30 Things to Make Before I Turn 30: Cheese Souffle

I am going to just apologize upfront for the quality of these photos. I made this souffle late at night with no natural lighting so the photos really do not do this gorgeous souffle justice. I promise you it was so pretty, puffy, and golden. I was so excited that it actually set up and turned out that I really didn't try to take many photos anyway! Hubby and I just dove into it. It was so light and fluffy and cheesy. Definitely not the healthiest item on my list of 30 Things to Make Before I Turn 30, but it was over the top delicious and it was way a for us to eat eggs for dinner without my husband complaining! 

Julia Child's Cheese Souffle
Adapted on Food.com
Makes 4-6 servings
Printable Version


Ingredients
2 tablespoons finely grated parmesan cheese
1 cup milk 
2 1/2 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons flour
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 pinch ground nutmeg
4 large egg yolks
5 large egg whites
1 cup gruyere cheese, grated (about 4 ounces)


Directions
Position oven rack in lower third of oven and preheat to 400 degrees. Butter a six cup (1 1/2 quart souffle dish. Add Parmesan cheese and tilt dish, coating the bottom and sides.  

Warm milk in a heavy saucepan over medium heat. Add flour and whisk until mixture begins to foam and looses raw taste, about 3 minutes. Do not allow mixture to brown. Remove from saucepan and let stand for 1 minute. Pour in warm milk, whisking constantly until very thick, 2 to 3 minutes. Remove from heat; whisk in paprika, salt, and nutmeg.

Add egg yolks one at a time, whisking to blend after each addition. Scrape souffle base into a large bowl. Cool to lukewarm. This can be done 2 hours ahead. Cover and let stand at room temperature. Using an electric mixture, beat the egg whites in another large bowl until stiff but not dry. 

Fold 1/4 of egg whites into souffle base to lighten. Fold in the remaining egg whites in two separate batches while gradually sprinkling in Gruyere cheese. Transfer batter to prepared dish. 

Place dish in oven and immediately reduce oven temperature to 375 degrees. Bake until souffle is puffed and golden brown on top and center moves only slightly when dish is shaken, about 25 minutes. Do not open oven door during first 20 minutes. Serve immediately!

30 Things to Make Before I Turn 30: Julia Child's Bearnaise Sauce

I'm going to be completely honest and straightforward here: Julia Child would not be impressed with my Bearnaise Sauce. It was waaaaay too thin and instead of trying to fix it with another five steps like Julia recommends in her book Mastering the Art of French Cooking, I just served it. Thankfully I have an extremely supportive, easy to please husband who not only drowned his steak in this sauce and sang it's praises, he DRANK this sauce because he thought it was that delicious. 

So my first endeavor with Julia Child's Bearnaise sauce is nothing to brag about. I will take make another attempt to "master" this incredibly buttery and sinful sauce at a later date.

Julia Childs' Bearnaise Sauce

Bearnaise sauce differns from hollandaise sauce only in taste and strength; instead of lemon juice, its basic flavoring is a reduction of wine, vinegar, shallots, pepper, and tarragon. 

Ingredients

1/4 cup wine vinegar

1/4 cup dry white wine or dry white vermouth 

1 tablespoon minced shallots or green onions

1 tablespoon fresh tarragon or 1/2 tablespoon dried tarragon

1/8 teaspoon pepper

Pinch of salt

3 egg yolks

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1 tablespoon cold water

3 tablespoons cold butter

1/2 to 2/3 cup melted butter

2 tablespoons fresh minced tarragon or parsley

Directions

In a small saucepan boil the vinegar, wine, shallots or onions, herbs, and seasonings over moderate heat until the liquid has reduced to 2 tablespoons. Let it cool.

Beat the egg yolks until thick.  Add in the lemon juice and cold water. Strain in the vinegar mixture and beat. Add 1 tablespoon of cold butter and thicken the egg yolks over low heat. Beat in the other tablespoon of cold butter, then the melted butter by droplets. Correct seasoning, and beat in the tarragon or parsley. 

Makes 1 1/2 cups.

Julia Childs' Poulet au Porto

As I've previously posted, my Mom and I made a deal that each month we would both attempt to make the same recipe from Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French cooking. Since our first Julia recipe,  Boeuf Bourguignon, monopolized an entire day, I decided to do a little research on the internet hoping that I could find some Julia recipes that were less time consuming. I found an article where Nora Ephron, the director of the movie Julie and Julia, shared her favorite recipes from the book. One was Poulet au Porto, which translates to chicken in wine. I got out my cookbook and browsed over the recipe and decided that with the exception of having to roast an entire chicken this one didn't look too bad! I added this dish to my 30 Things to Make Before I Turn 30 list. I checked with Mom and she agreed to try to "master" this dish in February with me. 

Mom made her Poulet au Porta last week and cheated a little. :) She used chicken breasts instead of a whole chicken and cooked them in her favorite appliance the Rocket Grill to speed up the process. One of the coolest things about this recipe is that you pour cognac over the chicken and set it on fire! My mom enlisted the help of my Dad for this part. The end product of Mom's Poulet au Porto was a winner. My Dad and brother, Brian, got to enjoy this dish and they both loved it. Mom said she will definitely be making this recipe again, which proves this recipe was a true success because I don't think she can say the same about the Boeuf Bourguignon! Here are some pictures of my Mom's Poulet au Porto, which she served with Butternut Squash Risotto:

My Poulet au Porto turned out great as well. I bought an organic chicken that was already in pieces, so roasted it in the oven that way with some olive oil. The sauce for this dish is a multi-stepped, and each step is delicious! The hubby and I tasted it as it progressed. The one thing I am not sure we did correctly was flaming the cognac. It didn't flame very much for us and unfortunately that resulted in a very strong cognac taste. I actually am not sure I would even use the cognac if I do it again  because it overpowered the creamy mushroom taste that I loved about the sauce as I taste tested it. Like Mom, I served my Poulet au Porto with risotto. Next time I might try potatoes on the side. I do think there will be a next time with this dish...the mushroom cream sauce, minus the cognac, is heavenly. 

Julia Childs' Poulet au Porto

Chicken, cream, and mushrooms occur again and again, as it one of the great combinations. This perfectly delicious recipe is not difficult, but it cannot be prepared ahead of time or the chicken will lose its fresh and juicy quality. The chicken is roasted, then carved, flamed in cognac, and allowed to steep for several minutes with the cream, mushrooms, and port wine. Its the kind of dish to do when you are entertaining a few good, food-loving friends whom you can receive in your kitchen..

Ingredients:

A 3 lb chicken

1 pound fresh mushrooms

1/4 cup water

1/2 tablespoon of butter

1/2 teaspoon lemon juice

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup + 1 tablespoon whipping cream

1/2 tablespoon cornstarch

Pepper

1 shallot, minced

1/3 cup medium-dry port wine

1/4 cup cognac 

Directions:

Roast the chicken at 350 degrees for about 1 1/2 hours and be sure not to over cook it. Meanwhile trim and wash the mushrooms. Quarter them if large, leave them whole if small. Bring the water to boil with the butter, lemon, and salt in a 2 1/2 quart saucepan. Toss in the mushrooms, cover, and boil slowly for 8 minutes. Pour out the cooking liquid and reserve.

Blend 1/2 tablespoon of cornstarch with 1 tablespoon of cream. Pour the 1 cup of cream and the cornstarch mixture into the mushrooms. Simmer for 2 minutes. Correct seasoning with salt and pepper and set aside.

When the chicken is done, remove it to a carving board and let it rest at room temperature while completing the sauce.

Remove all but 2 tablespoons of fat from the roasting pan. Using a new saucepan, stir in shallots and cook slowly for 1 minute. Add the port and the mushroom juice and boil down rapidly, scraping up coagulated roasting juices, until liquid has reduced to about 1/4 cup. Add the mushrooms and cream and simmer for 2 to 3 minutes, allow the liquid to thicken slightly. Correct seasoning with salt and pepper and add lemon juice to taste.

Smear the inside of a fireproof casserole or chafing dish with butter. Rapidly carve the chicken into serving pieces. Sprinkle lightly with salt, and arrange in the casserole dish.

Set over moderate heat until you hear the chicken begin to sizzle. Then pour the cognac over it. Avert your face, and ignite the cognac with a lighted match. Shake the casserole slowly until the flames have subsided. Then pour in the mushroom mixture, tilting the casserole and basting the chicken. Cover and steep for 5 minutes without allowing the sauce to boil. Serve. 

Ashley's note: Then enjoy the deliciousness, drink some wine, and relax (whew!) after a job well done. 

Julia Child's Boeuf Bourguignon

My mother and I both received Julia Childs' Mastering the Art of French Cooking as a Christmas gift. Of course, these gifts were inspired from the movie "Julie & Julia". My mom asked me if I wanted to cook one of Julia's recipes every month. I said yes, as we decided it would be a fun way to challenge ourselves as cooks and cook "together", even though we live several states apart. Looking back, neither one of us really knows why we chose Boef Bourguignon as our first venture. It is definitely one of the most complicated and time consuming recipes in the entire book! It looked so good on the movie, and it's essentially a beef stew, so we (wrongly) assumed it couldn't be that difficult! We had no idea we would be devoting an entire day attending to this elaborate dish.

I do feel an immense sense of accomplishment and pride that I not only "mastered" this recipe, but that it was a success. I served it on top of boiled potatoes, and also used real pearl onions - both of which were totally separate recipes in Julia's cookbook.

My diners all said the meal was delicious and the smell permeated our entire floor in our condo building.

Mom and I agreed that our next recipe of Julia's needs to be on the simpler side, but it is pretty satisfying to be able to say, "I made Julia Child's Boef Bourguignon!"

Kitchen Supplies:

• 9- to 10-inch, fireproof casserole dish , 3 inches deep
• Slotted spoon

Boeuf Bourguignon:

• 6 ounces bacon
• 1 Tbsp. olive oil or cooking oil
• 3 pounds lean stewing beef , cut into 2-inch cubes
• 1 sliced carrot
• 1 sliced onion
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1/4 tsp. pepper
• 2 Tbsp. flour
• 3 cups full-bodied, young red wine , such as a Chianti
• 2 to 3 cups brown beef stock or canned beef bouillon
• 1 Tbsp. tomato paste
• 2 cloves mashed garlic
• 1/2 tsp. thyme
• Crumbled bay leaf
• Blanched bacon rind
• 18 to 24 small white onions , brown-braised in stock
• 1 pound quartered fresh mushrooms , sautéed in butter
• Parsley sprigs

Remove rind from bacon, and cut bacon into lardons (sticks, 1/4 inch thick and 1 1/2 inches long). Simmer rind and bacon for 10 minutes in 1 1/2 quarts of water. Drain and dry.

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

Sauté the bacon in the oil over moderate heat for 2 to 3 minutes to brown lightly. Remove to a side dish with a slotted spoon. Set casserole aside. Reheat until fat is almost smoking before you sauté the beef.

Dry the stewing beef in paper towels; it will not brown if it is damp. Sauté it, a few pieces at a time, in the hot oil and bacon fat until nicely browned on all sides. Add it to the bacon.

In the same fat, brown the sliced vegetables. Pour out the sautéing fat.

Return the beef and bacon to the casserole and toss with the salt and pepper. Then sprinkle on the flour and toss again to coat the beef lightly with the flour. Set casserole uncovered in middle position of preheated oven for 4 minutes. Toss the meat and return to oven for 4 minutes more. (This browns the flour and covers the meat with a light crust.) Remove casserole, and turn oven down to 325 degrees.

Stir in the wine, and enough stock or bouillon so that the meat is barely covered. Add the tomato paste, garlic, herbs, and bacon rind. Bring to simmer on top of the stove. Then cover the casserole and set in lower third of preheated oven. Regulate heat so liquid simmers
very slowly for 2 1/2 to 3 hours. The meat is done when a fork pierces it easily.

While the beef is cooking, prepare the onions and mushrooms. Set them aside until needed.

When the melt is tender, pour the contents of the casserole into a sieve set over a saucepan. Wash out the casserole and return the beef and bacon to it. Distribute the cooked onions and mushrooms over the meat.

Skim fat off the sauce. Simmer sauce for a minute or two, skimming off additional fat as it rises. You should have about 2 1/2 cups of sauce thick enough to coat a spoon lightly. If too thin, boil it down rapidly. If too thick, mix in a few tablespoons of stock or canned bouillon. Taste carefully for seasoning. Pour the sauce over the meat and vegetables. Recipe may be completed in advance to this point.

For immediate serving: Covet the casserole and simmer for 2 to 3 minutes, basting the meat and vegetables with the sauce several times. Serve in its casserole, or arrange the stew on a platter surrounded with potatoes, noodles, or rice, and decorated with parsley.