SOUFFLES

New Zealand Listener, Volume 15, Issue 378, 20 September 1946, Page 26

SOUFFLES

| OUFFLES sound difficult, look most spectacular, and actually are very simple to make. The only "catch" is that they must be served as soon as they come out of the oven, or else they lose their puffiness; and those of you who have read "One Pair of Hands,’ by Monica Dickens, will know her heartbreaks when dinner guests were late, and the soufflé went flat. It is wise to line the oven-dish with greased paper, or else fill it only threeparts full, to give the soufflé plenty of room to rise. Some people advocate standing the soufflé dish in another dish of hot water in the oven. A soufflé can also be steamed in a basin in a sauce-pan-if steamed it is served turned out on to a hot dish, but the baked ones can be served in the oven dish. The basis is a white sauce, flavouring material, egg yolks, and egg whites beaten up stiff-not dry, but until they "stay put" when the bowl is inverted, and they glisten. You can make savoury or sweet soufflés, Chicken Souffie Three tablespoons of butter or lard; 4 tablespoons of flour; 1 cup of milk; 14% cups of finely chopped cooked chicken (or left-over meat); dash of pepper; 1 tablespoon of minced onion; 12 teaspoon Worcester sauce; 4 eggs; and about 14% teaspoon of salt. Melt the fat, blend in the flour, cook a little, then add the cold milk, and cook till the mixture thickens. To this white sauce add the chicken, pepper and onion, and Worcester sauce, and the egg yolks. Mix well, Beat the whites with the salt until stiff but not dry, ‘and fold into the mixture. Bake in the prepared dish for about an hour, with the oven about 325 degrees. Fish Souffle Substitute chopped, cooked fish for the chicken, and include with the seasonings 2 teaspoons of vinegar or lemon juice.

Cheese Souffle Prepare a white sauce with the fat, flour and milk, but omit all seasonings. Add 1% cups finely sliced processed cheese, and heat slowly till the cheese melts. Then add the yolks, and fold in the whites as above, and bake. A little paprika is an improvement. Asparagus Souffle Prepare a good white sauce. When just boiling, stir in a cupful of chopped and cooked asparagus, or tinned asparagus, and add 3 well-beaten egg yolks. Lastly fold in the beaten whites. Turn into a well-buttered dish, and bake about 20 to 30 minutes. Potato and Fish Souffle One cup. of cooked fish; 1 cup of mashed potatoes; 2 eggs; 2 tablespoons of butter; a little milk; a dash of lemon juice; a pinch of.ground ginger; a pinch of salt; and some chopped parsley. Put the butter and milk over a low heat, add

the potatoes and beat. Add the egg yolks. Add flaked fish and seasoning. Fold in the stiffly beaten whites. Cook in a buttered casserole in a quick oven about 20 minutes. Chocolate Souffle One ounce of chocolate; 1% pint of milk; loz. of butter; loz. of flour; loz. of sugar; a pinch of salt; 142 teaspoon of vanilla or almond; 3 egg yolks and 4 egg whites. Dissolve the chocolate in 1 tablespoon of the milk. Do not allow the mixture to boil. Melt the butter, add the flour and cook together for a minute. Add the remainder of the milk gradually; stir well, and bring to the boil. Cook for a few minutes, then add the dissolved chocolate, sugar, salt and essence, Add the egg yolks one by one, beating well. Lastly, stir in the whipped whites, and bake in a greased dish for about 17 minutes. Coffee Souffle Make like the chocolate soufflé, omitting the chocolate and vanilla, and using coffee essence for flavouring; or 1% pint of coffee with milk in place of the %4 pint of plain milk. F. Ginger Souffle Make like the chocolate soufflé, omitting chocolate and vanilla, and flavouring with 2oz. of preserved ginger. Lemon Souffle Make like the chocolate soufflé, only omit the chocolate and vanilla. Flavour by infusing the rind of a lemon in the milk, and add a few drops of lemon juice to the mixture before turning it into the soufflé dish. Raspberry (or fruit) and Nut Souffle Put 1lb. of raspberries, or other fruit in season, in a buttered piedish. Beat up 2 egg yolks, add 2 tablespoons of castor sugar, 2 tablespoons of finely chopped mixed nuts, and 1 cup of fine breadcrumbs. Then add a mixture of 4% cup of cream or top milk, 2 tablespoons of ordinary milk, .and 1 tablespoon of melted butter. Stir if in, mixing well. Then fold in the 2 stiffly beaten whites. Spread this over the rasp mixture, and bake in a moderate oven about 14 hour.