Deflated, Inflated

Deflated: one culinary myth
Inflated: something tasty in your kitchen, I hope

Ask 25 people to finish this sentence:  the elegant dinner included a ____.  You'll get a mixed bag of responses, of course, but I'll bet a popular one will be "souffle."  Here is the skinny on souffles:  they are a) cheap b) tasty c) pretty and -- don't tell -- d) easy.

Our parish priest came for dinner on Friday and we had a souffle.  One of the nice things about souffles is that they are more flexible than you might expect.  In the late morning, I made a thick white sauce in a small saucepan.  (Melt 3T. butter; add 3T. flour and cook for a few minutes to take away the raw flour taste.  Gradually add a cup of milk, along with a half-teaspoon of salt and a pinch of nutmeg, and stir until thick and smooth.  Off the heat add a cup of grated cheese -- cheddar, Swiss, whatever suits you -- and stir until melted.)  I covered it with waxed paper to keep a skin from forming on top and left it on the stovetop. 

The next time I had both hands free, I separated six eggs (you know the trick about letting the white fall into a teacup at first and then pouring it into a larger container, right? --saves much frustration if you accidentally puncture the sixth yolk with a sharp bit of shell since it means redoing one egg instead of six) and stuck them in the fridge.  I microwaved some frozen chopped spinach, and when it was cool enough to handle I squeezed it dry.  (You'll need a half-cup.)  I left the spinach on the stovetop next to the white sauce.

When my husband came home from work I pulled the eggs out of the fridge so they could get to room temperature.  I smeared soft butter on the inside of a straight-sided round dish with a two-quart capacity, and then grated Parmesan cheese into the dish and smacked it around, like flour in a greased cake pan, to cover the butter.  I have read that this helps the souffle to climb higher; it also makes a delicious crust.

About 45 minutes before I wanted to serve the souffle, I turned the oven to 375 and beat the egg whites until soft peaks formed.  I stirred the spinach and egg yolks into the white sauce and added a big dollop of egg white to lighten it.  Then I emptied the saucepan into the bowl of egg whites and combined gently with a rubber scraper.  Into the dish it went, and then into the oven for 30-35 minutes.  You should serve yours immediately, to shouts of acclaim.  (I did not, because our priest was delayed at a hospital call.)  It will deflate quickly, so it's best if everyone is at the table when the timer goes off.

If it had been one of those evenings when everyone freaks out at once (I tell my children, "Only one person is allowed to cry at a time, so figure out whose turn it is," but oddly they don't always listen), I would have skipped beating the whites and possibly the Parmesan crust as well.  I would have mixed everything together speedily, in between crises, and slid it into the oven.  The result would not have been so pleasantly pouffy, but it would still have been pretty and tasty and cheap. 

***

One year ago I found the blog world.  I was resting at home that day, hoping that rest would slow my bleeding and keep my baby growing.  I was googling "miscarriage prevention" in hopes of finding a magic bullet.  I found no magic bullets, but I did find Chez Miscarriage.  In the middle of my worry I laughed and laughed, and felt less alone.  Perhaps someone else would find something deep to say about it, one year on, but instead I am writing about something fluffy.  Literally.  That's all I've got today, so it will have to be soufflicient.