Tag Archives: The Way To Cook

The JC100: Cheese Soufflé

JC 100 Julie ChildWelcome to Week 13 of the JC100 Celebration! With only two weeks left in the countdown, we are finally taking on one of Julia’s most famous recipes, Soufflé au Fromage, a show stopper of a dish that practically demands to be served with a flourish! In Julia’s own words, “The soufflé is undoubtedly the egg at its most magnificent, the egg in all its puffing power. How impressive is the chocolate or cheese soufflé, its head rising dramatically out of its dish, and swaying ever so slightly as it is borne to the table.”

Baking a soufflé can be intimidating for a novice cook but I’m here to tell you it’s downright terrifying for an amateur food photographer/blogger. Even a perfectly executed soufflé will begin to deflate almost immediately once it comes out of the oven, leaving just a few short minutes to capture an image of it in all its towering glory.

White souffle dish on a white linen napkin with a bright turquoise backdrop Julia Child’s Master Recipe for Cheese Soufflé

 

The JC100: Cheese Soufflé
Author: Julia Child
Serves: 4
Excerpted from The Way to Cook by Julia Child. Copyright © 1989 by Julia Child. Reprinted with permission from the publisher Alfred A. Knopf, a division of Random House, Inc.
Ingredients
  • 2 Tbs finely grated Parmesan or other hard cheese
  • 2 1/2 Tbs butter
  • 3 Tbs flour
  • 1 cup hot milk
  • Seasonings: 1/2 tsp paprika, speck of nutmeg, 1/2 tsp salt, and 3 grinds of white pepper
  • 4 egg yolks
  • 5 egg whites (2/3 cup)
  • 1 cup (3 1/2 ounces) coarsely grated Swiss cheese
Instructions
  1. Preliminaries: Roll the grated cheese in the buttered baking dish to cover the bottom and side, and fasten on the aluminum collar (see Notes below). Preheat the oven to 400 F, and set the rack in the lower third level. Measure out all the ingredients listed.
  2. The white sauce – béchamel: Stir and cook the butter and flour together in the saucepan over moderate heat for 2 minutes without colouring. Remove from heat, let cool a moment, then pour in all the hot milk and whisk vigorously to blend. Return to heat, stirring with a wooden spoon, and boil slowly 3 minutes. The sauce will be very thick. Whisk in the seasonings, and remove from heat.
  3. Finishing the sauce base: One by one, whisk the egg yolks into the hot sauce.
  4. The egg whites: In a clean separate bowl with clean beaters, beat the egg whites to stiff shining peaks.
  5. Finishing the soufflé mixture: Scoop a quarter of the egg whites on top of the sauce and stir them in with a wooden spoon. Turn the rest of the egg whites on top; rapidly and delicately fold them in, alternating scoops of the spatula with sprinkles of the coarsely grated cheese – adding the cheese now makes for a light soufflé.
  6. Ahead-of-time note: You may complete the soufflé to this point 1/2 hour or so in advance; cover loosely with a sheet of foil and set away from drafts.
  7. Baking – 25 to 30 minutes at 400 F and 375 F. Set in the preheated oven, turn the thermostat down to 375 F, and bake until the soufflé has puffed 2 to 3 inches over the rim of the baking dish into the collar, and the top has browned nicely (see Notes below).
  8. Serving: As soon as it is done, remove the collar, then bring the soufflé to the table. To keep the puff standing, hold your serving spoon and fork upright and back to back; plunge them into the crust and tear it apart.
Notes

For drama, you choose a dish that’s a little too small, so that the soufflé puffs into a collar. When the collar is removed the puff holds itself 2 to 3 inches over the rim of the dish. Use a double thickness of buttered foil that will rise 3 inches over the top of the dish; secure the collar by inserting a straight pin head down – for easy removal.

When is it done? A soufflé baked in a dish should puff 2 to 3 inches over the rim, and the top should be nicely browned. The puff should hold up when you release the collar just a little bit to check – if the puff sags, rapidly refasten the collar and bake a few minutes more. If you want the puff to hold and the soufflé to stand a reasonable time, test it by plunging a skewer down into the side of the puff; if wet particles cling to it the soufflé will be creamy inside and will not hold as long as if the skewer comes out almost clean. The fateful decision is up to you.

 

Folding egg whites into sauce base

I was so busy thinking about how to carry out a photo session at breakneck speed (planning a nimble route from the oven door to the sun deck where I could take advantage of the natural light, laying out linens, setting up my camera and adjusting the tripod’s height,  plotting out the camera angle from below the edge of the table pointing up to emphasize the soufflé’s soaring splendour) that it never even occurred to me that my soufflé might not rise – not even a smidge!

Cheese Souffle that did not rise

“One of the secrets, and pleasures, of cooking is to learn to correct something if it goes awry; and one of the lessons is to grin and bear it if it cannot be fixed.”
― Julia Child, My Life in France

Oven-Baked Gruyere Omelette

So here I am, grinning and bearing it (and without apology, I might add).  What my soufflé lacked in stature, it more than made up for in taste. In fact I would say it was the absolute best Oven Baked Eggs with Thyme and Gruyère that I’ve ever eaten.

Oven-Baked Gruyere Omelette

 

Related articles

 

The JC100: Salade Niçoise

JC 100 Julie Child

Wow! It’s already Week 4 of the countdown to what would have been Julia Child’s 100th birthday on August 15th. This week we’re celebrating by preparing the Provençal classic, Salade Niçoise, a composed salad that combines fresh seasonal produce with the delightful flavours of the Mediterranean.

My first thought upon seeing this week’s recipe was “thank goodness I just got my knives sharpened”. My second thought was “why are we cooking with canned tuna”?

The term Niçoise in culinary preparations indicates a style of cooking characteristic of the region of France surrounding the city of Nice. Born in the village of Villeneuve-Loubet, the king of chefs and chef of kings Auguste Escoffier was a Niçois. He was also a very successful entrepreneur who just happened to have his hand in the canned food business. Being a clever fellow, he invented the Salade Niçoise to market his own products, and therein lies the reason a traditional Salade Niçoise always calls for canned tuna. In The Way to Cook, Julia explains that “being a great fan of potatoes, beans, eggs, and tomatoes in a salad, I naturally opt for the Escoffier ingredients; I am a great fan of his too, and he was a Niçois, after all.”

Since Escoffier’s day, there have been nearly as many variations of this dish as there are cooks in Provence. This is Julia’s…

Julia Child’s Recipe for Salade Niçoise

 

The JC100: Salade Niçoise
Recipe Type: Main
Author: Julia Child
Serves: 6 to 8
Excerpted from The Way to Cook by Julia Child. Copyright © 1989 by Julia Child. Reprinted with permission from the publisher Alfred A. Knopf, a division of Random House, Inc.
Ingredients
  • 1 large head of Boston lettuce, washed and dried
  • 2 to 3 Tbs virgin olive oil
  • Salt and freshly ground pepper
  • 1 1/2 pounds fresh green beans, trimmed, blanched, refreshed in cold water, and dried
  • 2/3 to 1 cup salad dressing*
  • 3 or 4 fine ripe red tomatoes, peeled if you wish, and cored, quartered, and seasoned before serving
  • 8 to 10 ounces oil-packed tuna, drained and flaked
  • 1 quart French Potato Salad**
  • 8 hard-boiled eggs, halved lengthwise
  • 1 can flat anchovy fillets packed in oil, opened and drained just before serving
  • 1/2 cup black Niçoise-type olives
  • 3 or 4 Tbs capers
  • 1/4 cup minced fresh parsley
Instructions
  1. Shortly before serving, line a handsome, large and wide salad bowl, or a roomy platter with lettuce leaves, drizzle a little olive oil on them, and dust with a sprinkling of salt. Toss the beans in a mixing bowl with a little of the dressing, and correct seasoning. Drizzle a spoonful or two of the dressing over the tomatoes. Season the tuna lightly with a spoonful or two of the dressing. Place the potatoes in the centre of the bowl or platter; mound beans at strategic intervals, interspersing them with tomatoes and mounds of tuna. Ring the salad with the eggs, and curl an anchovy on top of each. Spoon a little more vinaigrette over all; scatter on olives, capers and parsley. Serve as soon as possible.
  2. *In the original recipe, Julia directs the reader to her recipe for Oil and Lemon Dressing (or its garlic variation). You can use any simple vinaigrette with a ratio of 3 parts olive oil to 1 part lemon juice or white wine vinegar.
  3. **To make French Potato Salad, combine 1 1/2 pounds warm, sliced, cooked potatoes in a bowl with 2 Tbs finely minced shallots or scallions, a sprinkle of salt and pepper, 1/4 cup chicken stock or potato-cooking water, 1 1/2 Tbs wine vinegar, and 2 to 3 Tbs chopped fresh parsley. Let steep 10 minutes or so, tossing gently several times. Then correct seasoning, and toss with 2 to 3 Tbs light olive oil if you like.
Notes

“A bountiful arrangement in bowl or platter is so handsome to behold that I think it a cruel shame to toss everything together into a big mess. A careful presentation means more work, but it’s easily manageable when you ready each of the numerous ingredients separately, which you can do well ahead. Season each just before assembling and serving, and you will have the perfect Salade Niçoise.”

Julia may have been a fan of Escoffier’s, but I can’t say the same for me and green beans. I chose to make a vegetable tumble instead, using only a handful of beans and replacing the rest with celery, cucumber, basil, red pepper and French breakfast radishes.

Salad veggies, eggs, potatoes, anchovies, olives, capers and tuna

Like most salads, the first step is to wash the lettuce thoroughly in a sink of cold water, use a salad dryer to spin the leaves dry, then store them loosely in a clean tea towel in the refrigerator until you’re ready to compose your masterpiece.

Boston Lettuce leaves in sink of cold water

Don’t be fooled into thinking the rest of the recipe is just about tossing some ingredients together on a platter. It’s so much more fun than that. It’s a dish that’s bursting with opportunity for you to practice some classic French culinary techniques. Here are just a few of the ones I used while preparing mine:

  • Bâtonnet - to cut French breakfast radishes into sticks
  • Chiffonade – to shred basil into thin ribbons
  • Ciseler – to finely mince garlic cloves for the dressing
  • Hacher – to chop the parsley
  • Julienne – to cut the red pepper into very thin strips
  • Sifflet – to cut the celery on an angle
  • Dépépiner – to remove the seeds from the cucumber before slicing it into half-moons
  • Émincer – to thinly slice the potatoes
  • Blanchir – to blanch the green beans
  • Émonder – to remove the skins from the tomatoes

 

Tomatoes stuff with egg, olives wrapped with anchovies, and capers

I once heard a chef say that anchovies are like the Gorgonzola of the fish world. People either love them or they hate them. Depending on which side of the fence you sit on, you might want to use another classic French technique, dégorger, to tone down the flavour of the anchovies. If you like yours a little less fishy, try soaking them in milk for about 10 minutes, then pat them dry before adding to the salad. Personally, I love them. They are so wonderfully salty that they taste like they’ve been brined in sea water. Together with the bold flavours of the olives and capers, these three ingredients are as essential to Salade Niçoise as butter is to Sole Meunière.

Salade Nicoise arranged on a platter

“It’s so beautifully arranged on the plate – you  know someone’s fingers have been all over it.”

~ Julia Child

Salade Nicoise

One of the nice things about a composed salad is that it’s very easy to de-compose. (Although I’m serious, I still hope you laughed when you read that!) If you have leftovers like I did, you can scoop up any remaining tuna, mix it with a bit of mayonnaise, and have a tuna sandwich for lunch the next day. You can also put aside the potatoes, pan-fry them and serve them for breakfast the following morning. Or, if you’re feeling very French, you could toss them in a little duck fat, add some fresh thyme sprigs or a little rosemary, and roast them in the oven until they’re crispy and golden.

The JC100 recipe excerpt doesn’t include instructions for Julia’s Oil and Lemon Dressing or its garlic variation. I opted to make a simple vinaigrette by combining 2 Tbs white wine vinegar, 1 tsp Dijon mustard, one finely minced garlic clove, a dash of Worcestershire sauce, and a pinch each kosher salt and white pepper, then I slowly whisked in 6 tbsp olive oil. It’s fast, easy and ridiculously good.

Each Thursday, the JC100 team posts the original recipe in its entirety on their blog under the heading Get Cooking Thursday.

Links to more JC100 Salade Niçoise posts:

 

 

†DISCLOSURE: This post includes an Amazon affiliate link for The Way to Cook. I receive a tiny commission in the event that it generates any sales.

The JC100: Coq au Vin

JC 100 Julie ChildHappy Victoria Day and welcome to Week 3 of the JC100 Celebration! For most Canadians, Victoria Day marks the unofficial kick-off to summer; the weekend that we break out the barbecues, plant the garden, or spend time relaxing at the lake. I woke up this morning to some very un-summery weather – pouring rain, crashing thunder and lightning. I still went to the lake but I didn’t stay long, and I definitely didn’t fire up the barbecue.

Lake Okanagan on a cloudy day

But I stopped pouting about the lousy weather as soon as this week’s JC100 special assignment arrived in my inbox. Much to my delight, the panel had selected the perfect recipe to enjoy when it’s wet and dreary outside – Coq au Vin! Originally considered peasant food, French farmers made this dish from an old rooster, marinated then slowly braised until very tender. Julia Child’s wonderful version is from her classic cookbook, The Way to Cook, and consists of chicken in red wine with small braised onions, mushrooms, and lardons of pork. It’s a very hearty and satisfying dish. It’s also a great excuse to open a couple of bottles of Pinot Noir that you might have hoarded away for a rainy day.

Julia Child’s recipe for Coq au Vin

Coq au Vin
Recipe Type: Main
Author: Julia Child
Serves: 4
Excerpted from The Way to Cook by Julia Child. Copyright © 1989 by Julia Child. Reprinted with permission from the publisher Alfred A. Knopf, a division of Random House, Inc.
Ingredients
  • 1/2 cup (4 ounces) lardons – 1 by 1/4 inch strips of blanched slab bacon or salt pork (see Special Notes)
  • 2 1/2 to 3 pounds frying chicken parts
  • 1/3 cup good brandy, optional
  • 2 Tbs butter
  • 1 Tbs olive oil or good cooking oil
  • Salt and freshly ground pepper
  • 1 or 2 large cloves of garlic, puree
  • 1 imported bay leaf
  • 1/4 tsp or so thyme
  • 1 large ripe red unpeeled tomato, chopped, or 1/3 cup canned Italian plum tomatoes
  • 3 cups young red wine (Zinfandel, Macon, or Chianti type)
  • 1 or more cups chicken stock
  • Beurre manie for the sauce (1 1/2 Tbs each flour and softened butter blended to a paste)
  • Fresh parsley springs, or chopped parsley
  • 12 to 16 small brown-braised white onions
  • 3 cups fresh mushrooms, trimmed, quartered and sautéed
Instructions
  1. For Chicken: Before browning the chicken, sauté the blanched bacon or salt pork and remove to a side dish, leaving the fat in the pan.
  2. Dry the chicken parts thoroughly then brown the chicken in the pork fat, adding a little olive oil, if needed.
  3. Flame the chicken with the brandy, if you wish. It does gives its own special flavour, besides being fun to do.
  4. Then add the garlic, bay, thyme and tomato. Pour in the wine and enough stock barely to cover the ingredients. Bring to the simmer; cover, and simmer slowly for 20 minutes or until the chicken is tender when pressed.
  5. Remove the chicken to a side dish, and spoon surface fat off the cooking juices. Pour the juices into a saucepan and taste very carefully for strength and seasoning. Boil down rapidly if it needs strength, adding more of the seasonings if you think them necessary.
  6. Off heat, whisk the beurre manie to make a lightly thickened sauce. Bring briefly to the simmer. The sauce should be just thick enough to coat a spoon lightly.
  7. Wash out the casserole; return the chicken to it. Strew the braised onions and sautéed mushrooms over the chicken, baste with the sauce, and simmer a few minutes, basting, to rewarm the chicken and to blend flavours.
  8. For brown-braised onions: In a pan just roomy enough to hold them in one layer, sauté the peeled onions in a little clarified butter or oil, swirling the pan to turn them; they will not brown evenly, but will take on a decent amount of colour. Then add chicken broth (and, if you wish, a little red wine) to come half-way up. Season lightly with salt and perhaps a bay leaf or a pinch of dried herbs. Cover and simmer slowly 24 to 30 minutes, until the onions are tender when pierced but still hold their shape.
  9. For sautéed mushrooms: Set the frying pan over high heat with 1 Tbs butter and 1 tsp light olive oil. When the butter foam begins to subside, toss in the mushrooms. Toss often, swirling the pan by its handle, for several minutes, while the mushrooms absorb the butter. In a minute or two it reappears on their surface; toss with 1/2 Tbs chopped shallot or scallion a moment or two more if you wish to brown lightly. Toss with a sprinkling of salt and grinds of fresh pepper.
Notes

To blanch bacon or salt pork:
When you use bacon or salt pork in cooking, you want to remove its salt as well as its smoky flavour, which would permeate the rest of the food. To do so, you blanch it, meaning you drop it into a saucepan of cold water to cover it by 2 to 3 inches, bring it to the boil, and simmer 5 to 8 minutes; then drain, refresh in cold water, and pat dry in paper towels.

I really hesitated when it came time to blanch all the lovely, smokey, salty flavour out of the bacon but I wanted to trust Julia completely, so I did it. I also took her advice and flambéed the chicken with brandy. I even managed to capture a little of the flame action!

Flambe chicken

The Coq au Vin recipe elaborates on her master recipe for Ragout of Chicken and Onions in Red Wine. That, along with some special notes in the sidebar and the mini-recipes for brown-braised onions and sautéed mushrooms, made following this recipe a bit of a challenge.* I also noticed that the Coq au Vin instructions say to brown the blanched bacon and then remove it to a side dish, but I never saw the bacon mentioned again. I decided to add it in with the chicken to braise but in hindsight I think it should have stayed aside and then been added back in with the brown-braised onions and sautéed mushrooms. I also chose to strain the cooking liquid to remove the tomatoes before reducing to make a less rustic looking sauce. I had to double the quantities for the beurre manie too, presumably because I used a lot more than one cup of chicken stock to cover the ingredients in the pan.

Coq au Vin simmering on the stovetopJulia suggested accompaniments for the Coq au Vin, including arranging the chicken on a hot platter and then decorating it with small steamed potatoes and parsley, or mounding it on a bed of rice or noodles. I chose to serve my version on egg noodles. Julia also recommended pairing the dish with a light young red wine, presumably the same one you used in the dish itself.

Coq au Vin served with egg noodles

Now aren’t you glad you’ve saved that Pinot Noir for a rainy day?

*Each Thursday, the JC100 team will post the original recipe in its entirety on their blog under the heading Get Cooking Thursday.

 

 

 

†DISCLOSURE: This post includes an Amazon affiliate link for The Way to Cook. I receive a tiny commission on any sales it may generate.