Jan

24

Soufflé au Chocolat

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Today I wanted to try something different, something more challenging, something I had never done before. I saw this recipe and immediately knew that this was exactly what I was looking for! Soufflé au Chocolate from Julia Child’s book, Mastering the Art of French Cooking.

To be honest, I have never made a soufflé in my life. I have seen many skits about the process in sitcoms on network television, but in almost every case it goes badly. Soufflés are probably the most delicate dishes I have ever seen, if those TV shows are to be believed. Once it goes into the oven, everyone in the house needs to whisper and tip-toe around because the slightest disturbance will make it deflate and thereby end all chances of accomplishing something amazing. So it was with a bit of trepidation that I attempted this dish.

Step 1: Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

That was pretty easy, so I was on my way.

Step 2:

  • 1/2 Tbsp softened butter
  • A 6-cup soufflé mold
  • 2 to 3 Tbsp cake flour

Butter the soufflé mold and roll cake flour in it rather than sugar; knock out excess. Measure out your ingredients.

Yes, I went out and hunted everywhere for cake flour because I thought it was vital to the recipe. (It’s not an inexpensive item.) When I realized that all I was using it for was to “butter and flour” the mold, I wasn’t exactly a happy camper. I’m sure regular all-purpose flour will be able to do the same job.

Step 3:

  • 3 1/2 ounces or squares of semisweet baking chocolate
  • 2 Tbsp strong coffee
  • A small saucepan set over almost simmering water

Stir the chocolate and coffee over the almost simmering water until chocolate is melted and smooth. Remove from stove and keep over hot water until ready to use.

Whenever I need chocolate, my preference is for something from the Ghiradelli line. It’s a superb product! On the other hand, I have not a clue when it comes to coffee. I don’t drink the stuff. Even more confusing, Julia’s recipe doesn’t indicate if it’s liquid, drinkable coffee or ground coffee. I had to make an intuitive guess. From my experience, when you add water to melted chocolate, it makes the it go all funky and it becomes pretty unusable. So I decided to use instant coffee grounds instead. That would have a better chance of blending in with the rest of the ingredients. (Note: the instant coffee grounds worked, but 2 Tbsps was a bit much. If I use this method again, I’ll reduce the measurement.)

The “small saucepan set over almost simmering water” is, in essence, a double-boiler. Another method that works quite well is melting the chocolate in a microwave at 30 second bursts. (Make sure it’s in a microwavable bowl.) The nice thing about the double-boiler method is that once it is removed from the heat source, the hot water will keep the chocolate melted for a while.

Step 4:

  • A wire whip
  • 2 Tbsp potato starch/flour, OR 2 1/2 Tbsp rice starch/flour, OR 3 Tbsp cornstarch
  • 1 cup milk
  • A 4-cup saucepan
  • 1/3 cup granulated sugar

Beat the starch and 3 tablespoons of the milk in the saucepan until blended and smooth. Beat in the rest of the milk, and the sugar. Stir over moderate heat until the boil is reached. Boil and stir 3 seconds; this will be very gluey, especially if you use potato starch. Off heat, beat in the hot melted chocolate until well blended.

I didn’t have a wire whisk, so I used a silicon plastic one instead. (It handles the high temperatures quite well.) As for the choice of starch, I selected cornstarch as it was what I had in the house. It took the milk and cornstarch a while to reach boiling, but when it did, it went to “gluey” almost immediately!

Step 5:

  • A rubber spatula
  • 2 Tbsp softened butter

Clean off the sides of the saucepan and divide the butter over the sauce. Allow it to cool until it is tepid.

The instructions are a little vague here. “Divide the butter over the sauce”—and then what? The butter just sits on top of the chocolate? Not having a clue what was being said, I cut the butter into two 1 Tbsp squares and stirred it into the chocolate.

Step 6:

  • 5 egg whites
  • Pinch of salt
  • 1 Tbsp granulated sugar

Beat the egg whites and salt together in a separate bowl until soft peaks are formed; sprinkle on the sugar and beat until stiff peaks are formed.

I decided to do this by hand. I eventually managed to get both the soft peaks and stiff peaks to form. Next time, I’m going to use an egg beater. (Julia includes a helpful guide about making the peaks, but they’re on a totally different page. If you don’t know how to make soft or stiff peaks from egg whites, read it ahead of time, preferably before starting this recipe. It’s next to impossible to read it while you’re beating the eggs!)

Step 7:

  • A 3-quart mixing bowl
  • A rubber scraper
  • 3 egg yolks

Scrape the chocolate sauce into the mixing bowl. Beat in the three egg yolks, which may be added all at once. Stir in one fourth of the egg whites; delicately fold in the rest. Turn the soufflé into the prepared mold, leaving at least 1 1/4 inches between the top of the soufflé and the rim of the mold.

Pretty simple stuff here. I even know what is meant by “folding”. What I didn’t know was how to “turn the soufflé”. Turn it? Turn it how? So what I ended up doing was pretty much pouring the soufflé mixture into the mold.

Step 8:

  • Powdered sugar in a shaker

Bake in the middle level of preheated oven. In about 35 minutes, or when soufflé has risen about an inch over the top of the mold, rapidly sprinkle top with powdered sugar. Bake another 10 minutes, making about 45 minutes in all. Soufflé is done when a straw or knife, plunged into the side of the puff, comes out clean.

At 35 minutes I opened the oven and sprinkled the powdered sugar on the soufflé. It had risen a little over the top of the mold, but nowhere near an inch. I gently slid it back into the oven and let it cook for 10 minutes more. At about 45 mintues, it was done. The knife came out clean.

The result

Although I didn’t totally understand all of the instructions given, I was able to make a tasty soufflé. Julia managed to teach me a new dish—one that I plan on making again in the relatively near future.

Jan

23

Potage Parmentier

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I tried a new recipe today from Julia Child’s book, Mastering the Art of French Cooking. I kind of got on this kick to attempt some of her recipes after watching the movie Julie & Julia. The first recipe I attempted was Boeuf à la Bourguignonne for dinner on Christmas Day, mainly because that’s the one that is mentioned quite a bit in the movie. I am told that it came out quite well. (I didn’t have any of it because I’m vegetarian, so the whole dish was placed on the faith that Julia Child’s recipe was accurate. I shan’t doubt her again!)

Today’s recipe was Potage Parmentier (Leek or Onion and Potato Soup). According to Julia, this simple dish is a versatile base for other kinds of soup, and she gives a list of other ingredients that can be added to it for different flavors. I just went for the basic soup.

Step 1:

  • A 3- to 4-quart saucepan or pressure cooker
  • 3 to 4 cups or 1 lb. peeled potatoes, sliced or diced
  • 3 cups or 1 lb. thinly sliced leeks, including the tender green; or yellow onions
  • 2 quarts water
  • 1 Tbsp salt

Either simmer the vegetables, water, and salt together, partially covered, for 40 to 50 minutes until the vegetables are tender; or cook under 15 pounds pressure for 5 minutes, release pressure, and simmer uncovered for 15 minutes.

In my mind, simmer means to cook it on low heat. That’s what I normally do when the recipe indicates a “simmer”. So I tried it. 50 minutes later, the vegetables were not tender. Heck, the water was barely tepid. I think there is a step that is missing here. It probably should say to “bring it to a boil and reduce the temperature to simmer.” The trick to this method is that you’ll need to keep your eye on the vegetables as they will cook in less than than the 40 to 50 minutes Julia indicates.

Step 2:

Mash the vegetables in the soup with a fork or pass the soup through a food mill. Correct seasoning.

(*) Set aside uncovered until just before serving, then reheat to the simmer.

I don’t own a food mill and I wasn’t about to mash it by hand, so I pureed the whole thing in my food processor. It probably came out a bit finer than Julia was intending.

Step 3:

  • 4 to 6 Tbsp whipping cream or 2 to 3 Tbsp softened butter
  • 2 to 3 Tbsp minced parsley or chives

    Off heat and just before serving, stir in the cream or butter by spoonfuls. Pour into a tureen and soup cups and decorate with the herbs.

The instructions are once again a little vague here. Do you just put spoonfuls of cream or butter and just let it sit on top, or do you mix it in the soup? I mixed it in because dollops of butter on top just didn’t look as good. (In this version, I used butter and chives.)

The result:

Probably if I had used cream, the end product would have had more of a milky color to it. However, the recipe is pretty easy to follow and relatively quick to make, as long as you bring it to a boil then turn it down to simmer. It will be interesting to try this as a base for other soups—something other than just plain old broth. All-in-all, I think it was a success. That’s two for Julia!