Adventures with Soufflé Making

 With several guests coming to dinner, I wanted to make something that would be easy to make but also look impressive on our dining table.  My friend Allison was bringing her famous lasagna, so I decided to attempt something a little experimental since we would have the lasagna to fall back on as a main course.  I decided to make a leek soufflé, something I had made before and had some success with.  On the previous occasion for making this soufflé, it did not rise very well, so I was determined to get this soufflé to elevate!

Leek Soufflé Ingredients

1 tb butter to sauté leeks

3 tb butter for cheese sauce

2 leeks, thinly sliced

1 ¼ cup of milk

¼ cup flour

4 eggs, separated

3 ounces of Gruyere or Emmenthal cheese, grated

Salt and pepper to taste

To prepare, preheat your oven to 350 degrees and butter a casserole or soufflé dish.  Melt 1 tablespoon of butter in a frying pan and sauté the thinly sliced leeks in butter for 5 minutes until they begin to soften (but not brown).  Be sure to wash your leeks very well since grit can get in between the leaves.  Stir in the milk and bring to a boil.  Cover the pan and simmer for 4-5 minutes.  Strain the liquid from the pan into a bowl and save your leeks in the sieve.

Next you will need to make a roux.  Roux is generally a mixture of cooked flour and some kind of fat used as the base of many sauces and gravies.  Melt 3 tablespoons of butter in a pan and stir in the quarter cup of flour.  Whisk the mixture around the pan for one minute to cook out the taste of the flour for the sauce.  Remove the roux from the stove.

If some of your milk boiled off while simmering the leeks, add some additional milk to make 1 ¼ cups.  Slowly add in the milk to your roux while stirring constantly.  This will create a smooth sauce.  You may return this to heat to boil for a few minutes to thicken up.  When the sauce is fairly thick and smooth in texture, take it off the heat and beat in the egg yolks, leeks, and grated cheese.  You may salt and pepper the sauce to your preference.

The next part is very important for creating the whisked egg whites that will result in your soufflé rising and having an airy texture.  Using a metal bowl and metal whisk, beat the egg whites to stiff peaks.  I’ve tried to do this by hand, and I definitely recommend using a mixer.  When the egg whites are stiff, use a metal spoon to gently fold in the cheese & leek sauce.  If you over stir, your soufflé may not rise properly.

With the egg whites and cheese sauce combined, fill your casserole dish with the soufflé mixture and place in the oven for 30 minutes.  If your oven heats evenly and you have whisked the egg whites properly, your soufflé should rise to the top of your dish and brown nicely.  

This time my soufflé rose much higher than my previous attempt, although it did not quite make it over the top of the casserole dish for that dramatic pop-over look.  I think I will try this recipe in individual ramekins next time to see if I can get the mini soufflés to rise over the top of the dish. 

The dinner party went extremely well with everyone having a fabulous time sharing their dishes.  Our talk turned to moving and organizing since Allison has recently bought her first house and will be moving shortly.  This reminded me that Peter and I still had plenty of boxes left over in the garage from our move that we have ignored for over a year!  Next week we are going to clean out the garage.  Wish us luck!

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