So, we're going to make a souffle.

Cheese Souffle!

Today, I made cheese souffle, which is really much easier than everyone thinks.  It's okay.  Don't be scared!

The recipe I used today is a variation on the one in Mastering the Art of French Cooking by Julia Child.  My mother-in-law sent me a pristine copy of the 1969 edition she found at a library fundraising sale.  I, of course, will dog-ear it and get food on it. But I think Julia would prefer to sign a book that's crusty and has obviously been used than one where the spine hasn't even been broken.  

Okay, here we go.  

Equipment you'll need:  A small pot, whisk, ramekins, rubber spatula, a larger bowl and something to whip egg whites with.  I use my Kitchenaid stand mixer to whip the egg whites because my children left my hand mixer in the yard and Gibson the Dog chewed it up. 

Ingredients are: 6 ounces of grated cheddar, about a 1/4 cup of parmesan, five eggs that will be separated, 3 tablespoons of butter, 3 tablespoons of flour, 1 cup of milk and salt and pepper to taste. 

First, you'll want to get your ingredients prepped and ready to go.  Separate your eggs, you need FOUR yolks and FIVE whites.  An easy way to do this is to scrub your hands clean and just crack an egg into your hand.  Let the whites run through your fingers until just the yolk is resting in your hand.  Place the yolk in one bowl and transfer the white to a third bowl. Yes, it's a lot of dishes but if you break part of a yolk into the whites while separating your last egg you'll be pissed and perhaps go to the store for more eggs.  The extra bowl is worth preventing that heartache. 

Rub butter inside the ramekins and then sprinkle with parmesan and get it all over the butter.  This is the same as greasing and flouring a baking pan. 

Get your cheese grated up and then preheat your oven to 400 degrees. 

Melt the butter in a saucepan over low heat, don't let it burn.  Because burned food isn't that tasty. 

Add in your flour and stir it all up until it's smooth.  Bring this up to a boil and keep stirring it so it won't brown.  This is a roux, a thickener added to liquid.  Since we're making a white sauce, we won't cook the roux until it gets a color.  Once the stuff has bubbled, cook and stir until you can't smell the flour anymore.  

Whisk in the milk then bring the whole thing up to a boil.  (Julia says add boiling milk to the roux, but I've been instructed that you add cold liquid to a hot roux.  If I were to add a hot liquid to a hot roux it would make my instructor's eyes itch, so I added cold milk. )Lower the heat and cook this until it gets thick, this shouldn't take very long.  If you were to add a quarter of an onion with half a bay leaf tacked onto it with a clove and let it simmer for about half an hour you'd have a bechamel sauce.  

At this point you'll add in the egg yolks one at a time.  Really whisk after you add in each egg yolk until they are all combined into the almost bechamel.  At this point, I stirred in half the shredded cheese and  let it melt. Set this aside to cool a little while.  

Whip the egg whites into stiff peaks.  They should hold their shape without any fold over.  

Transfer the egg yolk, sauce, cheese stuff to a big bowl and fold in about a third of the whites.  

Add the rest of the cheese and fold it in.  

Fold in the rest of the egg whites until there are no white streaks or pockets of whites.  Everything should be evenly distributed. 

Pour the eggy stuff carefully into the ramekins and put them into your oven.  You don't have to baby them too much, but don't slam the oven door or punch it or anything like that.  No violence against the souffle!  Watch an episode of Paranormal State on Netflix and then check on the souffles through the oven window.  Don't open the door!  

If they have puffed up and gotten brown you're ready for brunch!  These little ramekins get VERY hot so put them on a plate to serve them.  

The Greatest Daughter in the World loves these!  

Now, get someone else to do dishes.  

See ya!

Seafood terrine and raspberry mousse

We had some friends over last night so I can practice what I'm learning in school.

I made a seafood terrine and raspberry mousse.

Seafood Terrine first.

A terrine is a forcemeat cooked into a loaf shape and are usually served cold or at room temperature.  These can also be made from seafood or vegetables.  This one is made of scallops and shrimp.

You'll need

1 pound of bay scallops
1 1/2 pounds of shrimp, shelled and deveined
2 egg whites
1 egg
1 cup of cream

a loaf pan lined with plastic wrap and a baking dish large enough for the loaf pan to fit in
a food processor


First, you'll cut 1/2 pound of the scallops and 1/2 pound of the shrimp into bite size pieces and set them aside.

Next, place the rest of the shrimp and scallops into your food processor and zip them around until they are very fine and almost smooth.  Toss in the egg whites and the egg and process some more, the mixture should start to look like a puree, which it is.

Now, with the processor running,start to slowly pour in the cream.  You can add it all while it's running around in the food processor or you can add part and work the rest in by hand with a spatula.

Once it's been processed to the point where it's very smooth and creamy, you've made a mousseline!  You can use two spoons to shape it into little dumplings and poach them.

Since we're making a terrine we're going to take the shellfish we cut up earlier and fold it in to our mousseline.

Once that is done, you'll get your loaf pan ready.  Line it with plastic wrap, leaving enough to cover the entire surface of your terrine.  Be sure to get the wrap all the way down in the corners of the pan.

Pour the mixture into the pan, fold the wrap over and make sure it's all covered up.  Now, take another loaf pan and put it on top then put something heavy in that pan, this will ensure the terrine is smooth all around.  ( I used a box of salt wrapped up in foil, but cans or a brick or whatever will work.)

Let this rest in the fridge for a couple of hours.  Remove the top pan and place your terrine in a baking dish large enough to hold your loaf pan with space all the way around.

This is going to be baked in a water bath.  Meaning you'll pour water into the larger pan before you stick it in the oven.  Don't put water in the pan and then try to put it in the oven, put the pan in the oven first and then pour the water in.

Bake this at 300 degrees F for about an hour, or until the internal temperature is between 140 and 145.

Take it out of the oven, carefully unwrap the top and unmold the terrine onto a serving platter.  You'll slice this up and serve it warm.

Raspberry Mousse

For dessert I selected a raspberry mousse.

You'll need:

12 oz. package of raspberries.
1/4 cup of sugar
the juice of one lemon
one package of unflavored gelatin
3 cups of cream, whipped
more raspberries for garnish or to fold in

First, put the raspberries, sugar and lemon juice in a saucepan and heat over a low flame until the berries turn to mush.  Pour this mixture through a sieve and push it through, you should be left with seeds and some pulp in the strainer.

While it's still warm, whisk in the gelatin.  Alternately, you can bloom the gelatin in a tablespoon of cold water and then whisk that in.  Let that sit for a few minutes.

Whip the cream until it holds a nice, soft peak.  Fold the cream into the raspberry stuff until it's completely combined.

Put it in the fridge and let it have some alone time.  After a few hours, you'll have a fluffy but scoopable bowl full of yummy.

I serve the mousse in champagne glasses.

See ya!

Valentine's dinner with what's in the fridge

First, what do I have?

Frozen shrimp, leftover pasts, butter, lemon, parmesan 

Melt a couple tablespoons of butter in a pan

 

  

Squeeze in the juice of one lemon.  Usually, I would add the zest but my zester has disappeared and when I find out who took it there's going to be some zest coming their way!

 Toss the shrimp into the pan and stir it around until the shrimp is heated through.  I am using pre-cooked shrimp, raw shrimp would be done when they turned pink.

Remove the shrimp and set them aside.  Put a generous amount of cheese and an egg yolk into the pan.  Whisk it around until you have a thick sauce.  You can thin it with lemon juice, milk or cream.

I don't have photos of the next steps because my whisk turned on me and flicked hot cheese/lemon sauce on my face.  In my upset state I forgot to take pictures until I plated the dish.

Once the sauce is done, stir in the pasta until it's all coated with sauce and let it get warm.  Add the shrimp back to the pan, put on the cover and turn off the heat. 

Set the table while everything stays warm.

Serve with a sprinkle of fresh parsley and the beverage of your choice. 

I also made a flourless chocolate torte from sugar, cocoa, egg and butter.  I topped the cake with a sauce made from frozen raspberries and sugar.  

Here's to love!

Tortillas

Yes, you can make tortillas. It's very easy, easy enough to make them whenever you need them.

You'll need:

1 1/2 cups flour + more for dusting the dough

2 Tbsp oil 

(I use vegetable oil but olive oil works very well)

1/2 cup warm water

Combine the flour and oil in a medium-big bowl and mix it up until it's well combined.  You may use a wooden spoon, a fork or your hands, just make sure the big lumps are smooshed out.  

Pour in the water and mix again until the mixture becomes a dough.  

Plop it down on your countertop if you have a granite or formica surface, on your cutting board if you have a tile countertop.  You'll see I use a cutting board, so now you know I have a tile counter top.  Dust the surface and the dough with flour if the dough is sticky. 

Knead it for a few minute until it's smooth and elastic.  Smooth, meaning smooth.  And elastic, meaning when you poke it, the dough springs back.  Any sign of springy-ness is good for this recipe.  

Divide the dough into 8 balls and let them rest for about 5 minutes.  I imagine all that pummeling tires them out.  

While the dough is resting, put your pan, either cast iron or non-stick on the stove over medium-high heat. 

Using a rolling pin, roll out one ball of dough until you have a thin disk.  You will probably find the need to apply some pressure to do this as this dough tends to resist being smushed. 

The disk needs to reach a state called "window pane" where you can see your hand through the dough if you hold both to the light.  This part can take some practice, at least, it took ME some practice.

Now, get that disk of dough into your hot pan.  Let it cook for about 1 minute on each side.  

Look!  You made a tortilla!  

Apply fillings of choice and put it in your face.

Christmas morning 2010

Christmas this year was supposed to be a low-key affair, not very many gifts and more focus on family.
It turned out that the focus for Scott and I was on the small amount of sleep we got between December 24th and 25th.
But, since I find food to be the most important of traditions, I fueled up with coffee and dragged into the kitchen.
Christmas Menu:
French toast and bacon
The night before, take a loaf of Texas toast and set the slices on the counter to get a little stale. You can also put them on wire cooling racks.
Combine 2 cups half and half, 4 tablespoons maple syrup, 6 eggs, 2 teaspoons vanilla and a pinch of salt in a medium bowl and whisk until it is very well incorporated. Pour this mixture into a 9 X 12 pan and lay in the stale bread to soak for 30 seconds on each side. If the bread is not at least a little stale, it will really soak up the custard so watch out!

After the bread has soaked slightly, let them sit on a wire rack for a minute or so before cooking.

I use my large electric griddle for french toast, a big fry pan will work just as well. Prepare your cooking surface as you would for pancakes, 375 on an electric griddle or heat a pan on the stove top over medium-high heat until drops of water sizzle when dropped on the surface. Cook the slices on each side until they are a lovely brown and not squishy.

Keep warm in a 250 degree oven until all of the slices are cooked and serve right away!
I like to cook bacon in a slightly different way, I open a package and dump the whole thing into a hot cast iron pan. Then I stir it around with a fork until it's done. We call it "Grandma Gay bacon" because it's the way my Grandma Gay did it.

And then, we feast!