# Cheese Souffle



## LAJ (Feb 21, 2011)

3 Tablespoons butter
3 Tablespoons flour
1 cup milk
3 eggs/separated (At room temperature)
Salt and Pepper to taste

Heat milk in pan add butter and stir until melted and blended.Blend in flour and stir until it thickens. Cook on low-med heat
Do no boil
Take off stove and cool. Add 3 well-beaten egg yolks then fold in 3 beaten egg whites/beating until stiff
Pour in hot buttered casserole dish and bake at 350* for 40-50 min.


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## Zhizara (Feb 21, 2011)

LAJ said:


> 3 Tablespoons butter
> 3 Tablespoons flour
> 1 cup milk
> 3 eggs/separated (At room temperature)
> ...



How much cheese?


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## Janet H (Feb 22, 2011)

Interesting.  I make cheese souffle often and my recipe proportions are substantially different.

roux:
1/4 C flour
1/4 C butter
pinch of nutmeg and cayenne
1/2 tsp salt

Add 1 C milk and cook (stirring) till thick.

Add 6 oz cheddar/gruyere cheese blend (mostly cheddar)
take off heat and stir in 4 egg yolks that were beaten to yellow ribbon.

Fold in 5 stiffly whipped egg whites

Bake in straight sided dish at 350 degrees for about 45 mins


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## LAJ (Feb 22, 2011)

sorry
1 cup sharp cheddar cheese added to sauce on stove


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## jennyema (Feb 22, 2011)

Janet H said:


> Interesting.  I make cheese souffle often and my recipe proportions are substantially different.
> 
> roux:
> 1/4 C flour
> ...



I don't make them often but I dont recall seeing a recipe that doesn't use a roux.  And my recipe, like yours, uses more eggs and in a greater proportion of whites to yolks, as it's supposed to be light and airy


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## LAJ (Feb 22, 2011)

I don't do the spices since this recipe was given to me by a Cajun lady years ago and she never added any spices. She said if you want them, "do them later." I agree. This way, you just taste the cheese.


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## jennyema (Feb 22, 2011)

LAJ said:


> I don't do the spices since this recipe was given to me by a Cajun lady years ago and she never added any spices. She said if you want them, "do them later." I agree. This way, you just taste the cheese.



One cardinal rule of cooking is that you need to season your food as you cook it, not afterward.  So if you want your soufflé to have some hint of flavor, like nutmeg or garlic, you need to add them while you prepare it -- you can't "do them later."

But it's perfectly fine to skip them and just taste the cheese.  That's the way I like it. (Uh huh, Uh huh)


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## LAJ (Feb 22, 2011)

I disagree about "seasoning your food as you cook it, being the cardinal rule." Look at true Mexican food. Traditional Mexican is not spiced up. Its all about the condiments and spices you add after it is cooked. Nutmeg or garlic would spoil this recipe. It is a cheese souffle not a quiche or frittata. A true souffle is about the cheese and eggs. That is what my recipe is all about. Cheese.  (I run across this type of thing when friends aske me for recipes and then wonder why the dish does not taste the same as mine. It is usually due to them using substitutions or adding ingredients). There is no "cardinal rule" about seasoning your food.


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## letscook (Feb 22, 2011)

Mine is different but is always a huge hit and I can never make just one when I take it anywhere, 

Cheese Souffle

4 slices of white bread, buttered and then cubed
4 eggs slightly beaten
1/4 tsp salt
2 cups milk
1 1/2 cup of grated extra sharp cheese

Mix all ingredients together in a deep dish 
Refridge Overnite
Bake 1 hour in a 350 oven
Do not preheat oven, start cooking in a cold oven
no need to grease the bowl, but I do lightly.


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## Zereh (Feb 22, 2011)

LAJ said:


> I disagree about "seasoning your food as you cook it, being the cardinal rule." Look at true Mexican food. Traditional Mexican is not spiced up. Its all about the condiments and spices you add after it is cooked.



I can't think of one Mexican dish that isn't spiced as it is cooked. Sure, the accoutrements (shredded cheese, salsa, etc.) are an important part of the finished dish but they are there to enhance flavors already present; they are definitely not the only flavors in the food. Every bit of beef / pork / chicken is spiced as it's cooked. Rice and bean dishes are most definitely spiced up.


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## LAJ (Feb 23, 2011)

After traveling alot in Mexico and out west, I found the true Mexican food to be quiye bland until seasoning/condiments were added. Most Americans are used to Tex/Mex. That has been my experience with the real thing.
(But, my souffle is definately about the cheese and eggs. Not spices. Thats all) Some are different.


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## jennyema (Feb 23, 2011)

Zereh said:


> I can't think of one Mexican dish that isn't spiced as it is cooked.



Me neither.  In fact Mexican food is a good example of the cardinal rule that you season as you cook.  One needs only a glance at one of Dianne Kennedy's books to see that.  Or a taste of any authentic Mexican cuisine.

The fact is that seasoning and tasting food while you cook it are the two most basic rules of cooking.  And they hold true for any type of cuisine.

In the case at hand, adding raw spices like nutmeg after a soufflé is cooked rather than into the batter would certainly be disastrous.


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## LAJ (Feb 23, 2011)

Most authentic Mexican dishes are marinated in citrus juice. Very little spice. At least out West and in Mexico. My Mexican friends cook traditional food and it is pretty bland before the condiments. But, the meat is tender from the marinades. Very delicious.


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## jennyema (Feb 23, 2011)

LAJ said:


> Most authentic Mexican dishes are marinated in citrus juice. Very little spice. At least out West and in Mexico. My Mexican friends cook traditional food and it is pretty bland before the condiments. But, the meat is tender from the marinades. Very delicious.


 
Yes, some are. Most? Not at all. So many other great Mexican dishes rely on adobos, peppers, achiote and other spice and herb pastes, cumin, oregano and so many bright fresh herbs.

I have never found authentic Mexican food to be bland in the slightest. It is a cuisine that relies very heavily on both simple (lime and garlic) and complicated (moles) seasonings.

Seasonings that are added when cooking, not after.

But this is about cheese souffles!!


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## LAJ (Feb 23, 2011)

Yes, it was supposed to be about cheese souffles. (No matter what one posts- many posters always have many other ideas.) Happy cooking.


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## jennyema (Feb 23, 2011)

LAJ said:


> Happy cooking.


 
Back atcha


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## Janet H (Feb 23, 2011)

letscook said:


> Mine is different but is always a huge hit and I can never make just one when I take it anywhere,
> 
> Cheese Souffle
> 
> ...



This looks delicious but I have to say it looks more like a Strata than a souffle.  Souffles have whipped egg whites. Still, they are both yummy..


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## LAJ (Feb 24, 2011)

This is definately my last post of the souffle. The idea on my recipe is not to add any spices to it. My recipe is almost the same as Brennans in New Orleans. A chef friend told me they use white pepper and sea salt. Nothing else. That- is good enough for me. As he said, its about the cheese and the eggs, not adding anything. It has worked for me for many years. Why would I change it?


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