I offered up my humble abode to a visiting luminary/dear friend who would be hard at work in NY on the Spring Affordable Art Fair so she insisted on a few meals out to celebrate my return from Cuba, (where yes, I did go to see The Rolling Stones) and the joys that had come into her life.
Friday night we walked into Cherche Midi after 10:30PM and got 2 seats right in the middle of the bar. The tables were bustling and everyone, patrons & servers had a smile on the. The bar seats were perfectly inviting. I ordered the pot de fromage, one of my absolute favorite things, a Parmesan custard w. anchovy butter toast and the kale salad which was better than most. Filling, bright, tangy and perfect with the pot de fromage.
My friend up & at it Saturday morning while I was home to work on my Altered Book project which was expected to be delivered via FedX on Monday. I also planned to make me my 1st cheese souffle. Short of a recipe in a friend’s very old French cookbook for pot de fromage I settled on a recipe for individual cheese souffles which I doubled. The ingredients are all basic staples.
Within 5 minutes of finding the recipe I would work from I was at it. I removed the pots & pans from the oven & preheated that to 375 degrees. Next I quickly prepared the souffle dish which I was given just the day before by lightly buttering the sides and a dusting of grated Parmesan. Believe me, I was at the point that I would have made the souffle in a sawed off soup can or the 1940’s oven proof casserole I picked up at a yard sale last summer. Then I got to grating a chunk of smoke gouda and lobbing off a chunk of blue cheese which both melted beautifully into the bechamel sauce I started with an oversized pad of goatmilk butter and 4 ts=1T + 1t of unbleached all purpose flour then slowly whisked about a cup of milk into – once the flour & butter had a bit of a nutty aroma to it .
Next separate 4 eggs, add the yolks to the cheese sauce, whip the egg whites to stiff peaks tho not dry peaks. Begin by gently folding 1/4 of the whipped egg whites to the cheese sauce, then the whole lot. Pour into the prepared baking dish. Bake in a water bath or not in a preheated 375 degree oven for 40 minutes.
Frisee salad w/a lemon vinegrette way worked. Green olives if I’d had em. Oh and a Sauvignon Blanc.
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