Cheese Soufflé

This recipe for cheese soufflé calls for a two-quart baking dish. I used to have one but lost track of it during my move from Richmond to DC. It’s probably somewhere in the storage unit amid Dave’s 80-thousand record albums. Maybe it will turn up.

In the meantime, I make do with two one-quart baking pans and bake two soufflés, an improvisation that’s now become a kitchen habit. We eat one soufflé the first night, then have the second a day or two later cold with a salad. While that sounds odd, cold cheese soufflé is actually quite good—sort of like an airy quiche.

Adapted from The Williamsburg Cookbook (1971), this recipe serves six and is ideal for a spring dinner party.

Ingredients:

½ cup butter

½ cup flour

2 cups whole milk

½ teaspoon salt

dash of cayenne

2 cups sharp cheddar cheese, grated

6 eggs, separated

1 ½ teaspoons dry mustard

Process:

Melt the butter over medium heat in a large saucepan. Gradually add the flour, stirring constantly to make a roux. While still stirring, slowly add the milk to make a smooth cream sauce. Turn up the heat slightly and continue to stir until slightly thickened. Remove from heat.

Stir in the grated cheese bit by bit. The heat of the sauce will melt the cheese into the mix. Set aside and let cool to almost-but-not-quite room temperature.

Separate the eggs. Beat the yokes together with the dry mustard and add to the cheese sauce. Be sure to stir thoroughly so that the warm sauce does not cook the egg yolks.

Beat the egg whites in a separate, large bowl until they form stiff peaks. Gently fold the egg whites into the cheese sauce.

Butter a two-quart baking dish and spoon in the cheese batter. For an added “chef’s touch,” try this technique to bake a “high hat” soufflé. Insert the head of a spatula upright into the batter about one inch away from the rim of the baking pan. Run the spatula around the inside parameter of the dish. The center cut section of the batter should rise up as the soufflé bakes.

Place in a preheated 375 degree oven for fifteen minutes. Then reduce the heat to 300 and bake for another 40 to 50 minutes. Serve immediately.

Roasted Asparagus

Next time you go to market, you’ll see a bunch of people dancing a little jig in the produce department. Why? The season-ripe asparagus has arrived! Known as “Knitting Needle Asparagus” at our house, these long, slender veggies are divine steamed with just a dash of salt or roasted with a drizzle of olive oil. Because their season is short, we tend to have them a little too often for dinner, or so Dave complains. But that’s like complaining that you have too many strawberries (which will we will in a few short weeks!).

Here’s a quick recipe for roasted asparagus, a great side for grilled salmon or steak.

Ingredients:

½ tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

1 pound of knitting needle asparagus

salt and fresh ground pepper to taste

Process:

Wash the asparagus and trim the ends two to three inches. Put the vegetables cut end down in to a large glass water until you are ready to cook them. Asparagus are cousins of the amaryllis and should be treated like cut flowers!

When you are ready to prepare the vegetables, remove them from the water and pat them dry. Toss in a shallow Pyrex dish with olive oil, then dust with salt and pepper. Turn the asparagus onto a foil lined cookie sheet and spread them out into a single layer. Place in an oven preheated to 425 and roast for fifteen minutes. Check occasionally and stir them around a bit with a spatula so they’ll cook evenly.

Serve immediately with another twist of pepper.