Most Indians when asked to describe a soufflé will say that it is a dessert and they will only be partially right. A soufflé can be a sweet or savoury. In fact a cheese soufflé is probably the original soufflé that came out of France (where else) and chefs later adapted it to make dessert soufflés. The important thing to remember is that a soufflé should be light and should rise to almost double its original size. Here we give two classic soufflé dishes which, if served at a five star hotel would be nothing less than a thousand bucks.
Classic Cheese Soufflé
The classic recipe calls for Cheddar cheese but you can experiment with cheeses like Camembert or blue cheese.
Ingredients
250 ml milk
1 bay leaf
½ an onion, with a few cloves pushed inside
Salt and black pepper
30 gm butter, plus extra for greasing
2 tbsp plain flour
6 eggs, white and yolk
separated
2 tbsp mustard
375 gm Cheddar cheese, grated
Soufflé dish
Method
Boil the milk in a saucepan along with the bay leaf and the clove-studded onion. Once the milk boils, remove from the heat and leave for about half an hour for the flavours to blend. Strain the milk, and season to taste. Melt the butter in a large pan and add the flour and cook, stirring, for one minute. Remove from the heat and slowly add the milk while stirring. Return pan over heat and bring back to a boil, stirring until it thickens. Simmer for two minutes. Leave to cool for ten minutes.
Beat the egg yolks and stir them into the cooled down white sauce. Add the mustard and the cheese in a bowl, keeping about 30 gm aside.
Using a hand-held mixer or an egg beater, whisk the egg whites until they are firm but not stiff. Fold one or two tablespoons of the egg whites into the cheese mixture until evenly combined, and then fold in the remaining egg whites.
Lightly butter the soufflé dish and then pour in the egg and cheese mixture. Sprinkle the remaining cheese on top and bake in the top half of a preheated oven at 180°C for 30 minutes. Serve at once.
Garlic and Goat’s Cheese Soufflés
This is a variable to the classic cheese soufflé and the cooking process is similar to a classic cheese soufflé.
Ingredients
1 head of garlic
250 ml milk
125 ml water
30 gm butter, plus extra for greasing
2 tbsp plain flour
150 gm goat’s cheese, diced
6 eggs, eggs and yolks
separated
Salt and black pepper to taste
Fresh chives to garnish
6, 150 ml soufflé dishes
Method
Separate and peel the garlic and boil it with the milk and water. Reserve one clove. Simmer for 15-20 minutes until the garlic is tender and the liquid has reduced to 250 ml. Leave to cool and lightly mash the garlic in the milk.
Make the white sauce with the butter and flour and the garlic milk like the previous recipe and set aside to cool.
Chop the remaining garlic clove and add it along with the goat’s cheese, egg yolks, and salt and pepper to taste to the cooled sauce.
In a large bowl, whisk the egg whites until stiff but not dry. Stir one tablespoon of the egg whites into the garlic and cheese mixture, then fold in the remaining egg whites.
Lightly butter the soufflé dishes, pour in the soufflé mixture and bake in a preheated oven at 180°C (350F, Gas 4) for 15-20 minutes. Serve at once, garnished with chives.