Mushroom souffle
Mushroom souffle …..
Mushroom souffle has long been one of my favourite dishes. Souffles are not very hard to make - although you do end up with more dishes to wash than you might have wished. Mushroom souffle fills a number of roles for me. Made in individual dishes, it’s a good first course. But it’s one of those “there’s not much in the house, what will we eat?” dishes. Not much in the house? Apart from mushrooms, dried mushrooms, milk, flour, eggs, and cheese…. Butter a souffle dish and heat the oven to 190 C.
For 2 - 4 people, you need
200ml milk, a bayleaf, a peeled clove of garlic, a cup of finely chopped mushrooms, measured after chopping (swiss browns are good), a slice or two or dried mushroom, 40g butter, 2 level tablespoons flour, 3 eggs, a tablespoon of grated parmesan, salt, pepper, nutmeg.
Heat the milk with the bayleaf, garlic and dried mushrooms. When it’s hot, just leave it to infuse for at least five minutes. Melt 10g butter in a small frying pan, and add the chopped mushrooms. Cook until soft. Melt the remaining butter in a medium-sized saucepan, and when it is foaming, add the flour. Stir well until thoroughly amalgamated. Add the milk - discarding the bay leaf and garlic. (Keep the dried mushroom.) Stir well and continously over a lowish heat until it bubbles gently and thickens. Season with salt, pepper and nutmeg. Turn off the heat. Chop the dried mushroom and add it to the cooked mushrooms, and add them all to the white sauce with the cheese. Add the egg yolks, one by one, stirring well after egg addtion. Beat the egg whites until stiff, then gradually fold them into the mushroom mixture. Pour it all into the buttered souffle dish, and place gently in the oven. Depending on your oven, it will take 15 to 18 minutes to cook: it rises very spectacularly. Serve immediately. Souffles do not wait for anyone. Ideally, it will be very slightly creamy in the centre.