Musical pairing – Bad Moon Rising by Creedence Clearwater Revival
SMITH BITES NOTE: On the musical pairing above, my father-in-law was a big fan of CCR and played quite a bit of it when The Professor was growing up; however, The Professor would sing, ‘don’t go around tonight, well it’s bound to take your life, there’s a bathroom on the right’ . . .
I can’t tell you how many years, times I wanted to make a souffle and talked myself out of it because it involved whipping huge bowls of egg whites, securing some sort of paper cone around a tall white dish and then offering up prayers to the souffle gods and tossing salt, pepper and anything else over your shoulder in order to guarantee success. But I finally threw caution to the wind, grabbed Judith Jones’ recipe and gave it a go and whadaya know – success the first time . . . total score!!!
What I love about this souffle is how versatile the recipe is; you can easily change it up by swapping out some of the cheese for 3 Tbsp. of a finely chopped cooked green vegetable, sauteed mushrooms, or minced ham, in which case use only 1 Tbsp. of mild grated cheese, like Swiss, in addition to the Parmesan. And a souffle is especially nice when everyone is trying to regroup after overdoing the holidays.
Light, airy, cheesy, quick (not to mention gorgeous) it’s absolute perfection! The hardest part? Locating a 2 cup souffle dish that didn’t cost an arm and a leg – I finally found one at my area Sur La Table for $4.95 each.
And since cheese is the main ingredient, it’s really important to use the best quality cheese you can afford; it’s also best to grate it yourself as pre-grated cheese tends to be dried out and has lost some of its flavor.
So what’s your most famous lyrical misquote?
SO EASY CHEESE SOUFFLE
O Magazine, 2009
SMITH BITES NOTE: This recipe is for ONE SERVING so if you are making it for two or more, you’ll need to adjust accordingly.
Use a souffle dish that is 2-3/4 inches high and 4 inches in diameter or any oven-safe, straight-sided dish with a 2-cup capacity works (no need to line with parchment – the deep sides of the souffle dish is sufficient).
INGREDIENTS:
2-1/2 tsp. butter
1 Tbsp. grated Parmesan (it is critical to use real parmesan here)
1 Tbsp. all-purpose flour
1/3 cup milk
Large pinch of salt
Small pinch of paprika
1 egg yolk
2 egg whites
1/3 cup grated cheese such as Cheddar or Swiss, tightly packed (I used Gruyere)
METHOD:
1. Smear 1/2 tsp. softened butter around inside of a souffle dish, and sprinkle Parmesan over it. Preheat oven to 425.
2. Melt 2 tsp. butter in a small pot, and stir in flour. Let cook over low heat for a minute, then remove from heat. Pour in milk, whisking vigorously, and return pot to medium-low heat to simmer for a minute, stirring constantly as the sauce thickens. Season with salt and paprika. Remove from heat, and whisk in egg yolk.
3. Put egg whites in a clean bowl and beat until they form soft peaks. Add a dollop of egg whites to pot, and mix in along with about half of grated cheese.
Fold in remaining egg whites and cheese; transfer everything to the prepared souffle dish.
Place dish on a baking sheet, and set it in the middle of the oven. Turn heat down to 375, and bake 18 minutes, until souffle has risen and top is lightly browned.
Perfection!
Love a one person souffle recipe! This one is very tasty and easy. I always asked for cheese souffle for my birthday dinner growing up – and even though it meant turning up the oven in a house with no AC, my mother always indulged me. She never did the parm cheese coating – which I love! Alton Brown has a recipe where you throw the parm coated baking dish in the freezer while you make souffle, so I do this, not knowing the benefit, but hey, it’s Alton Brown. The only addition is I add a bit of ground mustard to give the souffle just a little “bite”. Thanks for the great recipe!
They’re called Mondegreens. My favorite is “Climb Every Woman” by Whitney Houston.
On a cheesier note: I’m in the research phase of adding cheese souffle to my repertoire, and your recipe looks good, so I’m adding it to my chart.
I made my first soufflé last week. It was ok and I know I did it properly. Going to try again this week
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Goal for 2015 was to try a soufflé in my new condo’s kitchen.
The attempt with your recipe last night was almost perfect and I expect tonight’s will be 100% perfect if I’ll just pay a bit closer attention to how long I whip the egg whites.
Thank you for such a great recipe page. The photos and instructions are fantastic.
Patti – this just makes me so happy!! I was terrified for a very long time and then finally thought, ‘The worst thing that can happen is that it flops – so what?!’ I was shocked at how easy making souffle turned out to be!
OMG..these were sooo easy & super tasty. This was my first time making souffles & if they are all this easy it won’t be my last. Thanks for sharing this awesome recipe.
Wonderful! I made your recipe, but I doubled it and baked it in a 1.4 liter casserole. I only needed to bake it a little longer for the larger dish. Thank you!!!
Gorgeousness! I just made my first souffle a couple of weeks ago (used blue cheese and Ina Garten’s recipe) and there will be many more to come! I just have to go and get the individual ramekins (like I need a prompt to go shopping for dishes:)
Your photos are great – it takes speed to catch these goons before they start collapsing!
I have to try this recipe, especially because it is so versatile.
Wow, Debra, how gorgeous are your soufflés? I always use the same wonderful recipe from Vegetarian Epicure which adds Dijon mustard into the mix and what a fabulous flavor it adds! But boy, girl, are yours ever perfect!
Awesome! You are the same as I am – I have always avoided souffles because of all the crap involved…but you did it! I may have to try it myself now thanks to your gorgeous results. Thanks for the post…you did a great job!
Also, I sing “bathroom on the right” as well. I can’t train my brain not to. 🙂
Thank you for the recipe!! I’m bookmarking it for dinner tonight!!
True life confession – I have also always been too scared to make souffle! :o) No idea why… Yours looks fantastic and eminently doable – so I will have to give it a whirl. I LOVE Mondegreens (misheard song lyrics)! A friend at university misheard “All the people on the left, wap bam boogie; all the people on the right, boogaloo” as “all the people on the right – use the loo!” LOL!
Cheese souffle has got to be one of life’s dreamy pleasures! I’ve played around with several different types of cheese varieties – maybe I will feature one or two. These really fluffed up wonderfully.
Wow, your cheese souffle looks absolutely gorgeous!
Those are beautiful!! I’ve always wanted to make a souffle too but never have. These pictures make me want to try to make a go of it. Well done!
I love cheese souffle…I haven’t made it in forever…yours looks so good.
I have never actively pursued a souffle recipe, mostly because I’m such a perfectionist and this could end badly. Thank you so much for posting such a well-written recipe (photos help too!), I just have to do it now.
Combining two luxurious, wonderful foods…souffle and cheese…both are delicate yet strong, classic yet flavorful. Thanks for the post
I have not made a souffle in ages.. but that is going to change!! Perfect time of year for these – warm, comforting and not too heavy!! Excellent photo tutorial – really demystifies the whole process!!
I’ll have to add this to my list of favorite things! Boy is My Yanni going to love this!
Perfection! Perfect rise, Deb.
Beautiful! And instructive step-by-step pics make the receipe so accessible, even for newbies.
These is nothing in the world like a good cheese souffle! Yours look like utter perfection!!! You have me licking my lips here…
Gorgeous!!!! I like the shape and size of the bowls you used too!
Congratulations! Success right out of the gate! I’ve never been brave enough to try a souffle, but now I’m feeling inspired. Might have to make a trip to the restaurant supply store to see about those little souffle dishes!
You can tell I’m a mom and that it is close to the holidays, the only musical misquotes off the top of my head are the favorite holiday tunes that we all know and love.
Your how to photos for the souffle are super! I too have been meaning to make one, but haven’t in a long time. Perhaps that can be one of my new year’s resolutions!
Gorgeous soufflés and great capture! Mine always deflate too quickly to get decent pics of them all puffed up. Love a cheese soufflé 🙂
Oh this looks so fabulous and very elegant. thanks for sharing this.
I really want this. Like, really.
This makes me want to buy little souffle dishes! 🙂
These look gorgeous. So light and airy. I have mini souffle dishes. I might have to try to adjust the cooking length so that I can make these.
SWOON!
Can I come over to your house and eat this? James will never eat it, thus I can’t make it here. 🙁
I’m trying to picture what these would taste like – I think I’ll have to make them just to find out! Looks fantastic, you two!
Oh, I like this. I remember trying to make my mom a souffle for her birthday when I was 15, and it went sky high, only to collapse on itself. I like how easy this recipe is, and a souffle for one is never a bad idea.
Gorgeous soufflés! I’ve never tried a cheese one before, so now I’ll have to!
I may try this, but I can’t have gluten, so I will make it for my husband. I don’t know if you can make a souffle without regular flour. Something to research. But this looks awesome.
I like easy and cheesy:)
This souffle is so easy it could cause trouble over here. Who doesn’t love creamy, steamy eggs & cheese??!! Beautiful 🙂 xo
How gorgeous are those?? It looks so delicate and sweet. I have NEVER made one… am a bit intimidated I think! 🙂
This looks AMAZING!!
I’m so glad they turned out for you. Isn’t it awesome when that happens?
Perfection indeed! I love a good souffle and now you’ve shown everyone how easy they are to make!
I have never in my life attempted a souffle. And I have at least a dozen souffle dishes – gifts from various occasions. I’ve always assumed it would be an exercise in futility. But, after reading this post I think I might just gather up my confidence and give it a go!
So pretty Deb! I might have to try one but it would be better if you’d come over to help. ; )
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I’m so glad that you were daring and gave this a try…it turned out to be beautiful! I love souffles, but like you…I’ve always been too intimidated to try them out home. This needs to change! As for misquotes? Goodness…I’m terrible with lyrics so I probably get SO many of them wrong. Thank you for sharing, my sweet friend!
You make this look so easy and gorgeous! I’ve never tried to make souffle and I’ve never eaten it. You’ve inspired me, I have to try this!