jacques pepin's mamma's souffle - on the egg w/pics

mad max beyond eggdome

its no secret i'm a big fan of french provencal and country cooking. ..one of my favorite tv chefs is jacques pepin. . .we watch him on pbs all the time, and i used to love the show he did with julia child. . . i've been reading his autobiography (the apprentice) in which he describes his life growing up in france, how his mother (who started restaurants in the '40s) got him interested in cooking, through his apprenticships in french restaurants, and eventually his success in america. .. .great book, well written, i highly recommend it. . .he also includes many of his favorite recipes from over the years, one of which is his mother's souffle recipe. .. .now, he also talks about the wood/coal burning stoves/ovens of his youth, and of course, i figured, what could be truer to the original than making the souffle in the BGE. . .so thats what i did. ..the family absolutely loved it. ..it had just a hint of smoke flavor to it (that 'rustico' flavor i'm always striving to achieve with baked dishes), and its easy to make. . ..[p]here is the recipe and pics. . .[p]Maman’s cheese soufflé[p]6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, plus more to butter a 6 cup gratin (soufflé) dish
6 tablespoons all –purpose flour
2 cups cold whole milk
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon fresh ground pepper
5 extra large eggs
2 ½ cups grated swiss cheese, preferably Gruyere
3 tablespoons minced fresh chives[p]Preheat oven to 400 degrees (I got the egg well established with a good clean fire with grid on top of inverted plate setter at 400 degrees . ..let it get going for a good ½ hour to insure a nice clean burning fire)[p]Butter the soufflé dish and set it aside. Melt the butter in a saucepan, then add the flour, and mix it in well with a whisk. Cook for 10 seconds, add the milk in one stroke, and mix it in with whisk. Keep stirring with the whisk until the mixture thickens and comes to a strong boil, which will take about 2 minutes. It should be thick and smooth. Remove from the heat, and stir in the salt and pepper. Allow about 10 minutes for the white sauce to cool (it must be cooled or it will curdle the eggs).[p]Meanwhile, break the eggs into a bowl, and beat well with a fork. Add the eggs, the cheese, and the chives to the cooled sauce, and mix well to combine. Pour into the buttered soufflé dish and cook immediately or set aside until ready to cook.[p]Bake for 30 – 40 minutes or until the soufflé is puffy and well browned on top. Although it will stay inflated for quite a while, it is best eaten immediately.[p]Note, in his book Jacques took this recipe from his mother. Not knowing any better, she had made a soufflé with out the traditional method of separating the egg yolks from the whites, then whipping the whites and folding them in, which results in those really puffy, high soufflés you might be familiar with. But this soufflé is very thick and creamy, and it was absolutely delicious.[p]here it is as it went into the egg[p][p]after about 15 minutes (i was very careful opening the dome so it wouldn't 'fall')[p][p]ready to remove (right at 40 minutes)[p][p]on the table, ready to serve [p][p]and on the plate, served it with burgers and fresh tomato and cantelope (wanted simple stuff so as not to detract from the souffle)[p][p]this one, along with giada's pancetta/parmesan torte, is a real keeper. ..the gruyere had a wonderful creamy flavor to it. ..if i did anything different next time, i'd probably pull it about 5 minutes earlier to have a creamier center, but this was fantastic. . .

The Naked Whiz

mad max beyond eggdome,
So, he doesn't separate the eggs, put the yolks in the bechemel and whip the whites separately like in a traditional souffle? I can just see the mad french chef on Good Eats, "yew moooost seperate zeee eggs!!!" LOL[p]By the way, you can probably temper the eggs in order to prevent cooking them when you mix the bechemel and eggs.
TNW

mad max beyond eggdome

The Naked Whiz,
nope, in the book, he describes how his mother asked about a neighbor's souffle, and was told "white sauce, eggs, cheese". .. since the person didn't tell her about separating the eggs, and she didn't know any better, she just did it this way. . .it worked out ok, and so she continued making it this way not knowing any better. .. .pepin is constantly talking in the book about continuing to make things the way they were made back then, cause its what he grew up on and he simply likes it. .. so, like i said, it was really delicous, easy, even if it wasn't the light, airy souffles we typically think of. . .[p]also, you could probably temper the eggs, but again, in staying simple, just wait for the bechemel to come down in temps for about 10 minutes, then its fine. . .i had no problems.. ..[p]maybe you want to put this on the NW site, if you have a place for such non-traditional fare. . .

The Naked Whiz

mad max beyond eggdome,
Yeah, I have a section for breakfast. We need to make our own recipe, though. Hmmmm, how about some Tsunami Spin in there? That might be something to do this weekend!
TNW

mad max beyond eggdome

The Naked Whiz,
gotcha. . .copyright issues and all that. . .i don't think tsunami spin would be the way to go though. ..maybe something either milder like raging river, or more peppery like cowlick would be good... i sure would be reluctant to screw with this one though, it was just too good the way it was. ...

aka mr. Earl

mad max beyond eggdome,[p]Mad Max, I've thought about this for some time now and I am pretty sure I've got it right. You, sir, are a cookin' genius. Yeap, that's what I think. It's been a pleasure just knowing you. BTW, are you gonna show the people the sausage trophy and box, are you keeping that stuff all secret...[p]Mr Earl

mad max beyond eggdome

aka mr. Earl,
sorry, w/ vacation and all i hadn't gotten around to the sausage pics yet. ..i will . .. do you think its ok for me to post a pic of 'both' sausage guys holding the trophy??[p]don't know about the genious thing. .. .i just know a good recipe when i see one, and you know i'm a big believer that since most of the french and italian recipes originated in wood burning stoves and ovens, then by doing them on the egg, i am really re-creating the flavors as originally intended. . ..

billyg

Can't wait to try it. I also am a big fan. I have the companion book to his and Julia's show. I have made his scallop souffle recipe many times from that show. I am going to upload some pictures of his technique for salmon steaks, the next time that I do them. I always for one reason or another keep not taking pictures when I am doing something neat with the egg.
Thanks again,
billyg

Nature Boy

mad max beyond eggdome,
I don't care what everybody says. You are bad ASS! You are always doing something new and exciting on the egg, and have helped a lot of folks cook better turkeys, tenderloins, crabcakes, etc. You also inspire folks to try new things. Brett is lucky to have you on the Free Range team. If we could just stop them other two highly educated individuals on the team to stop thinking so much!![p]Goregeous man. I am hungry.
Chris

Dr_Redwine

mad max beyond eggdome,
A brother by a different mother! I have always been a big fan of Jacques Pepin, as well. He always does simple dishes that always look fantastic and the dude has got serious knife skills. That one looks like a killer...really appreciate you sharing the recipe and technique. You a BAAAADD MAN!!!
DrR