The Noncollapsible Cheese Souffle

I have made one other Julia Child, boeuf bourguinon, and realized near the end that I'd left out the "onion and mushroom garniture" completely. Oh well. Today, I read through our souffle recipe carefully before gathering the ingredients.

The souffle has a reputation for being temperamental, perhaps not worth the challenge. This recipe from The French Chef Cookbook, however, has "non-collapsable" in the title, the ingredient list is short (butter, eggs, milk, flour, minimal seasonings), and the instructions require no technique more complex than folding whites into sauce. If we can do any souffle, it should be this one!

Souffle Demoule Mousseline 

aka: The Noncollapsible Unmolded Cheese Souffle

by Julia Child, with cheese substitutions by Raven

Preliminaries: 

• Baking Dish
  
• 2-quart souffle dish
  
• 1/2 T butter
  
• 2 T finely-grated parmesan 
  

Preheat oven to 350. Put enough water in the baking dish so it will come at least halfway up the souffle dish; place dish of water in lower third of oven (remove souffle dish). Spread butter inside souffle dish, being sure bottom is especially well-coated; roll cheese around in dish to cover bottom and sides.*

* At this point we discovered my cheese was not sticking to the sides, which I've read is necessary for providing the souffle with a coarse wall to climb up. Melissa grabbed a large pinch of cheese and smashed it against the dish. We did this all the way around -- perhaps not an elegant preparation, but effective!

The Sauce Base:

• 2 1/2 T butter
  
• Heavy-bottomed saucepan
  
• Wooden spoon
  
• 3 T flour
  
• 3/4 C milk
  
• Wisk
  
• 1/2 tsp salt
  
• 1/8 tsp pepper
  
• pinch of nutmeg
  

Melt butter in pan. (I used medium.) Stir in flour with wooden spoon and cook slowly, stirring for 2 minutes without browning. Remove from heat, let cool a moment, then beat in all hot milk, stirring vigorously with a wire wisk. Boil, storring for 1/2 minute (my mixture was way too thick to do anything like "boil," so I just turned on the heat for a moment. I doubt this did anything, but it made me feel like I was following directions.) Remove from heat, beat in salt, pepper and nutmeg.

Adding Eggs To Sauce Base

• 3 eggs + 3 extra egg whites
  
• Clean, dry bowl
  
• Wisk or mixer
  
• Pinch of salt
  
• 1/4 tsp cream of tartar
  
• 1 C coarsely grated cheese (Julia said swiss, I used cheddar + parmesan)

I will paraphrase the author's lengthy instructions: Separate yolks from whites. Begin beating whites in your stand-mixer, add tartar and salt, then wisk yolks into sauce base. When whites form soft peaks, stir 1/4 of them into the sauce base to thin it a bit. Then fold in the rest. Pour into prepared dish, place carefully into pan of water, then bake at 350 for 85 minutes. Blog while waiting.

The souffle is now baked, quite brown on top and much softer on the bottom -- I'd place it in the lowest rack of the oven next time. But! It's pretty delicious. Very cheesy and eggy, soft with crispiness on top and edges. I will definitely try again, with spinach or some other addition.

According to Julia: "Best of all, you can serve it unmolded so it makes a splendid effect, standing serenely on a platter." My unmolded souffle was far from serene, looking upside-dow, unevenly baked, and generally quite uncomfortable on its platter. I turned it back into the baking dish, where it seemed most at home. 

The cookbook came from a friend working at Julia Child's alma mater (among the school's many charming traditions that make me slightly jealous of the women's college experience: an annual Julia Child Day). The souffle dish I bought for $10 -- certainly not expensive, compared to many kitchen tools, but perhaps of limited use. However, I do love white porcelain serving ware -- if nothing else, my dish can stand serenely on a shelf between less-serene souffles.