Lumière, the character who adds a spark to “Beauty & The Beast”, disney-clipart.com
Preparing a Feast for Belle and the Beast, Lumière and his Cup Chorus, infamouskidd.com
Be our guest! Be our guest! Put our service to the test. Tie your apron ‘round your neck, cherie, and we’ll provide the rest. Don’t believe me? Ask the dishes. They can sing, they can dance. After all, Miss, this is France. Beef ragout, cheese soufflé, pie and pudding “en flambe”. We’ll prepare and serve with flair, a culinary cabaret!” Lumière & Chorus, Beauty & the Beast.
Who doesn’t remember Belle’s first dinner in the Beast’s castle? Lumière’s menu was on target. A soufflé announces itself. Élégance at its most high-brow.
When I think of myself, élégance and high-brow don’t come to mind. I met this week’s recipe choice, however, with a feeling of determination and a “What the hell?” attitude, more my style. With Dorie’s pushing, prodding and reminder, “There’s nothing complicated about the dish, although there are three things you should know,” ringing in my ears, I triumphed.
Dorie’s recipe, to my mind, is a classic, using techniques most of us already have in our culinary skill set. Although mine are a bit rusty, it wasn’t hard to put the soufflé together. Nerve-racking, yes. Difficult, no.
A savory souffle usually begins with a béchamel sauce, enriched with egg yolks. The egg whites are later whipped and folded in, to lighten the mixture. For the cheese, I chose a 8-ounce chunk of well-aged gruyère and grated it, easily and to perfection, in my food processor.
Béchamel Sauce
Béchamel Sauce, enriched with egg yolks and grated cheese
I initially introduced one-third of the whipped whites into the béchamel sauce, and then delicately folded in the rest. That step is difficult for those of us who tend to be heavy-handed. I was careful, also, to delicately turn the batter into a soufflé dish coated with butter and bread crumbs.
Ready to fold the last of the whipped egg whites into the batter.
The soufflé dish, coated in butter and lightly dusted with breadcrumbs
Since a soufflé is baked at high heat and must be “left alone” to rise, I waited 25 minutes before opening the oven, sliding a piece of aluminum foil over the top to prevent further browning. (If you recall, I am currently in a rental home with a temperamental oven.) After a total of 40 minutes, it was well-risen, firm to the touch and jiggly at the center. Although it had browned more than I would have liked, it did not affect the taste. In fact, I loved the crusty topping.
Table-ready. Move quickly and carefully.
Life is Good………….
All we really needed to make this dinner complete was two spoons! Knowing Dorie would probably disapprove, I added roasted asparagus, the first picking purchased at the local farmer’s market, threw a warmed baguette on the table, and poured Harmonie, a Paso Robles white table wine. This is a lovely, light blend of Chardonnary, White Reisling and Muscat Canelli produced by Harmony Cellars, a small winery on California’s central coast. Perfect We even enjoyed it for breakfast the next morning with croissants and raspberry jam. Warmed leftovers, even better!
Once again, Dorie was right in saying, “Really, the soufflé should be ashamed of itself, scaring off cooks for no good reason! There’s nothing complicated about the dish.” To see how other Doristas fared with their own soufflé drama, go to http://www.frenchfridayswithdorie.com/ Oh, about Dorie’s three secrets to souffle perfection? Buy her book: “Around my French Table, more than 300 recipes from my home to yours”. (Page 150.) It costs about the same price as a pound of the cave-aged gruyére I used in this recipe.
The cheese soufflé, safely to the table without deflating
Ohhh perfect! Calli for sure (as well as France:)
Loved the movie reference- I had forgotten all the wonderful food fun in Beauty & the Beast!
Your souffle looks smashing- a hit for sure!
Great post today. Your table looks lovely, your meal sounds perfect, and your souffle looks delicious. And now I have the Beauty & the Beast soundtrack stuck in my head 🙂
And I tend to think that a ”what the hell” attitude is necessary more often than not in the kitchen.
It’s perfect. Fun post and beautiful, elegant souffle.
Oh yes, cheese soufflé BEGS to be served with asparagus. I need little else in this world.
I love that you thought of Lumiere! Whenever I hear the word poisson or however you spell it in French, I always sing the song the chef does in Little Mermaid! Glad I’m not the only one! Your souffle looks great!
How fun! I loved that movie when I was a kid. Great correlation to this week’s souffle.
It looks perfectly browned to me–and I’m pretty sure Dorie would applaud the asparagus, bread, and wine. A beautiful dinner!
Congrats on a beautiful and successful souffle!
BRAVO!!!
I love Beauty & the Beast 🙂 Especially Lumiere & Chip.
Sounds like a lovely dinner – no evidence of a tempermental oven that I can see.
Gorgeous souffle! Love the way you presented it…looks like a delicious meal! Enjoyed your Beauty and the Beast reference!
Love your process photos! I just couldn’t pull myself away to grab more then 1 or 2 shots. Such a great post!
I like how brown and crusty yours got on top. Glad you enjoyed it!
Absolutely beautiful meal. Hubby and I enjoyed it very much. I have been loving the leftovers
which remind me of cheesecake.
I had fun with this one too. FYI – I love wines from Paso Robles!!!
Your souffle looks great! Great idea adding asparagus as a side
Glad you all enjoyed it! It wasn’t such a hit for me.
Wonderful post! Love the reminder of Lumiere. Years ago I could have sung that by heart. I think my daughter watched that video a million times. Your souffle is gorgeous. I had a giggle thinking of you drinking the wine for breakfast with croissant and jam.
It looks like perfection!
Mary – Asparagus and wine sound ideal with your lovely souffle…and I love your Beauty and the Beast intro!
Beautifully done!!! I think we are a proud group this week!! Yours was executed perfectly!
Loved your post! Your souffle looks wonderful. I felt so satisfied with my result too. I’m glad to know it works for breakfast leftovers too.
Yours came out beautifully! And lolol on the gruyere – isn’t that the truth?!?!
Too funny! I love cave aged gruyere (it’s actually some of the only gruyere that I enjoy) but it is SO expensive! Your souffle, and your whole dinner, looks excellent.