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cheese souffle

Heidi's Easy-Peasy Cheese Souffle

Ingredients

  • 2 Tbsp.

    butter

  • 1/4 cup all-purpose flour Or, make your recipe Gluten Free by using Tidewater Grain Company's Heirloom Rice Flour, available at TidewaterGrain.com
  • 1 cup Whole Milk
  • 1 cup grated cheese In the recipe I prepared on the cooking stage I grated the Ashford Cheddar from English Farmstead Dairy to use in the recipe. I suggest you do the same, or use a combo of your favorites from the WNC Cheese Trail. Soft cheeses like pimento or chevre work well, too.
  • Your Favorite Finely Grated Aged Cheese I used the Aged Asiago from Blue Ridge Mountain Creamery
  • 6 Local Eggs
  • Heidi's Hot Pepper Spice Blend to taste - see the notes section for the "HowTo" here.
  • salt to taste

Instructions

  1. Butter one large oval casserole dish or make individual souffles and use 6-8 small ramekins. First, butter the dish or each ramekin well, along the bottom and up the sides. Then dust with finely grated aged cheese; gently shake out any excess. Or keep it in. Is too much cheese ever a bad thing?

  2. If you are using the ramekins, place them side by side in a large roasting pan, or on a large baking sheet.

  3. Melt 2 tablespoons butter in asaucepan. Add flour; whisk 1 minute to form a roux.. Add milk and whisk until mixture is thick and smooth. Now you have what is known as a bechamel sauce or basic white sauce in your saucepan. This is the first step in making the base of your souffle.

  4. Lower the heat on the pan and slowly add in the grated or soft cheese. Whisk until all the cheese melted and the sauce is smooth. Your bechamel sauce is now what is known as a mornay or cheese sauce.

  5. Take the pan off of the heat and whisk in egg yolks to enrich the mornay. Season with , salt and pepper to taste. Pour the mornay into a large mixing bowl and allow the sauce to cool. a bit

  6. While the mornay is cooling, Beat the egg whites in a clean dry bowl with a hand or stand mixer. Beat them till the egg whites form stiff peaks..

  7. Then, Gently fold whites into soufflé base.

    Pro Tips Here: Scoop out 1/4 of the egg whites at a time. At first, really stir the first addition of egg whites into the mornay to lighten the sauce.

    Then, take another quarter of the egg whites and now, gently fold the mornay up and over the egg whites. Do not mix until it is totally blended. For best results, you'll want to be able to see some little peices of the egg whites in the mix.

  8. Repeat the folding process for the remainder of the egg whites.

  9. Pour the fluffy cheese mix into the prepard dish or divide it among the prepared ramekins,

  10. Bake in a preheated 400 degree oven until soufflés are slightly puffed and golden on top, about 15-20 minutes.

  11. Serve immediately for the most dramatic effect, but if the souffles sit and fall a bit, don't sweat it - they are still equally delicious and full of cheesey goodness

Recipe Notes

How to Make Heidi’s Hot Pepper Blend – I use equal amounts of tellicherry, pink reunion and lampong peppercorns. Add coriander seeds for a slightly citrusy edge. The grind them all up in a coffee grinder. Note – this recipe won’t work in a table top grinder as the pink reunion peppercorns are too soft. Stick with the coffee grinder for best results. When you are done, just grind up a tablespoon or so of fresh coffee beans. Once the coffee is ground, toss it in the compost bin. Your coffee grinder will be free of any peppery residue and your ready for coffee tomorrow morning.

 - Heidi Billotto