Finally, The Successful Souffle

ahhhh....now this is what i'm talkin' about.

HOUSTON, WE HAVE LIFT OFF...

A DELICIOUSLY SIMPLE CHEESE SOUFFLE...

well, i can cross this off my "Bucket List"

success with the "CLASSIC CHEESE SOUFFLE"

light, soft, airy, smooth, dissolve in the mouth cheesy egg goodness.  like a little cloud of heaven has finally arrived on the plate.

if you're interested in making a savory souffle and it's your first attempt, i suggest you try this recipe by Alton Brown...really, no kidding.  who would have thought Alton Brown vs our beloved Julia Child in a recipe match?...i choose Alton?...yikes!  well that's just crazy talk...but true for this novice souffle cook.

as you might already know this is not my first attempt at "The Elegant Souffle".  i posted about my failure with Julia Child's Souffle a few days ago.  i was so dismayed and upset with my failure that it took a while for me to try again.  i was up late one night and caught an Alton Brown rerun...he seemed to demystify "The Souffle".  in this episode he just showed the basics of souffle making...nothing crazy, no contraptions, just straight up souffle talk.  i had to try again...even though it was an Alton Brown recipe.  not to diss Alton by any means, but he does get carried away sometimes with his complex instructions and odd contraptions.

photo above is right out of the oven...
the other photos of the full souffle were taken anywhere from 5 minutes to an hour after taking it out.  it held up VERY well.
the little photo below of the single serving is the only picture i could get before i finally HAD to dig in.    sorry it's not the beauty shot i had hoped for, but you can see how well it held up on the plate.  i was just so excited that it turned out...so fabulous, light and fluffy all on it's own.  i think it would also be delicious with a sauce of some sort.  can't wait to try it again and give it some more thought.

NOTE to first time souffle cooks....have everything ready.
get your mise en place in place!
be ready with all the separate bowls and utensils...that said, be ready for a big mess, or just a lot of dirty bowls and such.  i'm sure the second time around it won't be so bad, but it's all worth the trouble...

trust me, a successful souffle can make your day !

CHEESE SOUFFLE

recipe from Alton Brown...no adaptations

i have copied the recipe exactly for your convenience, but please check link for printable recipe, others comments, ratings and reviews.

ingredients

butter, room temperature, for greasing souffle dish

2 Tbsp FINE grated Parmesan

1 1/2 oz. butter...3 Tbsp

3 Tbsp flour

1 tsp dry mustard

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1/8 tsp kosher salt

1 1/3 cups milk, hot

4 large egg yolks

6 oz sharp cheddar cheese

5 egg whites plus 1 Tbsp water

1/2 tsp cream of tartar

directions

use room temp. butter to grease an 8 inch souffle mold.  add the grated Parmesan and roll around the mold to cover the sides.  cover with plastic wrap and place in the freezer for 5 minutes.

preheat oven to 375 F

in a small sauce pan, heat the butter.  allow the water to cook out.

in a separate bowl combine the flour, dry mustard, garlic powder, and kosher salt.  whisk the mixture into the melted butter.  cook for 2 minutes

whisk in the hot milk and turn the heat to high.  once the mixture reaches a boil, remove from heat.

in a separate bowl, beat the egg yolks to a creamy consistency.  temper the yolks into the milk mixture, constantly whisking.  remove from the heat and add the cheese.  whisk until well incorporated.

in a separate bowl, using a hand mixer, whip the egg whites and cream of tartar until glossy and firm.  add 1/4 of the mixture to the base.  continue to add the whites by thirds, folding VERY gently.

pour the mixture into the souffle dish.  fill the souffle 1/2 inch from the top.  place on an aluminum pie pan.  bake in the oven for 35 minutes.  do not open the oven during cooking...you don't want any of the heat to escape...even cooking temp. is important.

serve immediately...or at least call everyone or ANYone into the kitchen to marvel at your success.

Julia's Cheese Souffle

i believe someone, maybe even Julia herself, said...

"A FALLEN SOUFFLE IS NOT A FAILED SOUFFLE..."

 well, i must say...i have proven this to be incorrect...
taste?...not so good, but okay...
looks?...complete failure...

i must preface this post by saying that i made the attempt at Julia's Souffle a few months ago.  it was my first attempt at a souffle and it literally kicked my butt!...i have since made another souffle with complete success...will post about the FABULOUS SOUFFLE asap
 i didn't want to post about this one because it was such a failure in puffy delicate souffle terms...but i think it's necessary to show the failures to put us in our place, but better yet....to make our successes stand out even better...when something turns out perfect  people should stand up and cheer...there should be a national souffle day...or a big banner outside the house...big party...big something!....

(this is how my post read right after i made Julia's souffle)
just look at my poor little souffle....i'll bet you wouldn't even know it was a souffle if i wasn't calling it that. trust me...it IS a souffle. don't get me wrong here, i wasn't trying to be creative and take license with Julia's recipe...i wouldn't do that. i know i like to change things up by adding this or that to a lot of recipes i try, BUT for this one i went by the book. Julia's book...Volume ONE. i'm just glad that i read somewhere that a fallen souffle is not a failed souffle...because BOY did this one fall.

i followed the instructions to the T, even down to the straight-pin collars. Julia suggests using straight pins to hold it together so i dug around in the sewing room and found the darn pins...i wanted everything to be just right. i was so proud of my little collared ramekins.

i carefully prepped everything. mise en place at the ready. i think the rule is that when any recipe calls for folding in whipped egg whites you should be well prepared. time is of the essence. i had both of Julia's books out on the counter - "The Way To Cook" and "Mastering The Art Of French Cooking Volume One".  no room for error, or so i thought.  everything came together just fine. the instructions are precise and easy to understand.  i thought i was on top of everything...checking and rechecking the step by step recipe...no help from my sous chef aka the peanut gallery.  i was totally ready to take the credit for my wonderful souffle, but also fully aware that i would also be the one to blame for failure.

the photo above is one of the only shots i could salvage of the souffle still above the rim of the ramekin.  i wish i would have had a video of my 15 seconds of souffle fame.  i swear, the second the collar came off this thing just sank.  i had the camera set up t o shoot the finished product right out of the oven because i read that they usually fall within 5-10 min. i thought i had a little window of time there to get at least one decent shot of the real deal....NOT ! as fast as i could push the shutter release it was falling, falling falling...FALLEN.
right when they came out of the oven the souffles were up near the top of the collar...a good 2 inches from the rim of the ramekins, but as you can see in the photo below they quickly sank to 2 inches below the rim of the ramekin...

so...long story short.  yes, i ate them.  yes, they were OKAY, but did not resemble any souffle i had ever tasted, seen or ever imagined.  they were more like an over cooked cheesy omelet...and not a very good one at that.  will i try this again?...YES!

the souffle will not win !!!


stay tuned for the Perfect Souffle...