Cheese Souffle and Herb Salad - Tasty Tuesday!

I know, I know. You read the title and tried to run screaming from the blog, didn't you? Stop. Come back.

This was my lunch today. Lunch, because yes, it is actually that easy - and fast - to make a souffle. Granted, I do feel sorta decadent because it's a souffle and they're fancy and all.

Except that this takes just a handful of ingredients, all of which are in my house on a regular basis. And the salad is one of the fastest I can make. Because hey, I need to pretend like I'm eating healthfully when it's an egg and cheese lunch, right? Salad does that for me.

I had to make it today because it's 80 degrees. We went from way too cold and spring isn't coming in Chicago to full on summer. Very shortly, my oven will go off until fall. And oh did I have a taste for this today for some reason. In fact, I'm about to go back for seconds. Shhh, don't tell anyone!

Cheese Souffle and Herb Salad

Ingredients:
4 eggs, separated
1/4 t salt
2 T butter (plus more for the souffle dish)
1/4 c flour
1 c milk - room temp if you remember
1/2 t nutmeg
1/4 t pepper
3/4 c Emmenthaler or Gruyere cheese

Spring mix
Dill, chopped
Parsley, chopped
lemon juice
olive oil
salt
pepper

Directions:
Preheat your oven to 425 degrees.

Finely grate your cheese. I actually generally use Gruyere for the souffle and then some Parmesan for the souffle dish. Just wait - you'll see why.

Butter a large souffle dish. Well. Use real butter. I promise, it's worth it. You want to coat the butter in either grated cheese or bread crumbs. Hmmm cheese or bread. It's a toss up sometimes which is my favorite, but definitely go with the grated cheese if you can. Simply place some in the souffle pan and rotate it until it's coated in cheese. Gently pat some in place, if needed. Place the souffle dish in the fridge so that it stays cold until baked, which will help create a crust around the souffle so that it doesn't stick to the souffle dish after baking.

Place the egg yolks in one bowl, and the egg whites in another. Make sure the egg white bowl has no yellow in it at all, then add the salt.

Heat the butter in a heavy saucepan over medium heat. Add the flour, and cook for a minute or so, stirring regularly. Pour in the milk while whisking constantly to avoid lumps. Simmer until it's thick. Because there is so much flour relatively, this will only take a minute or two.

Remove from the heat, and add salt, pepper, and nutmeg to taste. Stir, and then add the cheese, again stirring until well combined. Add the egg yolks one at a time, stirring to combine thoroughly before adding the next one.

Beat the egg whites until medium peaks form. These are medium peaks, and yes, I beat them by hand. I wasn't thinking when I put the egg whites in the bowl and didn't feel like dirtying another one. Besides, it counts as my gym workout for the day, right? When beating your eggs, make sure you don't overbeat them, or they'll get grainy and icky.

Fold in the egg whites one-third at a time. You have to sacrifice the fluffiness of the first third of the egg whites to get the cheese/egg yolk mixture to accept the egg whites. It's ok. Just make sure you fold in the rest of the eggs gently. Check it out - I even vlogged a demo of folding.

Pour the mixture into your prepared souffle dish. Cut a circle in the souffle to help keep it from cracking and falling. The video shows it. Bake for 25-30 minutes until it's risen and golden brown on top. You don't have to be careful walking in the kitchen while baking it - contrary to myth - but don't open the oven door!

Serve it warm with the herb salad: Emulsify lemon juice and olive oil - maybe a 1:2 ratio, I never measure. Add salt and pepper to taste. Pour over your spring mix with added chopped dill frond and chopped parsley.

Enjoy this and more with Tempt My Tummy Tuesday this week at The Well! I've almost finished my second helping now, and I can't wait to have leftovers for dinner. Too bad no one's close enough to come share, as this is a perfect light, fun lunch (or dinner).

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