Souffle

Mandi:  Another recipe in ounces (oz) oy vey!  I had to contact Deidre this morning early to request a conversion to grams.  When we converted the recipe, we were a little concerned that it would not be enough.  However, the original recipe gave me two small bowls, i.e. two hearty servings.  This is perfect for James and I who are alone at home.  The last time I made a soufflé was in high school in the Home Ed’ class!!  I think the art of having a good soufflé is to fold the whipped egg whites very gently into your mixture and being careful not mix it in completely.  You should still see some of the white peaks in the mixture when you pour it out into your dishes.

I am very happy with the way the original dish came out and I cannot wait to see what Deidre gets up to this week!!  Fortunately Deidre warned me that I would have to have my plating and photo props ready as soon as they came out the oven as with all soufflés they tend to fold in once they hit the fresh air.  Even with James removing them from the hot oven and myself standing ready with camera, it still relaxed a bit before I could get a good shot.  So this is definitely one of those recipes that, if you want to catch a shine with your guests, you will need to remove out of the oven and serve immediately for them to catch a glimpse of the “real thing”.

Recipe:

1 oz (25g) Butter or margarine
1 oz (25g) flour
¼ (150ml)pint milk
Seasoning
3 ½ oz (90g) tin tuna fish
3 egg yolks
4 egg whites

Method:

Mash the tuna fish.  Make a thick sauce of butter/margarine, flour and milk.  Add the egg yolks, one at a time.  Add the tuna and seasoning.  Lastly fold in the stiffly beaten egg whites and turn the mixture into a buttered soufflé dish, 6 inches across.  Bake for 30 min in the centre of a moderate to hot oven (400◦C – Gas 5)

A mixture of flaked fish such as smoked haddock and grated parmesan cheese makes a very good soufflé.

 

Two Perfect Tuna Fish Souffle's

Deidrè:  Another technical dish….  I can actually remember my Mom making this soufflé.  She had a round bowl, about 8 cm high with a diameter of 200 mm.  It had fluted sides and I loved that bowl. Somehow everything that was served in that bowl just tasted fantastic!!  I have visions of peas served with the soufflé but seeing as it’s close on 30 years ago, I could be wrong.

I have often joked that I have a ‘self destruct’ button which I often activate by taking on too much.  In this case, because Dylan is allergic to fish, I decided to make a salmon soufflé (found a special on tins of Salmon at Pick ‘n Pay – half price!!) and a chicken soufflé.  That way I would satisfy my fish eating sons Den and Divan, and also ensure that Dylan had something nice to eat.  My advice?  Choose one or the other because you are going to lose your mind doing both….  (Remember that nothing fishy is allowed to contaminate Dylan’s dish… so everything had to be washed up and dried off before I could start with the chicken soufflés. )

My other challenge was that I am in the process of moving house – so my bowls which I was going to use for the soufflés were already packed.  I had to make a plan by using some tin foil cups and muffin cups to make my soufflés in.  The tin foil worked like a charm, the muffin cups – not so much..

I am going to give both the salmon and the chicken recipe together.

 Recipe:

25g Butter
25g flour
150ml milk
Seasoning
90g tin salmon fish or 90g chicken pre-cooked and shredded
3 egg yolks
4 egg whites

Method:

Mash the fish or shred the chicken. 

Melt the butter in your pan.  Add the flour and mix together to make a smooth paste.

Add the milk a little at a time and whisk in between to ensure that there are no lumps.

Place bag onto the stove, stirring continuously until the sauce thickens.

Remove the pan from the stove.

Add the egg yolks, one at a time. 

 Add the fish or chicken and seasoning. 

Lastly fold in the stiffly beaten egg whites and turn the mixture into a buttered soufflé dish, 6 inches across or into ramekins.  (Or, as in my case, tin foil cups).

Bake for 30 min in the centre of a moderate to hot oven (180°C).

Chicken Souffles

Tips and challenges:

   * Add a pinch of salt to your egg whites if you find that they       won’t whisk to soft peaks. (You can do this with castor sugar when   making a sweet dish like lemon meringue)
*  Do not bake for longer than 30 minutes
*  Do not open the oven at any time – as soon as air reaches the        soufflés, they drop.
*  Fold the egg whites into the mixture using a metal spoon – best      practice for perfect folding.