. Nevertheless, it did inspire a crawfish and grits recipe (Fooling Around) so it occurred to me to do a shrimp and eggs dish this evening. (And I'll get around to the recipe on my 'fridge eventually.

Low Country Soufflé
Serves 4.

**** Soufflé Base ****
4 tbsps sweet butter
3 tbsps flour
2 tbsps parmesan cheese -- grated
1 c milk
3 ea egg yolks
4 ea egg whites
4 oz chevre
2 tbsp fresh garlic chives -- chopped
1 tsp ground white pepper
1 tsp dried ground mustard

****Shrimp Sauce****
1/2 lb shrimp -- peeled
2 tbsp mild olive oil
1 tbsp Spanish paprika
2 cloves garlic -- smashed
salt
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1/2 c heavy cream
1/2 c white wine
1/2 c shrimp stock -- (may substitute chicken stock or lobster base)
1 tsp tomato paste
2 tbsp butter

****Soufflé Dish****
1 qt soufflé dish
2 tbsp butter
1 tbsp parmesan -- finely grated
aluminum foil

Heat oven to 425F.
Use 1 tbsp of butter to grease souffle dish and dust with 1 tbsp of parmesan.
Make a collar of aluminum foil that extends 2 inches above souffle dish and butter exposed foil

****Shrimp Sauce****
Peel shrimp and toss with paprika and thyme.

Heat olive oil and garlic over low until garlic begins to brown. Remove garlic to a small food processor and return pan to heat.

Increase heat to med high and cook shrimp on each side until pink -- about two minutes total. Remove shrimp to food processor and process with garlic until finely minced.

Add stock and wine to pan and reduce to half. Add half of minced shrimp, tomato paste, and heavy cream and remove from heat. Set aside until soufflé is nearly done.

**** Soufflé Base ****
Warm milk until hot, but not scalded, in microwave.
Melt 3 tbsp of butter over medium heat in a sauce pan. Whisk in flour and cook for about three minutes. Whisk in milk to form a roux and cook, stirring, until mixture is thick.
Whisk in chevre and remaining parmesan then transfer to a bowl and allow to cool slightly. Whisk in cayenne, mustard, white pepper, eggs, and chives. Stir in remaining shrimp mixture.

Beat egg whites to stiff peaks. Mix 1/4 of whites into sauce mixture. Casually fold sauce mixture into remaining whites. Pour into souffle dish.

Bake 15 minutes, then reduce heat to 350F and continue baking until deep golden brown and puffed.

Five minutes before soufflé is done, return sauce to medium heat and bring to simmer. Stir in butter.

Serve soufflé immediately dressed with sauce.

The dish worked. Oh, did it work. My God it worked… Sorry. I got carried away. But it was so good!

This morning I'd driven up to an organic farm about two hours away (I'm writing an article about it) and came home with a dozen eggs that couldn't have been fresher. They produced the lightest, freshest soufflé I've ever eaten. The Spanish paprika provided both a nice hint of spicy heat and smoke. The shrimp took a back seat to the eggs, but then I hadn't anticipated such wonderful eggs when I planned the dish.

The only failure is I'd left a few shrimp whole to use for garnish and forgot.