Cheese Souflle

During the stay at home orders I’ve been working on enhancing my cooking skills. A while back I saw chef Jacques Pepin make a souffle without whipping the egg whites. I thought I should try that, but never got around to it. Then the other day there was a repeat of the cooking show (there are a number of repeats happening right now). Well this time, I went online and printed the recipe. Surprisingly, I had all the ingredients, even fresh chives as my outdoor plant was in bloom.

The first thing I had to do was find a dish to cook the souffle. I didn’t have a gratin dish (even needed to google that.) But I did have a shallow dish that was close. I pulled it out of the cupboard and buttered it all over.

I then proceeded to make the white sauce, which consists of melted butter, flour, and milk. I’ve made white sauce many times before, but this sauce was thick. As with any white sauce I started with melted butter, then added in flour.

Once the flour was mixed in and the raw flour taste cooked out, in went the milk. The recipe called for whole milk, but I only had 2% and it worked fine.

I cooked the mixture until it was thick and bubbly, then added some salt and pepper and let it cool for about 10 minutes

While the sauce was cooling, I whisked up 6 large eggs. The recipe called for 5 extra-large, but I only had large eggs, so added one for good measure. (Check out this post on Eggs A Nutrient Powerhouse.)

Next, I stirred the cheese, chives, and eggs into the cooled white sauce.

Then it all went into the buttered dish with some Parmesan cheese sprinkled over the top.

I put the filled dish into a 400 degree oven and set the timer for 30 minutes. The recipe said to cook for 30-40 minutes. I choose the lower end because my oven tends to cook hot, but I think next time I will go for 35 minutes.

I think it turned out great for my first souffle.

Served with a simple salad, this is a great brunch or dinner dish. I will definitely be making this again.