The air up there
Monday, May 12, 2008
I was looking through my most recent copy of Bon Appetit and found a recipe for Grits, Cheese, and Onion Souffle. I had all the ingredients to make it in my kitchen. But more importantly, every single one of the ingredients in my kitchen is local, with the exception of salt. How could I resist what is obviously kismet?
I set about chopping the onion, leeks, and green onions I recently picked up at Fair Food Farmstand. The grits were an early Winter purchase from Kauffman’s at Reading Terminal. The milk and eggs are from Martindale’s Market. The butter is some that I made a few weeks ago from some cream, also from Fair Food. And the cheese is from Oak Shade Farm. Even the salt isn’t from too, too far away: Maine.
Souffle can be tricky. I don’t make them often, but I can offer some tips:
- Bring egg whites to room temperature before beating them. You’ll get maximum volume out of your souffle that way.
- Beat egg whites until they just begin to produce peaks. Do not over-beat the eggs or they will get dry...which means your souffle will be dry.
- When folding the beaten whites into your souffle mix, fold as gently as possible and as little as possible. Yes, you want to make sure your whites are incorporated, but don’t worry about getting it perfect.
This souffle turned out fairly good. I think I could have let the egg whites warm to room temp a little longer before beating them to get a little more air into the souffle - although 20 minutes after they came out of the oven, the souffle did collapse, which is a good sign. It makes a nice breakfast dish, sort of high falutin’ scrambled eggs. And, as you can see, I did not have appropriate souffle pans in the house, so my coffee mugs had to stand in.
